The collection can be divided into three categories: a book of memories, which catalogues personal recollections of the area as told by its inhabitants, copies of South Bottoms Bugle, a monthly newsletter, and historical information about the area from a Sioux City historical organization. In circulation since 2002, The South Bottoms Bugle features resident memories and historical notes about the neighborhood, prayers, recipes, and announcements of upcoming reunions. Beginning with the first reunion in 1981, former South Bottom residents returned to the area from Iowa, North and South Dakota, Indiana, and beyond for potlucks and events. Reunion organizer Ray Tippery noted that about 170 attended the reunion in 2005 (South Bottoms Bugle 4: 14, July 2006).

In the collected memories book, former South Bottoms resident Linda Wendzillo Lover recounted stories of her grandfather, an immigrant from Russia, who came to South Bottoms to work for the railroad. Bootlegging was quite common in the neighborhood during Prohibition, Wendzillo noted, as many came from the “Old Country where home brews and whiskey was acceptable.” Even though South Bottoms was known as a “tough neighborhood,” the majority of the entries featured fond memories of growing up in the neighborhood before the flood, which included watching outdoor movies at the 75-Drive and attending dances and softball games.

Nearly all of the residents spoke mournfully of the neighborhood’s demise, which began with the catastrophic flood of 1953. Former resident Joseph Juarez noted, “I remember the water coming over the tracks on Dace Street and the National Guard coming with sandbags and big rig tracks.” Another resident, John Paul Hantla Jr. remembered sitting “atop the stoplight next to the X and D Grocery... watch[ing] helplessly as cars washed down Wall Street.” Chris Kounas’ family, one of the last remaining families to stay in South Bottoms, wrote that after relocating there was “an empty feeling... and a loss of security... when we moved up to Summit Street.” Amid the profound loss felt by the community was a striking sense of nostalgia and pride for a neighborhood in which “people... watched over each other—even if they didn’t speak the same language” (South Bottoms Bugle 4: 14, July 2006).