This collection consists of records of the board of trustees of Centenary College (Brandon Springs, Mississippi) and Centenary College of Louisiana (Jackson, Louisiana). It includes administrative records (1843-1882), minutes (1841-1906), resolutions (1842-circa 1905), and correspondence and reports (circa 1845-1904).

The administrative records include bylaws (1843), acts of incorporation (1848-1882), property records (1845-1871), and a construction contract for the Center/Centre Building (1855).

The minutes of meetings include a manuscript volume (1841-1906); the archives book collection contains a typescript of this volume. Additional minutes written on loose-leaf pages (circa 1845-1904) are often preliminary drafts later added to the manuscript volume. However, some loose-leaf minutes do not appear in the manuscript volume, for example: 1848 December 9, 1849 March 5, 1850 October 10, 1853 May 11, 1851 September 25, 1854 November 14, 1861 October 16, and 1865 all meetings.

The resolutions appear on loose-leaf pages, and many seem to be preliminary drafts. Some resolutions passed, and others failed. Many of these resolutions can also be found in the manuscript volume of minutes.

The correspondence and reports were created by trustee committees and officers of the college. Regularly occurring reports include those drafted by the college president, treasurer, treasurer of the endowment fund, agent for sale of college lands, auditing committee, building committee, finance committee, state of the college committee, and ways and means committee. Also included are the following: nomination of trustees and visitors committee report (circa 1845), repairs committee report (circa 1845), William Marbury Carpenter letter about buying books from the college library (1846), librarian report (1846), bylaws committee report (1846), preparatory department report (1846), James B. Dodd letter about faculty salary (1846), “old college” building fire report (1850), specifications to reconstruct building destroyed by fire (1851), senior class letter complimenting President R. H. Rivers (1851), professor Daniel Martindale letter of resignation (1851), student letter of appreciation for Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pilant serving as hosts (1852), surveyor report (1853), John H. Baker letters about college presidency (1854), senior class petition to change examinations (1855), preparatory department committee report (circa 1855), college discipline report (circa 1855), student petition for appointment of a music teacher (1857), invitation from student Lafayette French Association (1857), junior class petition requesting fewer assignments (1859), student and alumni letters about turmoil among the college’s literary societies (1859), and a faculty letter recommending women be admitted as students (1895). Also included are letters of resignation from Centenary Presidents: D. O. Shattuck (1846), A. B. Longstreet (1849), R. H. Rivers (1851), and John C. Miller (1865). The folder containing correspondence of board secretary, W. Hamilton Watkins primarily relates to employment of professors at Centenary (1850-1859).