The Dora Jane Hamblin papers date from 1937 to 1993 and measure 5.8 linear feet. They are organized in four series: Biographical material and oral history, Writings and research, Family papers, and Photographs.

The first series, Biographical material and oral history (1967-1993), is arranged in two subseries. The first subseries, Biographical material (1967-1993), contains a precis of Hamblin's life written by her sister, Mary Ovrom; newspaper clippings about and a program of the 1968 Coe College commencement at which Hamblin was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Literature; correspondence from Frank Paluka, Head of Special Collections, University of Iowa, concerning the donation of manuscript and book draft materials to the university; a copy of her obituary from the Des Moines Register dated August 22, 1993; and a eulogy to Hamblinby her sister, Mary Ovrom, from her column in the Van Buren County Register. The second subseries, Oral history, consists of a videocassette of Hamblin made on January 8, 1988 in which she discusses the highlights of her professional career. The cassette has been removed and shelved separately in the Videocassette Collection (no. V27).

The second series, Writings and research (1937-1981), is organized chronologically into seven subseries. The first subseries, Early writings (1937-1942) contains book reviews, term papers,manuscripts submitted for publication to various women's magazines, and poetrywritten while she was a student at Coe College. Also in this subseries is a photographic essay entitled Girl Scout Camping Trip, compiled while she was at Northwestern University. The second subseries, Cedar Rapids Gazette articles (1944-1947), contains articles about United States troop conditions submitted by Hamblin while serving as an American Red Cross staff assistant in Australia, the Phillippines, the Southwest Pacific, Japan, and later in the European theater of war. The third subseries, Red Cross Courier articles(1945-1948), contains articles submitted by Hamblin in her capacity as an American Red Cross staff correspondent. However, contributions to other periodicals and clippings from various United States newspapers as well as photographs by Hamblin published in International Events are also included.

The fourth subseries, Life file (1948-1981), is by far the most extensive portion of these papers. It contains Hamblin's original drafts and revisions of articles, research and background material sent to Life magazine for rewrite or development by senior staff editors and copies of original articles published in Life under her own by-line. It also includes descriptions of photographs submitted to the editorial offices in NewYork. A significant portion of this subseries, indeed, of this entire collection of papers, is devoted to Hamblin's assignment to Houston, Texas in 1969 to cover the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Contained herein is extensive research material, scientific and personal, on man's first landing on themoon. Of primary importance are her interviews with all the major personnel associated with the flight, NASA personnel included, but with special emphasis given to the three astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins, and their families. All material in this extensive subseries is arranged alphabetically by the author's own subject headings.

The fifth subseries, Miscellaneous articles (1968, 1982), contains articles from the Coe College Courier(July 1968) and the Smithsonian (July1981). The sixth subseries, Reviews of Hamblin's books, contains reviews of The Appian Way and That Was the Life from Iowa newspapers. The seventh subseries consists of a single, unpublished and undated manuscript (ca. 350 leaves) of the life of film actress, Sophia Loren, entitled simply"Sophia." The manuscript covers Loren's life up to 1966.

The third series, Family papers (1939-1993), is divided into three subseries. The first, "Mrs. Hamblin's children" consists of an autobiography by Mary Margaret Ovrom, Hamblin's sister, written in 1975. The second subseries, "Around the bend" contains a collection of columns by that title from the 1980s, written by Mary Ovrom for the Van Buren County Register, the Des Moines Register, and the Ottumwa Courier. The column occasionally appeared under the title "Mary-go-round". The third subseries, "In our town" contains a collection of columns by that title dated 1939 to 1963 from the Bedford Times-Press by Allen W. Hamblin, the paper's editor and publisher for forty-one years. Of special note in this subseries is a published letter from Dora Jane Hamblin describing her Mexico-Yucatan trip in1955. It also contains a 1955 letter from James McCutcheon of the Mount Vernon Hawkeye-Record to A.W. Hamblin requesting information on the early history of chautauqua performances in Bedford, Iowa, and a copy of a eulogy to A.W.Hamblin by his daughter, Mary Ovrom, from the Cedar Rapids Gazette, dated May 5, 1974.

The fourth series, Photographs (1937-1969) consists of contact sheets, negatives and, less frequently, prints of personal trips taken by Hamblin and photographs of locations and persons associated with her many assignments for Life magazine. The first subseries, Personal and family (1937-1961), is arranged chronologically. The second subseries,Life articles (1951-1969), is arranged alphabetically by Hamblin's subject headings.