The materials in this collection date roughly from 1944 to 1979, with the bulk of the papers dating between 1961 and 1971, a period of radical change in race relations in the South. The collection is divided into three series: GENERAL SUBJECT FILES, BOB ZELLNER FILES, and WRITINGS.

The major subject documented in the collection is James Zellner's role in the civil rights struggle, both as a liberal, white Southern minister and as the father of a prominent civil rights activist. Although Zellner was involved with various liberal religious efforts beginning in the 1940s, the documentation about this aspect of his career is spotty and incomplete. Through the writings and manuscripts in the papers, the collection offers some insights into the transformation of his religious and social beliefs. Unfortunately, because most of the writings are handwritten, fragmentary, and undated drafts rather than complete manuscripts, this evolution in his beliefs is difficult to trace. There is virtually no expression here of his early fundamentalist beliefs. There is also very little documentation concerning his career after the mid-1970s.

The GENERAL SUBJECT FILES series provides documentation of Zellner's roles as minister, civil rights advocate, concerned patriot, smear campaign victim, and father. Numerous files pertain to the Methodist Church, particularly the Alabama-West Florida Conference and the Alabama Conference of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. Other documented religious organizations include the Methodist Rural Fellowship and the 1947 National Methodist Rural Life Conference. Information on the internal politics of the Methodist Church and its response to the civil rights movement is scattered throughout the series. There is correspondence with individual religious leaders such as Bishop Paul Hardin Jr., of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, Charles F. Golden, and Edgar A. Love and with fellow ministers such as Thomas L. Butts, C.C. Garner, and Andrew S. Turnipseed. Butts and Garner were among the members of the group referred to by Zellner as the “Briar Patch,” and several sermons written by Butts on race relations for an unpublished book are included. Among the other documented religious organizations is the Alabama Council of Churches. There are also files on several congregations that Zellner served, particularly the Valparaiso Community Church in Valparaiso, Florida, but none of these files contain substantial quantities of documentation. The Valparaiso folder and one on the Circuit Riders, a conservative Methodist organization, contain information about the smear attacks to which Zellner was subjected.

As donated, the files on the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF) comprised one of the largest portions of the collection. However, these files duplicated organizational records in the Anne and Carl Braden Papers also held by the Historical Society, and as the result, they have been extensively weeded. A slim folder of family correspondence contains letters exchanged with members of the family, primarily Bob and Bob's first wife, Dorothy (Dottie).

The BOB ZELLNER series provides the most detailed and organized documentation in the collection. This series consists of correspondence, print materials, notes, and legal documents dating from 1961 to 1965, and it concerns the legal issues that arose from Bob's participation in several demonstrations and Reverend Zellner's involvement in Bob's situation. The elder Zellner is documented by extensive correspondence with officials at Huntingdon College, James Forman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, the attorneys who represented Bob, and Bob himself. Of special note are the letters to Bob and from Dottie while Bob was in jail.

The collection includes a large body of Reverend Zellner's WRITINGS. Unfortunately, as previously noted, this material is difficult to interpret. Very few manuscripts are dated, titled, or complete, with the majority consisting only of handwritten drafts and fragments. In many cases it is difficult to determine if a piece was intended as a sermon or as secular writing. This is true even for the sometimes satiric letters addressed to God, the Devil, the Apostle Paul, other Biblical figures, and to the space alien Zobeneau. Some pieces in this section of the collection were probably not meant as writings of any kind, but rather as personal reminders or as a way of getting ideas on paper for later use. Further complicating interpretation of the writings is the fact that Zellner repeated many themes and topics. There are, for example, numerous draft fragments of the beginning of a proposed book tentatively entitled My Story, which concerned his personal religious study and reflections. To the extent that was possible, the writings have been sorted by subject, genre, or final product. The major work filed here is a copy of Making Methodism Methodist, written by Zellner and five of his liberal colleagues and “Briar Patch” associates.