The Anna Howard Shaw Papers date from 1917 to 1919 and contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and speeches.

The correspondence in this collection includes several letters written by Anna Howard Shaw to students at the State Normal and Industrial College (now UNCG). One letter, dated Jan. 9, 1917 and addressed to Annie S. Peirson and members of the senior class, declines an invitation to speak at the college in February of that year: "Much as I appreciate the honor of having been invited to speak for you on February twenty-second, I think it is quite impossible for me to do so. The journey from southern Florida would be too long and fatiguing as well as too expensive for either your class or me for one lecture." (Having suffered from pneumonia, Shaw is in Florida on doctor's orders to rest and stay away from cold weather). Another letter, dated February 17, 1918, is written in appreciation of the flowers that students at the Normal sent Ms. Shaw for her birthday: "I thank you all with a very full heart not alone for the beauty and fragrance of your gift but for the quality of mind and heart which keeps alive among you all a spirit of kindly thoughtfulness and a desire to serve others."

Shaw gave the Commencement Address in 1919 when she received an Honorary Degree from this institution. Shaw Residence Hall was named for her.