The materials in this collection constitute a semi-random sample of the pre-war archive that was transferred to the Central State Archives of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic following the liquidation of the Vilnius Jewish Museum in 1949. The collection includes records of YIVO work and activities, financial records, correspondence, and publications; documents about pogroms in Ukraine, and Red Army and Soviet activity in Vilna and Bialystok; and a significant amount of records of socialist, communist, and Zionist political parties, as well as associated newspapers and one-time publications.

Hadassah Functions and Operations Records represent the bulk of aid and services provided to Hadassah's membership, from the 1920s to 2011. Materials found in the record group include correspondence, clippings, press releases, manuals and kits for chapters and members to implement programming and chapter structure, fundraising campaigns, scripts, study guides, programming for local and national meetings, biographical files, and training documentation. Departments documented in the record group include Public Affairs, Education, Women's Health, American Affairs, Zionist and International Affairs, Speakers Bureau, Fundraising, Program, Organization, Outreach and Tourism Departments. Materials related to the general administration of Hadassah are also in the record group; these materials include research and development of projects, archives department correspondence and other materials, Hadassah House administration, and strategic planning. The record group also documents Hadassah's efforts to expand membership outside of the United States, by the development of Hadassah International.

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of William Edlin, editor of The Day and a prominent Socialist. It includes correspondence with individuals and with organizations, newspaper clippings, manuscripts of works by Edlin and by others as well as translations done by Edlin, and some of Edlin’s personal documents. These materials relate to Edlin’s involvement with The Day, with the Socialist Party, the Workmen’s Circle, various labor and Zionist organizations, literary clubs and activities, and with music, art and drama.

This collection consists of assorted types of financial records, some correspondence and a few photographs related to efforts to develop the infrastructure of Israel during the 1800s, the First and Second Aliyah periods, the time of the British Mandate, and the early years after the founding of the State of Israel.

The Vilna Collection represents fragmentary materials that were part of the original YIVO collection in Vilna before WWII. The collection includes a wide array of materials dealing with a great variety of aspects of Jewish life in the Pre-revolutionary Russian Empire and post-revolutionary Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Soviet Russia.

The Collection consists of personal correspondence, official correspondence with organizations and governmental institutions, financial and statistical reports, minutes of meetings of Jewish communal and political organizations, bibliographic materials, including card catalogues and bibliographies. Also included here are vital documents, such as birth certificates and birth registers, affidavits, certificates, diplomas, and travel documents. Additionally, there are petitions, resolutions, appeals, printed materials, manuscripts, lists, and questionnaires. There is a wealth of materials dealing with various aspects of the Jewish book trade and publishing. There are materials on Jewish booksellers and Jewish libraries, most notably Leon Lipschutz. These materials consist of correspondence, lists, bibliographic and printed materials, financial documents, and manuscripts. A large portion of the collection deals with Jewish publishers, such as Rosekranc and Schriftsetzer Publishers, Romm Publishing House, Krejnes Printing House, and other smaller publishing houses across Europe. These materials consist of correspondence, financial documents such as receipts, contracts, bills, lists, manuscripts, and printed materials, including lists of publications and catalogues. Materials pertaining to Jewish youth and sports organizations mostly deal with the Zionist Blau Weiss youth movement, Jutrzenka w Tarnowe, and many local Maccabi Sports Societies. These materials consist of correspondence, statutes, minutes of meetings, lists, clippings, statistical tables, reports, printed materials, appeals to members, field trips materials, financial documents, newsletters, questionnaires, diplomas, and invitations.

Another aspect of Jewish life that is well represented in this collection is Jewish education. These materials pertain to private and state schools, both, secular, religious. There are also materials dealing with technical and vocational schools, as well as institutions of higher education, such as YIVO Vilna Aspirantur. Materials on Jewish education consist of lists, certificates, statutes, diplomas, correspondence, minutes of meetings, resolutions, lists of teachers, student ID cards, school newspapers, certificates, diplomas, teaching materials, and reports and evaluations. There are materials dealing with schools as well as educational and vocational institutions such as ORT, Tarbut Hebrew Teachers Seminary, Chojrev, and Technikum Wilenskie. Furthermore, there are materials pertaining to the Jewish Teachers' Union and Union of Mutual Aid to Assist Jewish Teachers. Materials concerning local Jewish communities pertain to a variety of subjects including everyday activity of Jewish Communal Councils, WWI, pogroms, charitable work, and political activities. These materials consist of correspondence, minutes of meetings, lists, petitions, registries, and financial documents. The Vilna Collection also includes materials on Jewish cultural, social, and political organizations. There are materials pertaining to the Jewish Folks Congress in Poland and Czernowitz Conference, with the original materials from Dovid Pinski and Max Weinreich, materials dealing with Folkspartei, Frayland-lige, Keren Hayesod in Vilna, Kultur Lige, Mizrachi Party, HIAS, OZE, and professional unions. The Yiddish intellectual scene is represented by leading figures such as Elye Spivak from the Institute for Yiddish Proletarian Culture, Herman Krug, Alfred Landau, Y. Lichtenstein, Janus Korczak, Jacob Shatzky, YIVO’s Max Weinreich, Nochum Shtif, Zalmen Reyzen, Elias Tcherikower, and many others. There is correspondence, manuscripts, printed and conference materials that shed light on the leading figures of the Yiddish renaissance.