This collection contains correspondence, research and teaching files, student work, articles, newspaper clippings, notes, and manuscripts documenting June N. Adamson's life and work as a newspaper reporter, student, and University of Tennessee Professor of Journalism.

Series I: Research and Writings, 1941-2003 (bulk 1956-2003) houses material documenting Adamson's unpublished book The Lit Stick of Dynamite, her unfinished autobiography, her work for East Tennessee newspapers, and her service to the University of Tennessee and the community at large. The Lit Stick of Dynamite, devoted to one of the causes nearest to Adamson's heart, documents the desegregation of Clinton (Tennessee) High School in 1956 and it's bombing in 1958. Adamson's extensive research for this work includes newspaper clippings, photographs, redacted FBI files on the bombing and on John Frederick Kasper (who organized a White Citizens' Council in Clinton), and taped interviews with various participants. Materials pertaining to Adamson's autobiography include family photographs (including images of the Adamsons' vacation cottage, which they built themselves and called Wee Hoose), items documenting the early history of Oak Ridge (including original editions of the Oak Ridge Journal), and such personal records as diplomas and vitas. Adamson wrote one version of this autobiography, The Colonel's Lady and the G.I. Wife, with her dear friend Jacqueline Nichols (wife of Colonel Kenneth Nichols). Materials documenting Adamson's work for local newspapers (primarily the Knoxville News-Sentinel and the Oak Ridger) and her service to the University of Tennessee and the community include correspondence, conference programs, publications, final drafts of articles, and newspaper clippings. Adamson originally organized this material in binders, and her order and titles have been preserved.

Series II: Vertical Teaching Files, 1870-2002 (Bulk 1943-2001) and Series III: Other Teaching Files, 1943-2002 document Adamson's career as a University of Tennessee Professor of Journalism. Sub-series have been titled according to Adamson's original labels and their organization reflects approximately which class or classes Adamson used them for. Topics covered include Feature Writing, Magazine Writing, Science Writing, Her and His-tory, Opinion Writing, Basic Reporting and Research, Advanced Reporting and About Stanley, Editing and Other, and Women in Journalism. The files themselves are composed primarily of articles that Adamson considered particularly good examples of the subject at hand. They also contain such materials as syllabi, notes, correspondence, and examples of student work.

Series IV: Oversized Materials, (1870-2002), consists of all of the oversized materials housed in the collection.