The Center collects primary and secondary source materials documenting current and historical issues.

The collection includes bibliographies, monographs, dissertations, town and local histories, newspapers, Federal census schedules, some Connecticut State Documents, Windham and Willimantic town records, the David E. Philips Connecticut Folklore Collection, a collection of documents pertaining to the Willimantic Women's Club, politics in the 1920s and 1930s, the Missionary Society of Connecticut among other primary documents, and a historical textbook collection. The Center also maintains a collection of newsletters, periodicals, and journals from historical societies and other historical organizations from around Connecticut and New England.   

 
   The Center maintains an extensive collection of public documents.  These consist of annual reports from various state agencies including the Treasurer, Comptroller, Railroad Commissioner, Commissioner of the School Fund, Hartford Hospital, Labor Bureau, Storrs Agricultural School, jails, and the normal schools.

        In 1989, the Center accepted Windham and Willimantic town records. The records cover the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries and include town reports, tax lists, town minutes and reports, town clerk's correspondence, voting records and lists, education records, and almshouse ledgers. The papers include WPA correspondence and other Depression related materials. Military documents relate to Willimantic's participation in both World War I and II, as well as the Civil War and the Spanish-American conflict.