Materials related to key family members—including ancestors, contemporaries, and descendants—as well as family friends, colleagues, and pets of Ernest A. and Alyce C. Griffin. Documents include vital records (birth, death, marriage), genealogical records, educational and community materials, church records, personal correspondence, legal records, travel materials, and periodicals. Of note are documents relating to Ernest and Alyce’s nephew, Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., the first black astronaut in the United States.

The series contains a considerable amount of genealogical material, from which the family tree in the accession file is based. This material involves several branches of the Griffin family and includes locations as diverse as Chicago (Illinois), Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), Dresden (Ontario, Canada), and Baden Baden (Germany), among others.