The Macpherson Second-Wave Feminist Collection includes feminist publications, newlsetters, newspaper clippings, newspaper/magazine articles, political writings, scholarly writings, addresses, reports, programs, directories, bibliographies, posters, and oversized materials related to the second-wave feminist movement.

A few materials in the collection pre-date the second-wave feminist movement. The earliest item is a 1911 booklet describing the legal status of women in the state of New York, from the New York State Woman Suffrage Association. This item has been included in a folder about women’s civil and legal rights as it is useful to track these advances over time. Other early materials include those from the late 1940s through the 1950s which provide context for the time leading up to the second-wave feminist and women’s liberation movements. Efforts have been made to assemble a folder of more intersectional materials relating to Black feminists, lesbian feminists, Indigenous women, anti-war protests, and the intersection between gender and class.