The collection includes papers, records, momentos, and memorabilia related to Dr. Gardner's graduate studies, her career as a professor of nutrition and home economics, her research publications and articles regarding the diets of Georgia school children, her travels abroad, and her personal life in Milledgeville as a native resident of Baldwin County. Because her grandfather, C.L. Moore, was the first editor for the Union-Recorder during the American Civil War, she saved documents relating to the history of the newspaper as well. Also included in the collection are two scrapbooks of Gardner's (one of which is deconstructed), travel documents, and various papers from her education at the University of Georgia, University of Tennessee, and New York University respectively. Gardner's formal portrait is also included in the collection.
The collection is separated into three main categories: Dr. Gardner's personal papers, professional papers, and miscellaneous memorabilia. Series 1 contains Dr. Gardner's personal papers, including her travel log, passports, photographs, wedding invitations, family history information, dissertation drafts, momentos from her wedding to Paul Gardner, and letters to her father and family. Series two holds her professional and educational papers, such as her graduate school records, nutrition/home economics articles, newspaper clippings about her awards and accomplishments as professor, nutritionist, and Head of the Economics department, and articles written about Dr. Gardner during her professional career. Series three includes various memorabilia of hers, including her scrapbook, a decorative plate commemorating Milledgeville First United Methodist Church, and a formal portrait. The decorative plate and scrapbooks were placed into separate boxes while the portrait was placed in the oversized stacks area.