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Watt Espy kept a series of index cards, grouped mainly by state, that records information about executions on American soil (colonies, states, territories) since the 1600s. Some cards contain lots of information, including name, place of execution, method, and details of the crime. Other cards have very little information aside from the fact that someone was executed. Sometimes there is not even a name—just "two slaves" or "pirate". There are additional categories for federal, military, and indigenous executions. There are two different card sizes; for the 3x5 inch cards, each state, territory, or other main division is identified with a manila tab. Subdivisions are marked with blue, unlined cards and are intended to mirror the arrangement of materials in Series #2 as closely as possible.

This series contains a file for every execution or sentence of death given to a woman or a juvenile that was known to Victor L. Streib. Some of the case study files are simply photocopies of Watt Espy's research cards, especially in cases where Espy's research is the sum total information available that particular execution. Many of these cards are from before 1976, when the death penalty was re-instated in America. Due to improved record-keeping in the modern era, case files from recent years, especially ones that Streib advised in some capacity, may contain significantly more information than others. Information pertinent to these cases vary greatly by individual depending on the state, the era, as well as media coverage of the case. The research collection is up-to-date as of 2012, so any executions, pardons, or reversals that went forward since that date will remain in the series they were in at the time these papers were acquired by the archives.

This series contains items related to the boat Clearwater; Clearwater as an organization, including its predecessor organization, Hudson River Sloop Restoration; and affiliated sloop clubs, particularly North River Friends of Clearwater. It includes newsletters, board of directors meeting minutes, membership mailings, catalogs, and educational materials. There is a near-complete collection of programs from Clearwater's annual Great Hudson River Revival, as well as copies of Clearwater's official newsletter, mainly from 1973-1993. This newsletter began publication under the name North River Navigator, then became the Clearwater Navigator in 1978. Administrative files from NRFC are limited and include by-laws, charters, some meeting minutes, and a membership dues receipt book from 1978. NRFC newsletters, spanning from 1976-1993, began as an unnamed publication, then became The Compass in 1982.