The Howard K. Beale papers provide a fragmented view of his academic career and public concerns. The collection is arranged in four categories: a subject file; Beale's high school, college, and graduate school papers; materials from his teaching career; and papers connected with his writings and speeches.

The subject file reflects Beale's interests in various liberal causes. It consists primarily of clippings, mimeographed material, and pamphlets with only a few pieces of correspondence. The largest amount of material is on anti-war activities and conscientious objection during the Second World War. There are several letters to and from conscientious objectors, a December 5, 1940 letter from Attorney General Robert Jackson concerning conscientious objectors and their refusal to register, and Beale's notes for a mock trial of conscientious objectors held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Taken as a whole, the subject file hardly begins to provide a full picture of the range or scope of Beale's public concerns. It includes, for example, little significant material dealing with either civil liberties or Negro rights, which were two of Beale's most pressing concerns for over twenty-five years.

The papers which Beale saved from his student days furnish both evidence of his growth as a scholar and impressions of the schools he attended. His high school papers and examinations give some indication of what was being taught at the Chicago Laboratory School shortly after John Dewey's departure. Beale's college and graduate school papers are mainly in history. One extensive research paper at Harvard on the pattern of settlement of Irish immigrants was done under Frederick Jackson Turner.

The bulk of the material connected with his teaching career comes from seminars at the University of Wisconsin from 1948 to 1956. These include minutes of seminar discussions taken by students, and copies of Beale's criticisms of the reports. Students in these seminars included E. David Cronon, Shaw Livermore, Jr., David Van Tassel, Herbert Gutman, and Charles Forcey. Also present are tape recordings of his lectures in the American history survey course for 1958-1959.

The papers related to Beale's writings and speeches consist mainly of drafts of articles and addresses to various groups. There is routine correspondence connected with copyrights and publishing of some of his articles. With one exception, material on Beale's books and more important publications is not extensive. The collection does include replies to questionnaires on academic freedom which Beale circulated to teachers and school administrators throughout the country for his book, A History of the Freedom of Teaching in American Schools. There are also five card file boxes of notes for the book.

The collection also includes pamphlets and near-print materials from numerous organizations such as the America First Committee, American Friends Service Committee, and the Keep America Out of War Congress.