This collection consists of official and personal papers of Berea College's first president, Edward Henry Fairchild.  Materials include personal papers, manuscript reminiscences, essays, photographs and printed articles by and about the Fairchild family. Family members represented, in addition to Edward Henry Fairchild, are Edward's wife, Maria B. Fairchild; his brother, James H. Fairchild and sister-in-law, Helen Viets Fairchild; his children, the Rev. Charles Fairchild, Julia Fairchild Hall, Arthur Fairchild, and Eugene Fairchild; nephews David Fairchild and the Rev. Edwin M. Fairchild, nieces Phoebe and Carolyn Haynes, grandchildren Bertha Fairchild Lauder, Henry P. Fairchild, Frederick F. Hall, Walter Fairchild and Edith Fairchild; great granddaughters Grace Hall Ohl and Ruth Lauder. President Fairchild's correspondence is limited to twenty-one letters (1860-1882), of which only seven appear to be original. Included are fragmentary personal and business correspondence of E.H. Fairchild and Frederick F. Hall; typewritten copies of Charles F. Dike's letters to Fairchild concerning Dike's donation of money for the education of black students; and correspondence of other family members.

Photographs present include a family album and miscellaneous loose prints, most of which are 19th century. Depicted are family members and the Fairchild home (c. 1894); Berea College students, buildings, and campus scenes (1869-1873, 1891-1894); and several shots taken at sites near Berea. Other materials include printed presidential addresses of Fairchild (inaugural, baccalaureate, etc., 1969-1885), printed college advertisements and circulars (1869-1875), and miscellaneous notes and clippings relating to Fairchild's career.