The Papers of Tom Brokaw cover both Brokaw’s career and personal life. The collection is 38.75 liner feet and is broken up into sixteen series: Appointment Books, Artifacts, Biographical and Personal, Correspondence, Events and Speeches, Honors/Awards/Mementoes, Photographs, Press Passes and Badges, Radio Commentary, Reporter’s Notebooks, Specials, Subject Files, Videos/Film/Audio Cassettes, Writings, Miscellaneous, and Duplicates.

Appointment Books series contains Brokaw’s personal appointment books, along with appointment books kept by his assistants, from 1973 to 1999, 2001, 2002.

Artifacts series includes rocks picked up from the Great Wall of China, a PanAm Bag belonging to Andrea Brokaw (which is where the press badges were originally stored), political buttons, and a black case where photos from the Watergate coverage was kept.

Biographical and Personal series contains items and papers from time at school, including Brokaw’s application for University of South Dakota and various information about his parents, wife and children. Collection also includes items from his early career in Omaha, Georgia, and Los Angeles. Items from his early career also include several memorabilia pieces from man landing on the moon in 1969. The series also includes articles written about Tom Brokaw by various publications through the years.

Correspondence series includes letters and notes to and from Tom Brokaw, including correspondence from US Presidents Ford to Obama.

Events and Speeches series contains material on various events Brokaw participated in, as well as speeches he gave. Several university commencement speeches are included with this series, as well as several letters and photos that correspond to events.

Honors, Awards, and Mementos series documents programs and invitations to multiple award ceremonies Brokaw has received over the years, including several honorary degrees and White House invitations.

Photographs series has photos from both Brokaw’s public and personal life. Major events, trips, publicity shots, and speeches are documented. Photos of his ranch in Montana, family and friends are also represented. Series also includes several large format photos and framed photos.

Press Badges series contains six decades of different press badges and access passes. A few of the badges come with hand written notes from Brokaw explaining their significance.

Radio Commentary series contains transcripts of Brokaw’s radio commentary from 1982 to 1987.

Reporter’s Notebooks series has various notepads and loose paper from Brokaw’s time in the field, including a few notecards from a political debate.

Specials series looks at special stories reported by Brokaw for NBC News, as well as a few other institutions.

Subject Files series contains files kept by Brokaw’s offices that cover people, organizations, locations, and more.

Video, Film, Audio Cassettes series includes VHS tapes, DVDs, reel film, audio cassettes, and flash drives with different interviews, specials, and reporting Brokaw has done through his career.

Writings series holds articles written by Brokaw, research and drafts for book projects, and work done on Greatest Generation, Greatest Generation Speaks, Boom!, A Long Way From Home, and A Lucky Life Interrupted.

Miscellaneous series includes trip information, gifts from fans, and other various objects found in his collection.

Duplicates series contains repeats of articles and various other items already found within the collection.