The bulk of the Holmes Papers consists of the manuscript chapters of Harold Holmes' memoirs.

Harold Holmes (1877-1965) was born in Toronto, Canada. His parents were British West Indians. They immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area (1882) where his father operated the Holmes Book Co., which owned antiquarian book shops in San Francisco and Oakland. From 1895 young Holmes assisted his father and eventually took over the family business, running it until his death. An authority on California literary history, in his middle years Holmes was also active in Oakland civic affairs, serving as president of the Oakland Rotary Club (1946-47), a member of the Alameda County Probation Committee (1948), and, a trustee of the California College of Arts & Crafts. Holmes was working on his memoirs at the time of his death.

Collection is open for research.