Diaries (1933-1961) contain information about family, social, and personal activities, trips and excursions, and happenings at Trinity Community Church, a Baptist-affiliated congregation in Minneapolis that the Harpers attended. Calendar diaries (1949-1976) are a continuation of the diaries. Travel diaries (1947-1977) were kept on extended automobile trips taken by Margaret and Stanley (mainly in their retirement years), including visits to daughters living in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, and during winter vacations on Sanibel Island, near Fort Myers, Florida. Trip expense journals record amounts of money expended on some of these trips.

Letters Received (1917-1919) include letters from Margaret's future in-laws, Carrie and Joseph Harper, and from Carrie's mother Emily L. (Crippen) Felt. Most of these were written to Margaret at the Clearwater farm while she was living there during Stanley's tour of duty with the U.S. Army in France. These letters thank Margaret for managing the farm and for her efforts to get the farmhouse clean and into good repair. They report on Harper family activities and give the latest news about Stanley. Joseph's letters describe his visits to his son during training at Camp Dodge and report on Stanley's experiences and his routine there. His letters also concern management of the farm.

Later letters received from family and friends relate mostly to family activities and events. There are also condolences received upon the loss of Margaret's baby boy (1922) and at the time of Stanley's death (1971). Letter writers include Margaret's father, cousins and other relatives, and a host of friends. Penciled-in dates appearing on many of the letters (usually preceded by the annotation "P.M.") were taken from postmarks on their envelopes.

Margaret's papers include information about her genealogical research (and about the Andrews, Cole, Main, and Sansburn families to which she was related); associations, clubs, and societies of which she was a member; Trinity Community Church; and winters spent in Florida.

Includes information about Stanley's service in World War I. Letters written to Margaret during this period (1917-1919) describe his days at Camp Dodge, wartime experiences in France, a leave spent in Monte Carlo, and his shipment home and arrival in New York City. His letters also talk about the operation and management of the farm, and about a small cheese factory which apparently was located on the farm. A folder of small snapshot photographs which Stanley made at Camp Dodge, in France, and enroute home is found in the photographs section of the collection.

There is information about associations, clubs, and societies of which Stanley was a member. A biographical chronology prepared by the cataloger includes data on Stanley, Margaret, and their children. Genealogical information includes a narrative by Lucy Antoinette Crippen Bailey (1834-1931) relating the migration of the Crippens from New York state to Illinois in the 1840s and, later, to Wisconsin. This file also contains some historical notes about Prescott, Wisconsin, and some information about the Felt, Loomis, Tullar, Crippen, Furber, McChesney, and Bailey families, many of whose members lived in or near Prescott, Wisconsin and Cottage Grove, Minnesota. An account book (1804-1817) kept by one Joel Crippen is the earliest item in the collection.

There are some stock certificates and other material related to the Tew-Harper Company, and a ledger and some advertisements and price lists related to the Winston, Harper, Fisher Company.

A group of Josephine L. Harper's papers (Stanley's sister) includes a scrapbook she kept while a student at Wellesley College, an obituary and letters of condolence received by her parents at the time of her death (1911), and letters (1980-1981) from an old classmate to Josephine Harper Darling recalling Josephine's college days. Also included is a diploma earned by Josephine upon her graduation in 1909 from the Graham Hall School for Girls, Minneapolis, a forerunner of the Northrop Collegiate School for Girls.

Stanley's travel diaries describe many of the same trips that Margaret's volumes describe. Miscellaneous volumes include a diary kept by Stanley during the last few weeks of his military service and a list of the members of the Minneapolis Camera Club.

Assorted material related to the six surviving Harper children and their spouses, and to the Northrop Collegiate School, which the girls attended. There are letters sent and received, programs from choir concerts and theatrical productions, certificates received, newsletters, clippings, funeral folders, a piece of campaign literature, and other miscellaneous material.

Primarily snapshots and professional portraits of Margaret, Stanley, the children, and their ancestors and relatives. There may be some overlap with the separately cataloged Stanley J. Harper Photograph Album Collection in the Minnesota Historical Society sound and visual collections. Of particular interest is a photograph album (ca. 1910) kept by Josephine L. Harper while a student at Wellesley College.