The major portion of this collection of pictures consists of 53 cartes de viste, dating from the 1860s. Most of them are pictures of Civil War generals. Many of these cartes bear a U.S. postage stamp, indicating that they were produced before or during the period Sept. 1, 1864-Aug. 1, 1866, when all such photographs transported in the U. S. mail were subject to this form of government tax in order to raise additional wartime revenue. Only five of them have not been identified. Also included in this collection are 30 engravings, most of them of prominent American statesmen. Included in the collection are engravings of Kit Carson, Samuel P. Chase, Horatio Gates, and members of Abraham Lincoln's cabinet. Two non-person pictures include an undated print of the Charlotte Female Institute and an 1863 print of Camp Vermont, Virginia during the Civil War. As of April 2008, these items are located on 6th 16:B.
Collection consists largely of correspondence between family members, friends, and business associates spanning three generations, as well as some Civil War and early Reconstruction letters relating to Hopkins' activities in New Orleans. Correspondents include Hopkins' daughter, Elizabeth; her husband Alfred Lawrence Aiken, a prominent banker in Boston; the Gadsden family of Charleston, S.C.; and the Peck family, relatives of Hopkins' wife, Lizzie. An information folder chronologically lists a portion of the collection. Also included in this collection are a few legal papers, financial papers, addresses and writings, pictures, and a miscellaneous folder that includes some genealogy. Subjects mentioned in the letters include travel in the U.S. and Europe, marriage and family life, illness, Williams College, Yale College, politics, law,"bloodletting with leeches," Civil War activities, and The Worcester Continentals.