This series contains loose newspaper clippings compiled by Silas B. Dutcher and his family throughout the period 1853 to 1909 and relating to a wide range of political and social issues. Certain clippings have been filed together according to their predominant subject matter. These clippings cover such topics as Dutcher's work as Supervisor of Public Works, particularly in regard to the management of New York's canals; Dutcher's private and family lives; trade laws; the New York Customs House; the death of New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley; and the financial scandal involving Tammany Hall's William "Boss" Tweed, among others. All remaining clippings have been grouped together as either miscellaneous or general political clippings. There is also one page clipped from an 1862 French-language newspaper, the contents of which seem to relate to certain events of the American Civil War.
The series also contains several pieces of ephemera relating to Dutcher's involvement in the Republican Party and various other political and civic organizations, including the Brooklyn Masonic Veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic U.S. Grant Post No. 327, and the Department of Parks of the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. These items include announcements for and invitations to banquets and dinners; progams for commemorative ceremonies; circulars relating to Republican candidates in various elections; and the honorary ribbon worn by Dutcher as a Kings County Delegate to the 1904 New York State Republican Convention. Other items seem to relate to Dutcher's personal interest in American history, such as images of Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton, and handwritten copies of correspondence between Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee regarding the surrender at Appomattox Court House that ended the Civil War. Additional ephemeral items relate to the Dutcher family and include Sunday school cards and awards for Edith and Malcolm Dutcher; a children's coloring book; and a program for an opera at the Century Opera House.