The collection contains 28 13 x 10 inch photographs mounted in window mats with images of 29 leading writers from Grand Rapids in the 1930s and 1940s. Image #21 contains 2 of the authors photographed together.

An article in the Grand Rapids Mirror, May 1942 (see Box 1) suggests that the Grand Rapids Public Library may have been the leader in the selection of these authors, and perhaps in commissioning the photos from LaClaire. A reception and tea was held for those honored in the images, at the Library, during National Books Week in November 1941. The twenty nine individuals represent various types of authors, from scholarly to children's fiction, newspapers to short stories.

The original photographs that initially formed this collection are now supplemented by the book Photographic Portraiture, which documents two generations of the LaClaire Studio, and it’s notable subjects.