The collection consists of the papers of E. Wilson Lyon and his wife, Carolyn Bartel Lyon.

The bulk of E. Wilson Lyon’s papers consists of raw material (clippings, research notes, minutes, etc.) for his scholarly and administrative work through copies of speeches, to correspondence. Some material is of particular interest to the history of Pomona College including a substantial amount of ephemeral materials pertaining to Pomona College, the Claremont Colleges, and to some extent, Claremont. Included are copies of brochures, leaflets, etc. from World War I and before, early years for the Colleges and community. There is extensive file material bearing on Lyon’s scholarly interests in history and in higher education. The raw material of Lyon’s books is also included – from note cards and reading notes through handwritten drafts and successive typed drafts and onto galleys. Awards, honorary degrees and other certificates of achievement as well as memorabilia in the form of photo albums, scrapbooks can also be found in the collection. Lastly, a variety of commencement hoods and a Pomona College banner are part of the collection.

Carolyn Bartel Lyon’s papers consists of a broken run of diaries covering 1952-1988 as well as file materials covering the 1940s-1980s, work on another women’s college in Claremont, committee work, research on China, correspondence, speeches and sermons as well as information on the Bartel family and Earlham College.