This collection contains correspondence, research notes, papers and addresses, memoranda, drafts of letters and papers. These items center on Lingelbach's career at the University of Pennsylvania and at the American Philosophical Society. There is much correspondence with noted historians relating to various topics. His interest in political history and foreign policy, and his participation in national organizations can be seen in such files as the Foreign Policy Association, National Resources Planning Board, and the U.S. War Dept. Committee on Education and Special Training (World War I).

Known for his pioneering work on Athens in the fifth century BC, Benjamin Dean Meritt spent most of his career at the Institute for Advanced Study, where he developed a world-renowned center for the study of Attic epigraphy, or Greek inscriptions. Meritt reconstructed, with A.B. West, the inscribed tribute-quota lists of the Athenian Empire and is perhaps best known for his work on fifth century BC Athenian finances, which resulted in the four-volume Athenian Tribute Lists, co-authored with H.T. Wade-Gery and M.F. McGregor.