The John White Papers contain John White's research materials related to his involvement in American Indian cultural preservation, education, history, language, and storytelling, particularly those of the Illiniwek tribes. The John White Papers are arranged by material type: correspondence, works and writings, language materials, storytelling materials, and miscellaneous. With this is mind, some of the items in the collection fall into more than one of the categories. So, for example, stories retold by John White are with the storytelling materials, not the works and writings.

Many of the folder titles retain the qualities White himself used in his folder labeling. Some of the original folders contained information related to their contents, so within some folders there are copies on acid-free paper of what appeared on the folder. Dashes appear in the folder titles because White often used them when he taught native dialects and languages to students. Relatedly when the dialect or language for an item is known it appears in the folder title.

Some of the items found in the storytelling materials are also found in the Newberry Library's collection. Many materials are photocopies.