The Lorraine Hansen papers date from 1958 to 1973 and measure 10 linear inches. The biographical information consists of notes taken during an interview with Hanson's daughter, Marsha Knittig. The bulk of the collection consists of thirteen diaries that Hansen kept from 1958 to 1969 and 1973. Hansen sporadically writes of daily activities, her children, local events, trips and the weather. She refers to herself as "Mama" and her husband as "Daddy." Hansen occasionally drew sketches in her diaries and inserted newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, her children's homework assignments, and other ephemera. Hansen wrote and kept the diaries in the bathroom of her home, and some of the pages in the 1959 diary are water damaged. Photographs and letters were removed from the diaries and are included in separate folders at the end of the collection; they are labeled with the date and their original location within the diaries. Many of the letters are from her sons after they moved away from home. The photographs are mostly school pictures of Hansen's children.