The Beineman/McSorley papers are comprised mostly of letters written between husband and wife, John & Alta (Beineman) McSorley, during the United States' involvement in World War II.

The interest of the letters and papers lies in what prolific letter writers the couple was. Letters are dated nearly every day, from one or the other, from 1943 to 1945. Most of Alta's letters relate to life at home with her family, telling of the death of their dog and her father. Most of John's letters revolve around Army life: training, waiting, then action. A few of John's letters were written on U.S. Army stationery, and a few of these have overt Allied propaganda styling.

Among the papers are a scrapbook Alta kept during John's time away, and some photographs of the couple together, at home or while Alta visited John stateside. Many photographs also depict John and Army personnel in European cities.

One copy of the local newspaper, the Catholic Campaigner, dated December 3, 1944, is also part of this collection. It is housed with other newspapers in Coll. 259, the GRPL Newspapers collection.