The papers of Paul V. Shearer consist of two boxes of manuscripts, dating from 1919 to 1995. The contents include articles written by Shearer for his "ImPRESSions" column for The Columbus Gazette, biographical data, and correspondence of business, personal, political and religious significance dating from 1937 to 1994. The collection also contains considerable material concerning the Methodist Church, including Iowa, North Central Jurisdictional, and international conference materials. Materials related to the debate about the Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church are in the collection. Shearer's speeches on civic and religious events are included as are copies of family photographs. Shearer headed the committee for the creation of a bicentennial time capsule in Washington county, Iowa, and those materials are represented in these papers.