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The Correspondence series covers the period of 1865 to 1910, though it bulks largest for the period since 1880. This series is especially rich as it includes correspondence with faculty members at the University of Michigan, notably John Dewey, Henry Carter Adams, and President James B. Angell. Eliza Sunderland also corresponded with prominent figures in the Unitarian Church, individuals such as Augusta Chapin, Robert Collyer, Samuel A. Eliot, William C. Gannett, Edward Hale, and Jenkin Lloyd Jones. From her involvement with the Association for the Advancement of Women, Sunderland received a number of letters from Julia Ward Howe and other officers of the organization. At various times, she also corresponded with Caroline Bartlett Crane, Myra B. Jordan, Lucinda H. Stone, the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, the Michigan Equal Suffrage Association, and the Michigan State Federation of Women's Clubs. Researchers interested in Sunderland's family concerns may also wish to view the Sunderland-Safford family papers which include Sunderland's letters to her daughter, Bertrude Safford-Sunderland.

The Biographical/Writings series consists of biographical information about Sunderland, also published copies of various pamphlets and articles authored by her. These date in the period of 1878 to 1903.

The Notebooks series has two subseries. The most extensive of these is a run of notebooks compiled by Sunderland while a student at the University of Michigan in the early 1890s. Most of these are for philosophy courses taught by John Dewey. There are also notes for other classes taught by Fred Newton Scott, James Tufts, and Henry Carter Adams. The other subseries - labeled as "Various" - includes notes taken while traveling in Europe and a diary of a trip to England in 1895.

The largest series within the collection comprises the numerous Articles, Lectures, and Sermons given by Sunderland throughout her life. These have been arranged into two subseries: titles arranged alphabetically, and titles arranged chronologically (when that date is known). Many of these papers were given from Unitarian pulpits. Although many have religious themes, there are also a number that concern women's rights, the education of women, and women's issues in general. The sermons with dates span the years 1874 to 1909.