The collection includes extensive correspondence, written between 1884 and 1911, among W. H. Gordon and former railway and post office employees, attesting that the idea of a railway mail car originated with William A. Davis. There is one letter written by Davis to G. W. McLellan, Postmaster General, in 1862, describing his method of distributing mail on train cars. There are photographic portraits of Davis, Gordon, and other men connected with the Railway Mail Service who were acquaintances or colleagues of Davis. There are also 1920s news clippings detailing Davis’s history, as well as materials regarding a bronze tablet to be placed in the St. Joseph Post Office in honor of Davis. Among the items not directly related to Davis are two issues of The Railway Post Office newsletter from 1905-06, an extract from “A Life Span and Reminiscences on Railway Mail Service” written by James E. White in 1910, and a copy of the 1885 contract between the U. S. Postal Service and the CB&Q Railroad Company.