The bulk of this collection consists of materials created, used, or collected by James S. Hearst. Many different types of materials are represented in the James S. Hearst series, including correspondence, publications, diaries, audiovisual materials, financial documents, drafts, and more. Examples include cash journals, containing entries for purchases and expenses; biographical information about Hearst's wives, Carmelita Calderwood Hearst and Meryl Norton Hearst; Hearst's United States Army records; and clippings. Also included are two of Hearst's diaries, dated 1934 and 1939, which contain near daily entries in which Hearst details his daily activities, such as reading, farm work, and weather.

The photographs in this series are of James S. Hearst, Meryl Hearst, the Hearst farm, and more. This series includes a scrapbook, dated 1927-1980, which includes news clippings, programs, poems, publications, correspondence, and other items relating to James Hearst. Its contents are arranged chronologically and were most likely maintained by James, Carmelita, and Meryl Hearst.

The rest of the James S. Hearst series is organized into groupings according to material type and content.

James Hearst's correspondence comprises the majority of this series. It contains approximately 1000 incoming and outgoing letters, which are a mix of personal and professional topics and correspondents, such as with Hearst's first and second wives, friends, publishers, discussions about his writing, his employment at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), and much more.

One of Hearst's most frequent correspondents was UNI president James William Maucker, who often signed off his letters as "Bill." Other notable correspondents include Ferner Nuhn, Bess Streeter Aldrich, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, and Jesse Stuart. Also included are letters from United States Vice President H.A. Wallace; one letter from former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to Carmelita Hearst (August 21, 1951); and one letter from Randolph Hearst (May 22, 1974). Some of the correspondence is addressed to Carmelita Hearst, James Hearst's first wife, and Meryl Norton Hearst, his second wife. There are also many letters between Hearst and editors, publishers, and presses discussing his work and publications.

There is a name index to most correspondents available in the University Archives and digitally. "T.L.S." means Typed Letter Signed. "A.L.S." means autograph letter signed. This index was updated to include newly-processed material March 2017.Physical copies of the updated index are available by request. A date, a name, or a portion thereof within parentheses () indicates that the information was added on the basis of the processor's knowledge or information from an envelope.

A major component of James Hearst's papers are the publications included in the collection. Within this grouping are iterations of Hearst's work, such as drafts and published forms. Hearst's typescripts and drafts for his publications Snake in the Strawberries, Time Like a Furrow, My Shadow Below Me, and Bonesetter's Brawl, make up part of this grouping.

The Periodicals grouping consists of periodicals, newspapers, magazines, and journals in which James Hearst's work appeared. The materials are arranged chronologically. Please note that this is not a complete run of Hearst's work that appeared in this publication type. Also included are publication logs of James Hearst's work. Family members and Hearst himself kept these logs in an attempt to record when where his work was published. The logs represent a record of his publication history.

The Unpublished material drafts, and notes for later publication and speeches includes a variety of written material prepared for and / or delivered by James S. Hearst across many situations. The materials range from speeches and lectures to poetry and short stories. These materials arrived in two separate installments. Most of the materials are undated and some have titles based on their subject, while others were titled based on why they were prepared. Please note that previous Special Collections & University Archives archivists chose to create titles for materials that Hearst himself had not provided a title. The archivists based their chosen titles for a work on that work's contents. It is unclear at this time which titles were original to Hearst and which were created by former SC&UA staff.

The audiovisual materials included in this series consist of audiocassettes, 1/4" open reels, and phonographs. Their contents include interviews, conversations with Hearst, Hearst reading his poetry, and tributes. Please see the inventory for an itemized list. The interviews grouping consists of print interviews with James Hearst in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In addition to these distinct groupings, the James Hearst series contains a variety of other documents. Please refer to the inventory for a complete folder listing.