The Paul Eliot Green Papers date from 1917 to 1968 and contain diaries, manuscripts, publications, and correspondence.

With the exception of 3 bound volumes, the copies of Green's typescript diaries are in loose-leaf format, arranged chronologically in folders, with approximately 1705 leaves. These diaries cover the years 1917 to 1966, beginning with his stint in the army during World War I. His comments on the war cover his training in South Carolina, his months in battle in Belgium and France, the casualties suffered by his regiment, and short rations; but also note the beauty of the countryside, architecture and museums of Europe.

Later diaries illustrate Green's development as a playwright, and provide details of his daily life, including family and friends, and the planning involved in staging his plays in Virginia, North Carolina, Washington DC, Florida, and Texas. The diaries are rich in travel description, political commentary, personal anectodes, literary opinions, ideas for plays, and spontaneous poems.

Notable subjects of Green's anecdotes include Carl Sandburg, Allen Tate, Richard Wright, Jonathan Daniels, George Moore, Orson Welles, and Thomas Wolfe. Events of interest discussed in the diaries include: a visit to Green's farm by Countess Tolstoi in 1937; the family's 1946 visit to Hollywood, where Green wrote film scripts; reminiscences about Thomas Wolfe's funeral after a visit to Asheville in 1951; Green's efforts to help death row inmates in Raleigh in 1951; and Green's 1961 trip to Spain to research his play, Cross and Sword.

The letters in the collection date from 1918 to 1962, and were written by Paul Green and his wife Elizabeth Lay Green to her cousin, Clara Booth Byrd. These letters contain opinions about life and literature, copies of poems, and family and professional news. Green also offers advice on Miss Byrd's writing.