The Elreta Alexander Papers, 1919-1999, document the activities of the first Black woman to practice law in North Carolina. The files consist of correspondence, news clippings, photographs, personal and work-related legal papers, interview transcripts, election campaign material, resumes, biographical/ genealogical material, writings collected by Alexander and one Travan-1 backup cartridge.

The material concerns many facets of her personal life including: documentation of her divorce from her first husband, Dr. Girardeau Alexander, information about her son, Girardeau Alexander III, biographical and genealogical materials, transcripts of interviews, personal financial materials, and family photos. The bulk of the papers consist of matters relating to her career in the field of Law. There are a large number of news clippings (1940s-early 1980s) collected by Alexander concerning herself as judge. Many of these deal with cases she tried or was involved with, her relations in the community as a public figure, and some of her practices as a judge some deemed controversial. For example, she launched "Judgment Day," a progressive sentencing program that allowed minors to perform community service and write essays about their crimes and rehabilitation to expunge criminal charges from their record (https://www.law.columbia.edu/news/archive/honoring-judge-elreta-alexander-45-first-black-woman-graduate-columbia-law). There is also a sizeable collection of correspondence (bulk from 1945-1979). Alexander kept legal papers from some of her most important cases, notably the Raulston case (1977) and subsequent proceedings. There are copies of election campaign material from 1968 (District Court Judge) and 1974 (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina). Brochures, invitations, schedules, and programs from various meetings and speaking engagements are present. Finally, there are copies of a portion of her published work, When is a Man Free? (1966), along with promotional postcards for the full work published by Dorrance and Company in 1967.