The material contained in this series includes academic hoods and robes, badges, campaign buttons, chairs, desks, figurines and busts, flags, a gavel, judicial robes, a key, maps, medals, a mug, a photograph case, plaques, a plate, a signature stamp, and swords.

The artifacts in the series date from 1910-1970, with the bulk of the memorabilia dating from 1941-1954.

Most of the items document his career as a Supreme Court Justice, Director of the Office of War Mobilization, Secretary of State, and Governor of South Carolina. For example, there is the judicial robe he wore as a Supreme Court Justice from 1941-1942. His tenure as Secretary of State is documented by such items as the chair he used while in office; the flag of the Secretary of State; a medal given in honor of the 1946 Paris Peace Conference; and a sword presented to Byrnes by His Royal Highness Amir Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, in 1947. Other memorabilia include the desk he used while Governor of South Carolina from 1951-1955; robes and hoods from various academic institutions; the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award presented to him by Clemson University in 1968.

A database of the items is available in Special Collections. Some of the memorabilia in this series is on display in the James F. Byrnes Room of the Robert Muldrow Cooper Library at Clemson University, Clemson, SC.