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The Frederick Gilbert Bourne collection is made up of correspondence, photographs, printed items, and ephemera related to Bourne, president of the Singer Manufacturing Company and commodore of the New York Yacht Club, and to his son-in-law, Ralph Strassburger, who served as consul general to Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia in 1913.

The Frederick Gilbert Bourne collection is made up of 73 letters, 11 telegrams, 9 photographs, 1 photograph album, 17 invitations and pieces of ephemera, and 22 printed items related to Bourne and to his son-in-law, Ralph Strassburger.

The Correspondence series (84 items) comprises the bulk of the collection, and is arranged by author and recipient. Bourne composed 45 letters to his daughter May and her husband, Ralph Beaver Strassburger, offering financial advice and sharing news of his social and leisure activities near his Long Island home and during his vacations on Jekyll Island, Georgia. These vacations often included hunting trips and yachting excursions. Several letters composed in 1912 and 1913 reflect Strassburger's time as a diplomat in Eastern Europe, with content respecting his father-in-law's efforts to secure him a reassignment following a local cholera outbreak. Bourne commented on the 1912 presidential election and controversial office appointments made by the outgoing Taft administration.

Incoming correspondence to Frederick Gilbert Bourne documents the social lives of his wealthy friends and family members in the early 20th century. Additional correspondence includes personal letters addressed to Ralph and May Strassburger and to Mrs. Emma Bourne from various acquaintances. The telegrams (11) contain messages between members of the Bourne family, most related to travel arrangements.

The Photographs series includes 9 individual photographs and one photograph album. Nine silver gelatin prints and real photo postcards depict Frederick Gilbert Bourne; "The Towers" on Dark Island, New York; and Indian Neck Hall, Bourne's estate in Oakdale, Long Island, New York (including 1 panoramic photo). The photo album, ca. 1904-1914, contains over 100 images of yachts and automobiles, as well as scenes from Jekyll Island, Georgia, and the leisure activities of wealthy Americans (including sailing races).

The Printed Items and Ephemera series includes 6 visiting/calling cards, a menu, 10 invitations, 7 picture postcards, 13 newspaper and magazine clippings, a magazine, and a book. The calling cards and invitations pertain to the activities of Frederick and Emma Bourne; the postcards depict the Bourne's estates and other buildings; and the clippings, magazine, and book concern Frederick Bourne (including yachting articles from The Rider and Driver and The Illustrated Sporting News). One of the calling cards is personally addressed to Bourne by J. Pierpont Morgan. The book is Henry H. Klein's Dynastic America and Those Who Own It (1921). The series also contains a reproduction of a document commending Bourne's lengthy service with the Singer Manufacturing Company (March 7, 1906) and a composite image of Frederick Bourne working in various occupations.

The Media series is comprised of 6 compact discs containing digital images of the Frederick G. Bourne family, the Jekyll Island Club, and Airy Hall Plantation, the South Carolina plantation owned by Robert George Elbert, another of Bourne's sons-in-law. The series also includes a VHS tape with filmed views of Bourne's estates and of Ralph Strassburger's home, transferred from a 28 millimeter reel from 1918.

The Pope-Horn papers consist primarily of letters exchanged by future United States Senator James Pinckney Pope and Pauline Horn during their courtship. The couple's letters reflect their daily lives, their relationship, and political issues in Idaho and throughout the United States. Additional material includes postcards, photographs, and other ephemera.

The Pope-Horn papers (2.5 linear feet) consist primarily of letters exchanged by future United States Senator James Pinckney Pope and Pauline Horn during their courtship. Additional items include postcards, photographs, and other ephemera.

The Correspondence series is made up of letters and postcards between James Pinckney Pope and his future wife, Pauline Ruth Horn. Horn described her daily life in Des Plaines, Illinois, and often attended theatrical productions in nearby Chicago. Pope, who pursued careers in law and politics in Boise, Idaho, likewise shared details of his life, such as his work experiences and attendance at local sporting events. In one emotional letter, he expressed his feelings about the Titanic disaster (April 17, 1912). During the 1912 election cycle, the couple increasingly discussed political matters, sharing their views on Theodore Roosevelt and the dominant parties, including the fracturing of the Republican Party. Pope also paid attention to local politics, and wrote of a proposed Idaho law for regulating morality that would ban buttermilk ("a fermenting and intoxicating liquor") and bar women from wearing wigs or makeup, particularly during wedding ceremonies (February 23, 1913). The couple continued to write after their marriage, though less frequently, and often recounted news from their travels. Several letters throughout the series enclose newspaper clippings, and the series also holds 25 postcards Pauline and members of her family received from numerous acquaintances.

The collection's 22 Photographs and Photographic Postcards includes pictures of an unidentified woman and her family (1912), snapshots that appear to have originated much later than the other material in the collection, and unsent photographic postcards of an unidentified woman and her dog.

• Red envelope containing colored pictures of various sights from the American West, such as buffalo and scenes from Denver and Salt Lake City (November 5, [1905]).
• Business card advertising "Arthur Hodges For Mayor"
• Business card for Henry C. Doolittle
• Brochure advertising Des Plaines, Illinois
• Unused picture postcards