These materials include letters, memorandums, reports, testimonies, and articles from magazines and newspapers. Some of these materials were also used to draft speeches and statements for the Senate floor and other speaking engagements. In addition, there are voting records which were used to keep track of legislation. There are no records concerning the Correspondence Management System Library.

The Subject File subseries (Subseries A, 1901-; 55.125 cu. ft.) contains the research materials used to draft bills, amendments, and resolutions. This information was also used to help make decisions about legislation. This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically within each folder. Most of the records deal with bills, acts, amendments, resolutions, and budget appropriations. Material from committees and hearings are also included. There is some information about individuals, especially Senators and Congressmen. In addition, there are records regarding nominations for various positions, such as judgeships. Information also can be found on different agencies, commissions, unions and administrations. Some of these organizations include the American Civil Liberties Union, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Federal Elections Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration. Generally, the correspondence in this subseries is from colleagues asking for support of their bills, and Thurmond's responses to their requests. Some of the other letters are concerned with Thurmond asking his colleagues for support of his legislation. This subseries does have some voting records from different organizations, such as the Consumer Federation of America, the Americans For Constitutional Action, and the Conservative Caucus.

One of the major subjects covered in the Subject File subseries is the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Treaty between the United States and Panama. There is much information covering the Canal's background, defense capabilities, economic aspects, etc. Another major subject is private relief bills which are bills granting a pension, authorizing payment of a claim, or giving another form of relief to a private individual or legal entity. A third major subject concerns material on the stockpiling of metals and other resources for emergency defense purposes. Other topics include the right-to-work issue, SALT II, the Savannah River Plant, school desegregation and busing, South Carolina school districts, taxes, textiles and transportation. There is some material on Senate rules and ethics, removal procedures of federal judges, and the States' Rights Campaign. There is also a rough draft of a book written by Senator Thurmond entitled No-Win Policy, and some information on Rebel Senator by Alberta Lachicotte. Finally, some legislative notices and presidential messages are filed in this subseries.

The Speech Material subseries (Subseries B, 1943-; 14.4 cu. ft.) has the material used to prepare speeches and statements for the Senate floor and other speaking engagements. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically within each folder. Most of the material in this subseries is articles from magazines and newspapers, reports, etc. Some speeches and statements are filed in this subseries, but most of them are located in the Speeches series. The principal topic in this subseries concerns public figures, e.g. Senators Ernest F. Hollings and Olin D. Johnston. Other major topics include foreign relations, the right-to-work issue, segregation and race relations, the Supreme Court, textiles and the United Nations. Some addresses and statements concerning civil rights are filed in this subseries. There is some political campaign material on George McGovern and Richard Nixon. In addition, there are lists of Congressional Record Inserts for the years 1963-1979, but the years of 1968 and 1970-1972 are missing. Speech indexes for the years 1979-1982 are filed in this subseries.

The Voting Records subseries (Subseries C, 1955-; 7.875 cu. ft.) is comprised of material pertaining to the voting records of legislation. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by folder title, but are arranged differently within each folder according to the subject. The correspondence filed in this subseries concerns colleagues asking Senator Thurmond to co-sponsor their bills and resolutions, and is arranged chronologically. There are some copies of the Congressional Quarterly Almanac from 1961-1964. In addition, there are separate lists of what legislation Thurmond sponsored and co-sponsored which are arranged by Congressional sessions. The subseries has two voting record references: the Voting Record Analysis (compiled by the Senate Republican Policy Committee) and the Voting Record and Index (compiled by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee). These references are arranged by Congress and session, and then are in order by voting number. A couple of voting record schedules list chronologically the legislation that was voted on in 1977 and 1978. The last part of the subseries concerns legislation organized into subject categories. These records are arranged by Congress and session, and chronologically by year, and then alphabetically within by subjects. Some Congressional sessions are missing in this subseries.

Important individuals in this series from South Carolina include John C. Calhoun; State Representative Solomon Blatt; Walter J. Brown; United States Congressman William J. Bryan Dorn; and Governor George Bell Timerman, Jr. Other important individuals include Presidents Jimmy Carter, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman; Vice President Nelson Rockefeller; United States Senators Barry Goldwater, Hubert H. Humphrey, Richard Russell, and Herman Talmadge; United States Supreme Court Justices William O. Douglas, Abe Fortas, Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist, and Earl Warren; Governor Adlai Stevenson; Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr.