The Dona Dinsdale Papers document Dinsdale's student years at Oregon State College from 1943 to 1947, during and immediately following World War II. The collection includes course materials, correspondence, publications, ephemera and photographs. Course materials -- including course outlines, class notes, term papers, book reports, and examinations --- comprise the bulk of the collection. Materials from courses on modern Russia, clothing selection, house furnishings, European literature, Latin American relations, psychology, secretarial science, and business law are represented in the collection. The , published by the Oregon State College Secretarial Science Department for use in Secretarial Science 311 and 312, is available in the collection.

Of special note are Dinsdale's materials for a Clothing Selection course (CT 217) that include drawings by Dinsdale as well as a scrapbook that Dinsdale assembled for a House Furnishings class (CT 331). The scrapbook includes examples of housing styles and a proposed plan with recommended furnishings for a family home; Dinsdale used illustrations clipped from magazines and fabric samples in the scrapbook. A personal portfolio prepared by Dinsdale for job applications includes a handwriting sample, a summary of her activities and academic record, a skills rating, letters of recommendation, and a portrait photograph.

The correspondence consists of letters written by Dinsdale to her parents from 1943 to 1947. In these letters, Dinsdale describes her daily life at Oregon State including sorority pledging and events, travelling on the bus to and from Corvallis, college expenses, tickets for the graduation ceremony, campus events, clothes needed for various occassions, receiving guests, letter writing, and class assignments.

The Papers include several issues of the alumni magazine, the monthly magazine for November 1946 and February 1947, the annual college fashion previews published by the Meier and Frank Company, and for Fall 1945. A summer newsletter from the secretarial science program, event programs, newspaper clippings, a decal and pennant, grade reports, receipts, and student identification cards are part of the collection. Dinsdale's Oregon State diploma is also included.

The photographs consist of one portrait photograph in her portfolio; a graduation portrait photograph of Dinsdale in her cap and gown, made by Hise Studio; and a group photograph of the senior graduating class of the Upsilon Chapter of Sigma Kappa Sorority taken in front of the chapter house on graduation day, June 8, 1947.