The collection contains materials relating to Gloria Oden, created between 1955 and 2010. Most of the collection consists of correspondence and poetry, with a majority of the correspondence consisting of letters from poetry critic Donald Hall to Gloria Oden written between 1974 and 1979, and letters from Gloria Oden to Claremont McKenna College humanities and government professor Jay Martin from 1999 to 2010. The collection does not contain any letters from Oden to Hall, nor does it include letters from Martin to Oden.

Oden's letters to Martin frequently include newspaper clippings (mostly from The New York Times) and typed poems. The folders containing typed poems were likely included in letters to Martin, but were and undated and found unsorted when received.