This collection consists of letters from B.C. Lee to his mother, Frances Lee. Letters from 1856, 1858, and 1859 document Lee's time at the Centenary Institute and the East Alabama Male College. These letters discuss news of family and friends; Lee's Methodist faith and religious activities; his academic endeavors; his arguments for obtaining a good education (in response to his mother urging him to return home to her); his visits to relatives in Autaugaville, Alabama, and West Point, Mississippi, during school holidays; his housing situation on Auburn; and his impressions of the professors at the Auburn College. In addition, there are letters from 1861-1863 during Lee's service in the Confederate army during the Civil War. These letters document Lee;s time with the 38th Alabama during its stay in the area of Mobile, Alabama, in 1862; and during its service in General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee during the Tullahoma Campaign in middle Tennessee during 1863. The letters address Lee's health, war news, camp life, guard duty, food and shelter in the army, marching during the retreat from Tullahoma, army discipline, and Lee's service on a court-martial.

In addition to the letters, the collection includes an exercise book and several essays and speeches (some by Lee and some by his schoolmates) from Lee's time at the Centenary Institute, several of Lee's report cards from the Centenary Institute, the constitution and by-laws of the Wirt Society (a literary society) at the East Alabama Male College, and Lee's parole following his unit's surrender at the end of the Civil War in 1865.