The Schoener Collection contains correspondence, poems both in German and English, and articles on rose breeding and horticulture. There also exist approximately thirty notebooks containing rough drafts of articles and personal thoughts. Included in the papers is Schoener's manual on Church doctrine, which was never published. He ordered the remainder of his papers to be burned after his death. The Collection also includes a biography of Schoener by B. Russel based on Schoener's recollections. His photographs can be found in the Schoener Photo Collection (#27,001-#27, 005). Other Schoener papers are available at the Huntington Library.

Father George M. A. Schoener, the "Padre of the Roses", was born in 1864 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1870, he and his family returned to their native country, Switzerland, in order to provide their son with a good education. At the age of sixteen, he was sent to Maria Einsiedeln, a Benedictine monastary where he studied art and architecture. However, instead of pursuing a career as an artist, he entered the priesthood and returned to America. In 1889, he became the parish priest for St. Cecilia's in Rochester, Pennsylvania where he directed the building of a new church. His work on the building project took a toll on his health. As a result of his poor health, he left St. Cecilia's and became a parish priest in Brooks, Oregon.

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