Series 1, the Charles E. Hearst materials, consists of records created and used by Charles E. Hearst, as well as biographical information and other documents related to the Hearst family as a whole. The materials created by Charles E. Hearst include notes about agricultural issues, records from the Maplehearst family farm, and his work in passing agricultural legislation. The bulk of his records consist of his personal and professional correspondence. Some of this correspondence has been photocopied due to the originals' fragility and deteriorating condition. Most of the correspondence written to and from Hearst were written during his term as the Iowa Farm Bureau president from 1924 to 1935. The correspondence, and his records in general, reflect the range of problems which farms and agriculture faced during the 1920s and 1930s. The correspondence also related to Hearst's work shepherding legislation through the Iowa legislature and United States Congress, including the Mc-Nary Haugen Bill and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration of the New Deal. Other types of materials in the Charles E. Hearst series include news releases, American Farm Bureau Federation circulars, position statements from various agricultural organizations, and ephemeral agricultural publications.

The remainder of the Charles E. Hearst series includes a handful of items created by other Hearst family members, photographs of the Hearst family and farm, and news clippings.