Family and personal papers include school papers for both Rebecca C. Browne Bradford and Robert F. Bradford. Family correspondence includes early letters between Robert F. Bradford, his parents, and his siblings, as well as later letters between Robert F. Bradford, Rebecca C. Browne Bradford, their children, and members of the Browne and Chamberlain families (Rebecca C. Browne Bradford's mother and siblings). Letters written by the children's teachers, doctors, and camp counselors are also included. The series also contains travel records of Robert F. Bradford and Rebecca C. Browne Bradford, 1949-1971, and diaries of Robert F. Bradford, 1957-1966, mostly the line-a-day variety. There is one diary of Arthur H. Williams, kept as director of the Army and Navy Recreation Center, Boston, Mass., 1943. How it came into the collection is unclear.

General correspondence and papers consist of letters arranged alphabetically, covering the years 1939-1949 (with a few letters from the end of 1938). This series was already separately designated when the papers came to the MHS, although there is some overlap of correspondents between this series and the three campaign series. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the correspondent's last name, except when they are writing as the representative of a specific company or organization. When only one or two items appear for a specific person, they are located at the beginning of that letter of the alphabet, under, for instance, "Miscellaneous - E." Cartons 13-14 contain correspondence pertaining to Bradford's interests as trustee or director of various institutions and organizations, arranged alphabetically by institution name. There is some overlap between these boxes and the general correspondence as far as individual writers are concerned. For instance, Charles Almy letters appear in the Browne & Nichols files, as well as in the file for "Almy, Charles and Elizabeth."

General political papers consist of documents relating to Bradford's position as district attorney (carton 15) and to his term as governor of Massachusetts (cartons 15-17), including subject files arranged alphabetically (cartons 15-16), financial statements (carton 16), and political correspondence (cartons 16-17). Ignore folder numbers within the boxes, as they were arbitrarily assigned and have since been re-arranged.

Papers for each campaign (1944, 1946, and 1948) are somewhat disordered, so researchers should check every box for the campaign in which they are interested. Ignore folder numbers within the boxes, as they were arbitrarily assigned and have since been re-arranged.