Jefferson Sutton, a San Diego State University graduate, is the author of more than 20 novels written in different genres: science fiction, war, politics, and juvenile literature. His books can be found in libraries throughout the country, his novels were published in more than 10 languages, and two of his juvenile books were Junior Literature Guild selections (Lord of the Stars, 1968, and The Programmed Man, 1969). Most of the collection documents Jeff Sutton's career as a writer. The collection consists of the typewritten drafts of Jeff Sutton's novels, correspondence with publishers, editors, and readers, publications about Jeff Sutton, book reviews, and private research materials. The smaller part of the collection documents Sutton’s successful professional career as a research engineer. The collection contains Jefferson Sutton’s publications in the popular aviation magazine Flying, the U.S. Department of Air Force’s magazine Flying Safety, and in the Air Force Institute of Technology's journal Contact. The collection also includes materials written by the wife and coauthor Eugenia Geneva Sutton. The papers date from approximately 1943 to 1985 with the bulk of the material from 1958 to 1979. The collection is organized into four series: Manuscripts, Articles, Correspondence, and Research Materials.

The Manuscripts series consists of typewritten original book manuscripts of Jeff Sutton's novels. The series contains manuscripts of nineteen novels written between 1958-1979. This series documents Sutton's creative processes as well as the impact publishers and editors had upon the final published versions of each included book manuscript. The collection includes two drafts of The Missile Lords. They are marked as Draft # 1 and Draft # 2. The Frogman of Space novel also has two drafts. The draft titled Frogman of Space, first draft pages includes the first 162 pages of the first draft of the novel. This part of the novel was later edited and replaced by 126 pages in the second draft of the novel housed in the file Frogman of Space. All the manuscripts have author's notes and remarks. There are missing pages in two manuscripts (The Man Who Saw Tomorrow, and The Missile Lords, draft # 1). The series does not contain the manuscripts from four novels published by Jeff Sutton in 1958-1970. The series is filed alphabetically by title.

The second series, Articles, is the smallest in the collection. This part of the collection presents Sutton’s publications in newspapers and magazines before he started his career as a professional writer. The series documents Sutton's early career, and illustrates the effect of his life experience  during the World War II, and of his years in the aerospace industry on later writing processes. The themes of war, space and flying appear repeatedly in Sutton's novels. The collection contains copies of Flying and Flying Safety magazines from 1957-1958 with Jeff Sutton's articles, and a photocopy of his publication in the Los Angeles Examiner (1943). The Los Angeles Examiner published photos taken by Sutton in the time of his serving in the Second Marine Division on the South and Central Pacific areas during World War II and the letter written by him to Lynn Spencer, the Los Angeles Examiner society editor, about the realities of war. Sutton’s biography states that he worked as a reporter and photographer for many years, but the collection does not contain any of Jeff Sutton’s other newspaper articles or photographs. The series is filed in alphabetical order (magazine or the newspaper title).

The Correspondence series contains documents dated from approximately 1958 to 1980. It includes correspondence of Jeff Sutton. Newspaper clippings with book reviews and articles about Jeff and Jean Sutton and their writings are scattered throughout the files. This series provides a detailed picture of the interaction of Jefferson Sutton with editors and publishers regarding the content of his novels, financial details of publication, and publicity. One of the folders contains the correspondence of Eugenia Sutton with editors and publishers after the death of Jefferson Sutton, and photos of Jeff Sutton and his wife. The series includes reviews of Jeff Sutton’s books. Many reviews were photocopied by the Suttons, and do not contain information about the publisher or the exact date of publication. Originals of letters with readers’ reactions to Jeff Sutton’s books are organized in chronological order. The materials in the series are filed alphabetically, by file name.

Research Materials series contains research materials used by Jefferson Sutton during his career as a research engineer and a science fiction writer from 1956 to 1979. It demonstrates how the earlier research and publications prepared Jefferson Sutton for his career as a professional writer, documents his writing processes, provides details of story development. The series includes a box of paper cards with the bibliography, background information for science fiction book writing, and typewritten notes prepared by Jefferson Sutton. The card file is organized numerically. Some cards are missing from the card file.