The Lillian Lawler papers measure 2.5 linear inches and date from 1925 to 1968. The bulk of the contents date from Lawler's years teaching at Hunter College, traveling, photographing, and publishing articles (1930 to 1960). The papers are arranged in four series: Reprints, Journals, Photographs, and Miscellaneous.

The Reprints series consists of reprints of twenty-seven articles by Lawler, primarily on the subject of dance in ancient Greece, but also on such topics as marriage in ancient Italy and women's fashion in Roman Africa, reprinted from the American Journal of Philology, The Classical Journal, Classical Philology, Proceedings and Transactions of the American Philological Association, and Studies Presented to David Moore Robinson.

Journals include accounts of journeys to Rome and around Europe in 1925, including a visit with Pope Pius XI and much visiting of ancient sites of classical interest; and trips to Bermuda in 1931, to Greece in 1936, and to Australia. There is also a list of plays staged by the State University of Iowa (University of Iowa) from 1959 to 1968.

The Miscellaneous series is comprised of a Pittsburgh High Schools Christmas 1911 issue of High School Journal; a pamphlet advertising an educational Mediterranean cruise for students of Teachers College, Columbia University, to be taught on shipboard and on location by Lawler; and a pamphlet entitled "How the Romans Dressed," by Dr. Lillian Wilson, of Teachers' College.

The Photographs are largely of places and things encountered in travel, as well as of persons with whom Lawler traveled. There are many images here of ruins and artifacts of Greece, many of scenery and countryside. Probably of greatest interest are the photos of classical Greek pottery art.