This collection consists of papers including letters concerning Smith's retirement from both Davidson and Washington and Lee, as well as speeches, correspondence, and articles regarding Robert E. Lee, education, modern civilization, and temperance. Also includes material regarding Smith's 1921 trip to England chairing a commission to present a copy of Houdon's statue of George Washington to the British government from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

This collection consists of Washington College student J. Henry Smith's addresses to the college's "John Marshall Society" on Sept. 24, 1841; "Total Abstinence Society" on Sept. 23, 1842; a speech on "Patriotism" in celebration of George Washington's birthday as a representative of the "Rockbridge Union Volunteers" in 1842; and a speech on "Moral Education" given on Commencement Day, 1842.