Correspondence, newspaper articles, letters received, cartoons, a Clayton family history, and short stories. Also included are typed drafts of articles written for the China Post newspaper composed while Clayton was a visiting professor of journalism for the Cheng Chi University in Hong Kong. The essays deal with the changes and modernization of China in the 20th century.

Newspaper clippings, correspondence, scrapbooks, club rosters, programs, and essays. Clayton wrote for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat newspaper. The materials relate to Clayton's work as a journalist and include many of his editorials and other reporting.