This collection has been arranged into eight series.

Series 1 (Dressel Papers) is composed of Paul Dressel’s papers and writings. This includes papers authored, co-authored or edited by him. Included are manuscripts and rough drafts, pamphlets, individual papers, and photographs. His personal reminisces of MSU include many stories about MSU departments and individuals. Topics include the registrar, library, women students, homosexuality on campus, counseling center, ROTC honorary colonels, Dean Giltner, President Shaw, Farmers Week, Examinations, President Hannah, Institutional Accreditation, and other experiences in higher education.

Series 2 (Collected Documents) is comprised of documents collected by Paul Dressel during his time at Michigan State University. Many of these collected papers pertain to the establishment of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at MSU.

Series 3 (Figure Skating) is made of figure skating materials from when his wife, Wilma and daughter, Jenna, participated in the sport. There are newsletters from the Lansing Skating club, various figure skating programs which includes Olympic skaters and a young Vera Wang, newspaper clippings, and photos. Also included is Wilma's hat from when she judged figure skating competitions and patches.

Series 4 (The Hannah Years Book Materials) is made up of the materials used to write his book on the Hannah years, “From College to University: The Hannah Years at Michigan State University”. This includes interviews and recollections from current and retired faculty and staff, clippings, departmental and college histories, reports, and other publications.

Series 5 (Added Materials) is compiled of documents that were added to the collection after it was already processed. The materials included are a mixture of Paul Dressel's articles and publications, newspaper clippings, correspondence, programs, and a list of people receiving his book on Hannah. Many of the materials in this series overlap with the topics in Series 1-4.

Series 6 (Photographs) is currently comprised of three black and white photographs of Paul Dressel originally taken by the MSU Photo Laboratory and one color photograph of Paul and Wilma Dressel.

Series 7 (Oversize Materials) includes Paul Dressel's diplomas and Wilma Dressel's diplomas and various certificates.

Series 8 (Electronic Resources) includes a scanned photograph of Wilma Dressel ice skating with Howard Fisher; two scanned Polaroid photos from the Dressel 50th wedding anniversary featuring John Hannah, Lou Anna Simon, Myron Magen, and Judy Ikenberry; and scanned pages from a scrapbook created for the Dressel's 50th wedding anniversary reception, which included photographs as well as letters.

Further biographical information and photographs of Paul Dressel can be found in the Media Communications records, UA 8.1.1.