Collins was a professor at City College of San Francisco. The collection documents the courses Collins taught there, and the establishment of its gay and lesbian studies department. There are also catalogs from his work for an antiquarian book dealer. There is significant correspondence between Collins and writer James Purdy, and copies of Purdy's books and original writing.

Jack Collins was a literature professor at City College of San Francisco, the department chair of the gay and lesbian studies program at CCSF, and an antiquarian book cataloger with John Howell Books (San Francisco). He also wrote many journal articles on literature and teaching. For several years he was the caregiver to a partner dying of AIDS.

5 cartons (5 cubic feet) + 1 oversized framed broadside

Copyright and literary rights are retained by Collins.

The collection is open for research.