This collection consists of the minutes of Board of Trustees for the University of Chattanooga and its predecessor, Grant University. Comprised of 19 volumes spanning 80 years, these minutes document the growth and development of the University of Chattanooga from a small Methodist academy into a respected private metropolitan university capable of merging with the University of Tennessee land-grant institution.

With the exception of a gap during 1890-1896 (the minutes and other records were destroyed by fire) and 1923 (minutes were noted to have been misplaced) there is a complete record of the annual meetings and special meetings for the Board of Trustees. The continuity of this corpus provides an invaluable insight into the Board's decison-making process throughout its history. Topics of particular importance covered in the minutes include campus construction, curriculum development, fundraising, financial planning, admissions policies, and enrollment records.

In addition to the minutes themselves, numerous other documents are appended to or inserted in the meeting records including agendas, lists, commencement programs, reports, resolutions, statements, and executive summaries. Also found within the volumes of this series are minutes from two meetings of the Board of Trustees Executive Committee meetings (one in 1907 and one in 1911) as well as some newspaper clippings and faculty biographies from 1913.

The minutes, charters, resolutions, and probate certificates in the first volume are are handwritten, but beginning in the second volume, the minutes are typed with occasional handwritten annotations and signatures. For some of the meetings between 1933-1935, there are two copies of the minutes: the original signed versions and paginated transcripts that are retyped and compiled versions of the originals.