American Chemical Society (ACS) material includes correspondence, committee records, proposals, reports, and publications dating from 1969-1987 which document Harrison's work as an active member of that organization. The material reflects her work on many committees including the Chemistry in the Community Steering Committee (CHEMCOM), the Nominations and Elections Committee, the Public Affairs Committee, the Public Relations Committee, the Chemical Education Committee, and the Long Range Planning Committee. The series also contains many documents dating from her year as president of ACS (1978) including reports concerning her trips to Japan, Spain and Thailand and her work with ACS divisions, regions, and international chapters.

Subject files contain letters by and to Harrison, speeches and articles by her, minutes, agenda, reports, programs, articles and other publications, and information about subjects of interest to her. Most of the items in this series date from 1970-1986, although there are a few earlier documents such as a copy of an 1890 article about Joseph Priestly's laboratory and some correspondence from 1958-1969. Many of these documents reflect Harrison's work with a large number of scientific organizations including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Association of American Colleges, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, the Education Commission of the States, the Manufacturing Chemists' Association, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council, the National Science Board, the National Science Foundation, and the Universities Space Research Associations's Lunar and Planetary Institute. The most extensive group of material concerns the AAAS. These documents reflect her involvement with that organization's divisions, board of directors, meetings, and committees such as the Committee on Council Affairs and the Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility. The subject files also concern topics of interest to Harrison such as the role and status of women in science, the support of science education at the state and federal levels, awards recognizing significant achievements by scientists, and public health and conservation issues. Numerous files relate to federal agencies and commissions, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the House Committee on Science and Technology. Other material concerns conferences that Harrison attended and her visits to many colleges and universities as a lecturer, consultant, or honorary degree recipient.

The Mount Holyoke College material consists of subject files, course records, and recommendations written by Harrison. The subject files, 1975-1985, contain letters by and to her, reports, programs, and publications relating to a variety of topics. For example, the "Chemistry Department" files contain letters by Harrison concerning her work, documents concerning the curriculum, and information about a seminar offered by the department, while letters to Harrison from Mount Holyoke alumnae are in the "Former Students" file. Course records for Chemistry 100: Atoms, Molecules, and Ions date from 1975-1980 and includes syllabi and other class handouts, laboratory assignments, and examinations. Recommendations written by Harrison, 1969-1986, concern former students as well as Mount Holyoke faculty and staff and other colleagues elsewhere.

Research material, 1933-1972, consists of correspondence, applications, reports, articles, charts, graphs, and photographs relating to Harrison's scientific interests and experiments. Some of this material relates to a grant that Harrison received from the Petroleum Research Fund Advisory Board of the American Chemical Society for "an experimental study of the far ultraviolet absorption spectra and photodecomposition products of selected organic compounds." These documents date from 1957-1968 and consist of applications, correspondence, and experiment findings as reported in published articles by Harrison and Mount Holyoke College colleagues and students who worked with her on the project. Other files in the series contain graphs, charts, notes, prints and negatives (usually undated) which probably relate to Harrison's research work in the 1950s. The series also includes copies of articles on research topics of interest, 1933-1972. Many of these articles were written by Emma P. Carr, Lucy W. Pickett, and other members of the Mount Holyoke Chemistry Department. A file labeled "Bits & Pieces" contains a letter to Harrison from Pickett, circa March 1953, about a research project that both women were working on.

Writings, 1938-1996, consist of both published and unpublished articles, speeches, conference papers, position papers, drafts, reviews, and a textbook by Harrison. Her writings from 1938-1959 chiefly reflect her research interests. This material includes a copy of her Ph.D. dissertation, 1940; a "Laboratory Outline of General Chemistry," written in 1945 while she was teaching at Sophie Newcomb College; and articles reporting on the outcome of research projects at Mount Holyoke College, 1947-1959. Many of these articles were co-written with her colleagues in the Chemistry Department, and graduate and undergraduate students. Harrison's writings from 1971-1996 chiefly concern her work as an educator and representative of several scientific societies. Titles of these documents include "Science Education and the National Science Foundation" 1971, "The Chemical Profession in Transition" 1977, "Chemicals and Health" 1978, "Science and Technology in General Education" 1979, "The Future Role of Women in Science and the World" 1980, "The Protection of Human Health and the Environment" 1982, and a textbook, "Chemistry: A Search to Understand," co-written with Mount Holyoke College colleague Edwin S. Weaver and published in 1989.

Correspondence consists of letters by and to Harrison dating from 1970-1987 and 1995-1996. Many of these letters concern the preparation and publication of her textbook, "Chemistry: A Search to Understand." This material reflects her early plans for the book in 1975-1976, her efforts to find a publisher, 1977-1983, and her discussions of the book's contents with professional colleagues, 1980-1983. In June 1984 Harrison signed a publishing contract with Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. and correspondence through 1987 includes comments by editors and reviewers and her detailed responses to their suggestions. Other correspondence consists of letters by or to Harrison as an American Chemical Society official, letters to Mount Holyoke College alumnae or prospective students, letters concerning Harrison's attendance at meetings and the many awards and honorary degrees that she received, and requests for copies of her speeches and articles.

Memorabilia consists of diplomas, certificates, citations, medals, invitations, and calendars. These documents chiefly relate to awards and degrees (including honorary degrees) that Harrison received between 1940-1984, conferences and other events that she attended, 1952-1983, and a party at Mount Holyoke College in 1988 to celebrate the completion of her textbook, "Chemistry: A Search to Understand." The series also includes Harrison's appointment calendars for 1979 and 1985.

Biographical information includes autobiographical sketches by Harrison, curriculum vitae, and biographical sketches that she prepared for "Who's Who in America" and similar publications, 1959-1996. The series also contains newspaper, journal, magazine and newsletter articles about Harrison dating from 1949-1999. Most of these items concern her professional actitivies, lectures given by her, and the awards that she received. Included in this series are obituaries, the program for her funeral service, a copy of the eulogy by her Mount Holyoke College colleague Edwin S. Weaver, and tributes written after her death. Rounding out the series are documents about Harrison's family, including genealogical notes dating from 1855-1952 as recorded in a Bible published in 1854; and letters and articles about her brother Albert Harrison, and uncle John Frank Harrison.

The photographs include formal portraits, snapshots, and group photographs dating from about 1903-1992. Formal portraits and snapshots of Harrison, circa 1917-1988, show her as a child, a young woman, and later in life. Other photographs show her working with Mount Holyoke College students in laboratories and with alumnae and friends, circa 1947-1992, at meetings and award ceremonies, 1969-1978, on research trips to Antarctica and Florida in the 1970s, and at a party to celebrate the publication of "Chemistry: A Search to Understand," 1988. The series also includes a portrait of her parents, circa 1903, and a picture of the family home in Missouri, circa 1920s.