The Walsh Papers contain personal notes, research material, correspondence, and photographs that reflect Walsh's work as poet, teacher, writer, lecturer and historian. His personal notes include clippings and souvenirs that give a general overview of Walsh's life; lecture notes, speeches and sermons covering such topics as Santa Clara history and the value of a Catholic education; and some of Walsh's poems, about fifty in number. The research material found in his papers comprise loose notes, bound notebooks, secondary source material, and drafts of his work on the history of Santa Clara. Walsh's research notes provide information about Mission Indians, missionary priests, and early Santa Clara families, among other aspects of Santa Clara history. Accompanying the complete copy of his first draft, "The History of Santa Clara," are the Jesuit censor's comments concerning the manuscript. Walsh's correspondence captures his communication with many people over the years including California historians and young writers seeking advice on their poems. Other correspondence regarding personal matters is also available in the Collection. The Walsh Photograph Collection includes photographs and postcards of California churches, places such as Columbia and Bodie, and copies of illustrations from his publication, Hallowed were the Gold Dust Trails.

Henry Walsh was born in San Francisco on November 21, 1879. Both his father, Edward, and his mother, Alice Carroll, were native Irish. His sister Edna was a singer in the San Francisco Light Opera, and his brother Charles became a teacher in public schools. Young Henry Walsh was enrolled at St. Ignatius College in San Francisco in 1893 and entered the Jesuit Order at Sacred Heart Novitiate in Los Gatos, CA, in 1895. As a Scholastic, he taught at Santa Clara College for a year in 1903, then left to complete his education. Walsh was ordained a priest at St. Louis University in 1912.

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