The Harriet A. Stevens papers date from 1928 to 1994and measure 5 linear inches. They are arranged in six series: Biographical Materials; Department of Home Economics, University of Iowa; World War II Army Service; Press Releases; Publications and Presentations; and Phi Beta Kappa. Her papers consist of academic and professional records, Army service records, publications and press releases pertaining to her work as a nutrition researcher and educator, and materials relating to her tenure in the Home Economics Department of the University of Iowa and the Home Economics Department in general. Records concerning the University of Iowa Alpha of Phi Beta Kappa, as well as information regarding the Stevens scholarship, are contained herein. A small folder of biographical material on fellow nutrition researcher Dr. Margaret Ohlson is included in this collection, as is a small folder on Stevens' efforts to combat the elimination of "historically female" departments at the University of Iowa.

This collection provides little information on Stevens' career prior to her Army service. Her personal recollections of Army life at Camp Gordon provide a fascinating, if brief, look at the stateside war. Stevens' academic and professional records, first as a student and later as a faculty member with the University of Iowa, invite researchers to examine the changing structure and philosophy of home economics education. A collection of press releases relating to Home Economics Department activities in the 1950s and 1960s offers a sometimes humorous look at changing gender ideologies during that period.