Series I consists of original film and glass negatives and copy photographs of Dutch houses taken during the 1920s to serve as illustrations for Helen Wilkinson Reynolds' landmark book Dutch Houses in the Hudson Valley Before 1776 (1929). Negatives and copy prints are filed together, and are arranged according to the book's plate numbers (ie. R-7 corresponds to Reynolds plate number 7). Copy photographs exist for about three quarters of the negatives; every image has a negative, with a few exceptions which are noted in this finding aid. Alternative views that were not published in the book are included in this collection and are filed under the published image's plate number.

The first seventeen plates are views of locations throughout the Hudson Valley which provide examples of typical structures and landscapes. Thereafter, plates are arranged by New York State county in the following order: Albany, Ulster, Westchester, and Dutchess Counties. Thereunder, photographs are filed by the name of the original owner. Researchers should note that the Albany County category includes several counties which fell within its original boundaries; these include Columbia, Rensselaer, Greene and Schenectady Counties. Occasionally other county designations used in the book do not reflect modern geographic boundaries; titles are annotated in parentheses with the present county if it differs from the original.

The few photographs that were not published in the book in any form or variation are filed at the beginning of the appropriate county. Address and family names reflect those published in the book. Some of the buildings and addresses no longer exist.

Series II consists of negatives and copy print photographs of Dutch houses located in New Jersey and southern New York taken by Margaret Brown for use in Rosalie Fellows Bailey's 1936 book of the same title, which continued Reynold's work. The negatives date from the late 1920s through 1936. The order of arrangement corresponds to the order of plates in the book; plate numbers have been listed at the beginning of each description. Variations of images in the book are filed with the appropriate plate number. The arrangement begins with a few photographs which correspond to the introduction to the book, then follow in geographic order under three categories: New York, Northern New Jersey, and Southern New Jersey. Thereunder photographs are arranged alphabetically by county and then the original owner's name. As in Series I, photographs that are variations of those published in the book are filed under the appropriate plate number; photographs with no corresponding plates are filed at the beginning of each county division.

Series III consists of named houses with unidentified locations filed alphabetically; names reflect labeling on the edge of each negative. Where no identifying information is given, houses are arranged by the type of material used in construction. The series ends with an image of a lawn ornament and seven damaged, fragile negatives.