The first addition to the Lawrence Papers consisted solely of "Studies in Plant Ecology," a mimeographed text prepared by Lawrence in 1942 for use in botany classes at Oregon State College.
A later addition to the collection (Accession 2015:20) consisted of materials generated by Lawrence including article reprints, a certificate, conference papers, Extension bulletins, notebooks, photographs, radio scripts, a student paper, and textbooks. Lawrence's published research in the articles and bulletins document a number of topics, including: stock-poisoning plants, Oregon tree studies, the teaching of plant physiology, and the phylogeny of green algae. One of the bulletins features a poem by Lawrence titled "Forest Trees." The scripts reflect radio broadcasts for KOAC in which Lawrence spoke on various plant topics and accounts from a visit to Mexico. The three notebooks reflect notes from a botany class taken by Lawrence as a student, birds observed in the field, and a bibliography of references cited from literature about plant ecology and range/pasture botany.
Numbering 631 images in total, the photographs are made up of glass plate negatives (530), lantern slide positives (56), and film negatives (45). Primarily depicting trees and vegetation in range and mountain environments in Oregon, Illinois, Indiana, Washington, and Massachusetts (Wood's Hole area) some of the photographs portray specimens of plants prepared for "plant physiology lab" studies. Most of the photographs were taken in Oregon. There are also portrait and group shots of family members and friends at home and on trips to the Oregon coast, Marys Peak, and at Mount Rainier.