The collection contains the papers of Charlotte DeMonte Phelps, economist and Professor of Economics Emerita at Temple University. The papers are primarily academic in nature, but contain some personal documents. They contain information about her life in academia, course materials, research, and writings. Also present is her professional correspondence.

The collection contains several series: Correspondence, Teaching Material, Writings, Professional Service and Personal Files. Most of the collection is comprised of material related to Phelps' academic endeavors. Her correspondence covers 1957-2010 and primarily addresses colleagues across the field of economics. The teaching material is from a number of her most-taught courses and includes student papers Phelps deemed excellent and worthy of saving. The writings include her honor's thesis, dissertation, and a number of published articles. Unpublished works such as conference papers can be found in a compilation of materials prepared for a promotion and tenure committee, along with further correspondence, both of which are housed in the Professional Service Series. Also present are a number of conference programs and proceedings attended by Phelps that attest to her involvement in her field. The personal files deal mainly with her marriage to Edmund Phelps, including a marriage license, photographs, and series of letters following their divorce. Also included are a number of photographs with colleagues and a scrapbook of photographs.

Robert E. Lucas is an Economist at the University of Chicago and Nobel Prize laureate. The Robert E. Lucas Papers span the years 1960-2004, and document the professional work and career of Lucas during his appointments at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Canegie-Mellon University, and at the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. The collection is arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Professional Service; Research Files; and Teaching Material, with the most substantial material in the research series. Folders assembled and maintained by Lucas over many years contain notes, correspondence, drafts, clippings, reports, course and departmental files, and other material related to topics such as business cycles, monetary theory, rational expectations, economic growth, supply-side economics, and unemployment.

The Robert E. Lucas Papers span the years 1960-2004, and represent the professional work and career of Lucas during his appointments at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Canegie-Mellon University, and at the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. The collection is arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Professional Service; Research Files; and Teaching Material. Lucas is best known for for having developed and applied the hypothesis of rational expectations, and thereby having transformed macroeconomic analysis and deepened the understanding of economic policy. His work in these and other areas is profiled in the Research Files Series, the most substantial of the collection. Folders assembled and maintained by Lucas over many years contain notes, correspondence, drafts, clippings, reports, and other material related to topics such as business cycles, monetary theory, rational expectations, economic growth, supply side economics, and unemployment. No less significant is the Correspondence Series, nine boxes of exchanges with such economists and colleagues such as Lucas' collaborators Edward C. Prescott and Thomas Sargent, as well as James Tobin, Neil Wallace, Karl Brunner, David Cass, Edmund S. Phelps, Robert J. Gordon, Robert J. Barro, Leonard A. Rapping and John B. Taylor. These letters amplify the documentation in the research files on Lucas' career and research, as well as topics and debates in economics in the 20th century.

In addition to documenting Lucas' work in theoretical economics, the collection also follows his professional activities through documents found in the Professional Service Series. Items relate to his participation on various committees, his editorial and presidential commitments, and his work with institutions such as the American Economic Association (AEA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Finally, the Teaching Material Series, offers administrative files and course materials, such as notes, transparencies and exam subjects, dating from the 1960s to the 1990s and relating to Lucas' academic departmental service and teaching career.

Detailed descriptions on the arrangement and content of each series can be found in the respective sections of this collection guide.