The Maude Powell papers consist of correspondence, financial records, scrapbooks, publications, a journal, and legal documents. The bulk of the correspondence relates to life in China between 1917 and 1987, beginning with letters between Maude and Ralph in 1916 as they prepared to go to China. From 1917 to 1927 their letters to friends and relatives back home describe and comment on their life in China as missionaries. Letters between Maude and Ralph during their separations discuss their daily triumphs and struggles while working for the American Red Cross or for the Yale University mission school. Maude's unfinished book, written when she was in her seventies, includes recollections of this time, and gives more narrative descriptions of the Powells' daily life.

The collection also includes correspondence and other documents related to their two foster daughters, Chingen Tseng and YuYing Tu. One item of particular interest is the original letter from Chingen's mother to the Powells in 1920 allowing Chingen to live with them.

After the Powells returned to America in 1927, they kept in touch with the girls whose letters during this time contain references to their daily lives, but little mention of the political situation. They frequently mention their progress in school and include copies of report cards. This correspondence ceased while Chingen and YuYing were attending The Ohio State University from 1936 to 1940, but references to these years are made in other letters.

Following the girls' return to China in 1940, their letters resume, continuing until 1965. YuYing, now known as Ruth, married Hanson Liu, also a student at OSU, soon after she returned to China. Her letters detail their daily life, and Hanson often writes about his work with China's Ministry of Food, and later the Shanghai Power Company. However, he lost his job in the early 1950s during a period of upheaval in China. Both Ruth and Hanson finally found work as teachers in 1956. Their letters describe the difficult economic situation with details about inflation, fluctuating currency values, and food rationing.

Chingen's letters were less frequent and her life was quite different from Ruth's. Chingen taught dancing and physical education when she returned to China in 1940. She married a customs officer who was often away from home, leaving Chingen to run the household. She writes about her various duties, her efforts to find a job after her marriage, and her problems with her husband's family. Chingen and her children were required to work on the government farms, and she tries to explain to government's rational for this system of forced labor.

There is a gap in letters from China from 1966 to 1979, but Maude's annual Christmas letters give some evidence about what was happening in these years. During the Cultural Revolution, all mail between China and America was cut off. Ruth and Hanson were separated, and they were persecuted for their involvement both with Americans and with the old Chinese government. Hanson did not learn of Ruth's suicide until 1973. He and the Powells apparently corresponded between 1973 and 1979, but their letters do not appear in the collection.

Correspondence from China after 1979 includes letters from Ruth's brother, Yeh-k'o; from Chingen, who was almost 70 years old by this time; and from Hanson. Letters from Chingen continue until 1987, the year of Maude Powell's death.

The remainder of the collection contains Ralph Powell's college scrapbook (1907-1913); documents related to his death in 1976; materials concerning the publication and sales of Eternally Yours; and materials from Susan McAlpine, who was writing a book about women, using letters between Maude Powell and her sister-in-law.