The bulk of the Original Collection consists of minutes of meetings, financial records, and files devoted to cooperative issues or particular committees. No specific files exist for the Green Lantern's involvement in civil rights activities in the 1960s and only one folder refers to Vietnam war protest activity. The Original Collection consists of five series: CONSTITUTIONS, BYLAWS, AND HISTORICAL INFORMATION; CORRESPONDENCE; MINUTES; FINANCIAL RECORDS; and SUBJECT FILES.

The CONSTITUTION, BYLAWS, AND HISTORICAL INFORMATION series includes history statements from 1947 and 1963 and revisions of the cooperative's constitution and bylaws. The CORRESPONDENCE series largely consists of letters from members regarding past accounts or messages of greeting, as well as routine financial and organizational correspondence. MINUTES include the records of meetings of the board of directors and the general membership, held on roughly a weekly basis.

The bulk of the Original Collection consists of FINANCIAL RECORDS, including cancelled checks, bank statements, and check stubs; cashier's reports; ledgers, inventories, and accounts; and price lists. Cancelled checks constitute the only detailed financial information from 1946 to 1963. Cashier's reports, listing profit and loss from the “Little Store,” stock and meal fees, fines, deposits, and payments to petty cash, exist in yearly summaries from 1963 to 1966, scattered weekly reports from 1966 to 1968, and more complete records for 1971 through June 1972. Price lists contain data from the Fraternity Buyers Cooperative on various food and household items.

In the SUBJECT FILES series, brochures and publications of the cooperative movement are found in the cooperative education file. The Gilman House Committee file details studies on the feasibility of purchasing a site on 140 West Gilman as a cooperative center and location for Green Lantern. House purchase files concern studies made in 1966 on the possible purchase of a property on 408 North Frances Street. Other subjects include the “President's Manual,” which contains descriptions of duties and charges to officers; and Refugee Family Committee files, which contain publications from CARE and other relief organizations, delivery receipts of goods sent, correspondence to recipients, and monthly reports. Of special value in describing the early activities of the cooperative are the reports of officers and committees, generally submitted on a semester basis.