The Eva Donelson Wilson papers consist of an autobiography completed in 1994.

The autobiography presents vivid detail about a rural childhood, the maintaining of a farm and its household. Wilson carefully delineates the steps involved in such domesticities as gardening, canning, threshing, butter-making, soap and vinegar processing. She also describes holidays, church customs, the music, magazines and newspapers found in the home. She discusses common diseases and their treatment, changes in transportation, games frequently played and the coming of the Chautauqua.

Wilson was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, and Penn State University. In addition she taught in Brazil. Wilson describes college jobs, rules, dormitories and classes; portrays professors' personalities and teaching styles; and lists each school's intention, architecture, and traditions. Four editions of Wilson's Principles of Nutrition, first published in 1959, are cataloged and shelved in the printed works section of the Iowa Women's Archives.