The Marion C. Carson papers date from 1960-2004 and measure 5 linear inches. The papers are arranged in four series: Education, Religious Fellowships, Social Activism, and Artifacts. The collection focuses on the activities of a regional woman minister of the late twentieth century and her interest in religion and politics. The majority of the collection consists of the texts of Carson's sermons, 1982-1995.

The Education series (1979-2004) consists of a number of papers written and projects completed for courses at both the University of Iowa and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. Included in this series are seven items relating to Carson's disquisition.

The Religious Fellowships series (1982-1995) consists primarily of the texts of sermons written and delivered before Unitarian Universalist congregations in Ames, Cedar Rapids, and Dubuque. The majority of these sermons were delivered at The Peoples Church in Cedar Rapids. Included with some sermons are letters, programs of the service, and notes of acknowledgment. Also included in this series are clippings regarding the Well-Wisher Project (1973-1979) at the Peoples Church in Cedar Rapids, which invited the youth of the congregation to submit pseudonymous written concerns. These ranged from questions about school work and sibling rivalry to issues of pregnancy and homosexuality. Carson founded the project and wrote an individual reply to each concern submitted. In addition, this series includes the script, related papers, and photographs of a theater piece entitled, "Notes On a Lonely Calling: A Revue." Based on Cynthia Grant Tucker's book Prophetic Sisterhood, the revue picks up the theme of women who acted as Unitarian ministers on the frontier in the 1880s to 1930s.

The Social Activism series (1960-1998) consists of a booklet and papers relating to the Cedar Rapids Area Women's Peace Inquiry and Action Group; correspondence, forms, and other materials descriptive of New World Finders, a neighborhood club for children in the 1960s in Marion, Iowa; a booklet entitled, "The Quality Circle: Embattled but Unstoppable" written for the Chaplain's department of St. Luke's Hospital, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and papers Carson wrote for meetings of the Iowa Ethical Union.

The Artifacts series consists of one box with a cover labeled "Look Inside." The box contains eight pins printed with peace and nuclear disarmament slogans. It was used as a display and circulated in the Cedar Rapids area by the Women's Peace Inquiry and Action Group in the early 1960s.

Carson's doctoral disquisition, Producing a Novel about Faith Transitions (University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, 1987), has been separately catalogued and is housed in the printed works collection of the Iowa Women's Archives (call number 94-598). Carson's M.A. thesis, "Henry Adams' Novel of Democracy" (University of Iowa, 1954) is housed in the University Archives and in Main Library storage at the University of Iowa (call number T1954.C321).