The Frederick W. Kent Collection of Photographs is comprised of about 50,000 prints and negatives. The collection relates to most areas of the University of Iowa, including individuals, departments, and buildings, and it visually documents nearly every decade of University life since classes commenced in 1855. The majority of the images are dated between 1880 and 1980. In addition to University images, the collection includes approximately 2,000 images of commercial and residential structures off-campus in Iowa City, Iowa.

Note: The following inventory lists, where available, categories under which prints and negatives in the Frederick W. Kent Collection may be found. The number of prints or negatives in each category will range from as few as one to as many as 100 or more. For two sub-series - Faculty and Staff, and Students - there are no categories; in each case, individual items are arranged alphabetically by name. For the Theatre sub-series, photographs are arranged chronologically by school year, 1936 to 1972. See staff for additional information