The Lytle Family Papers are comprised of a number of materials that chronicle Virginius Cornick Hall Jr.'s interests in Ohio and Virginia local history, his and his wife's family histories, and various eccentric people and items. Hall's own personal affects, correspodence and research notes for his various published works and projects are also included within this collection. The Lytle Family Papers contain the combined research efforts of Hall, his mother Josephine Lytle Livingood and his grandfather Charles J. Livingood into their family history over several centuries. Items in the collection include:

1. diaries of deceased family members 2. letters and correspondence of Hall and other family members 3. newspaper clippings and website printouts related to the Lytle family 4. manuscripts of Hall's published works at various editing stages 5. family photographs and scrapbooks 6. original literary and musical compositions by Lytle family members 7. various geneaological records and family timelines 8. Hall's records of his own life and accomplishments

Other special interests detailed by this collection include:

1. English and European history 2. The Virginia Views Project 3. The Cincinnati Views Project 4. The Fruits and Nuts Project 5. Hall's Iteration of the "Curiosity Cabinet" 6. Nineteenth Century Cincinnati Businesses and Architecture 7. Virginian Art and Prints 8. Cincinnati Art and Prints 9. Personal Affects of Hall's Wife, Maria Jackson Hall 10. Personal Affects of Hall's Mother, Josephine Lytle Livingood 11. Groton School (Groton, MA) Memorabilia 12. Murray Bay and Quebec Local History 13. Cap. William Lytle Biography and Correspondence 14. Gen. William Haines Lytle Biography

Hall's extensive familial research in this collection covers the histories of the Lytle (namesake of Lytle Park in Cincinnati), Livingood, Foster, Ragsdale, McGuire, Jackson, Moodey, Cornick and Hall families. Several handwritten letters and artifacts from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that were created by earlier family members are included in this collection, and stored in binders and folders by Hall. Also included are several manuscript drafts of the published biography that Hall wrote about his ancestor, Cap. William Lytle.

Many materials in this collection relate to Hall's research into Cincinnati and Virginian architecture for both the Cincinnati Views and Virginia Views projects. These materials explain how certain buildings connect to local history. An index of notes and corresponding pictures provide notable historical context for several buildings that still exist today, and even document some structures which may have since been torn down.

Other materials are specific to Hall's personal life, including photographs of him and his family, transcripts of the talks he gave at various venues, essays he composed as a student or for national journals, memorabilia from his tenures at the Groton School, Princeton University and the University of Michigan, and an assortment of ephemera. Hall also took an interest in the history of Murray Bay and Quebec due to having cousins who resided there, and his wife's interest in the French language and culture. His research notes and mementos from his travels there are included in the collection.

And finally, the collection also contains Hall's notes for his "Fruits and Nuts" project, in which he created mini biographies about people he came across whom he found eccentric or odd in some way. These records provide insight into the social norms and customs of the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries that Hall was subject to.