The May Ryburn Papers contain a variety of materials related to Ryburn's personal and professional life. Ryburn lived in both Chicago and Miami and worked as a journalist and English teacher. Included are her personal and travel journals, correspondence, materials used in her teaching career, photographs, published works, and genealogy information and records. The collection contains letters to Ryburn from Eleanor Roosevelt and Florida Governor Leroy Collins.
Professional and personal correspondence and handwritten notes of M. Carey Thomas, known for being the president of the Summer School for Women Workers in Industry