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The Sanibel Island Collection consists of photographs that highlight the geographical, environmental, social, and civic aspects of Sanibel Island. There are also letters, telegrams, and newspaper articles that highlight the social and community life on Sanibel Island. All materials in this collection are prior to the damage caused by Hurricane Ian in 2022.

Includes a manuscript entitled, "List of slaves owned by Trombley Smith", regards Airville plantation, Virginia, on July 1, 1828. The list shows the name, age, occupation, and in some cases the ancestry of the enslaved person, as well as births (male or female) and details of deaths. Also, following the names of some enslaved peoples, in parenthesis, are notes showing dates of sales of the enslaved and name of purchaser. Likewise are notes showing dates of purchases of enslaved individuals and name of person from whom purchase was made.

This collection consists of ten Smith family letters, thirty-three receipted invoices, one bill for tuition, and one diary, all dating between 1782-1864. The letters were chiefly among members of the Smith family and confined to family subjects, but several have educational value in that they represent the thinking of that period, the closeness of family, their religious nature, and in one case a letter by a young lady who moved from Rhode Island to Savannah, Georgia, writes back to her family in Rhode Island and tells of her impressions of the South. One very religious letter by James W. Smith of Thomasville, Georgia, dated 1864, to his uncle, Mr. Remington Smith of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, acknowledges a letter to his father which arrived a week before "his demise."