The biographical and personal material within the collection includes biographical and genealogical material, personal correspondence and a few items of sentimental value. The correspondence is truly personal, often with family members or close friends reporting on matters of family interest. A bound set of Bonisteel's diary, "From Day to Day," covering the years 1918 to 1971, is located in Box 14.
Material about Cleary and Dickinson colleges, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan are all found under the heading, "Colleges and Universities". Material about either Wayne State or Cleary is thin. Because of his generous financial support of Dickinson, Bonisteel's correspondence with that school's officials is large. Most of it, however, tends to be progress reports on projects Bonisteel funded or gracious acknowledgments of his gifts. Some scattered minutes of the Dickinson Board of Trustees survive. The largest group of college material in the papers relates to the University of Michigan. The material is arranged alphabetically. Most of it dates from Bonisteel's appointment as a university regent to his death. While it is frequently said that Bonisteel was the "father" of U-M's North Campus, the papers are silent on the subject.