The collection documents Oltmans' work as a missionary educator in Japan and Lebanon, her teaching stint at the Manzanar Japanese Relocation Center in California during World War II, and her relationship with Clarke family members in Kentucky. It is arranged in six series: biographical materials; correspondence; talks, essays, and writings; subject files; clippings; and photographs.
The bulk of the collection consists of Oltmans' personal letters to her mother Jennie Clarke and sister Evelyn Clarke in Midway, Kentucky. Arranged chronologically, the letters discuss family matters as well as Oltmans' experiences as a missionary, a teacher, and an author and lecturer. Subjects covered include the Great Earthquake of 1923; the effect of the Oriental Exclusion Act; references to growing tensions in the 1930s and specifically to the death of Robert Reischauer in the bombing of Shanghai in 1937; the wartime union of Protestant churches in Japan; and financial difficulties experienced by both the Board of Foreign Missions and by Oltmans' family. Letters from August 1943 to April 1945, written when Oltmans worked for the U.S. government at the Manzanar Relocation Center, document conditions and programs at the center and Oltmans' work as a teacher and translator. Correspondence from October 1945 to June 1947 documents Oltmans' arduous journey to Syria during wartime, her adjustment to missionary life in the Syria Mission, her travels around the Middle East, and her thoughts on the U.S. role in Middle Eastern politics. Letters written after her return to Japan in 1948 document life in occupied Japan and the changing relationships between foreign teachers and Japanese teachers at Meiji Gakuin in Tokyo.
The talks, essays, and writings include descriptions of life in Japan, Oltmans' thoughts on Japanese customs and culture, and her experience of returning to the United States. Writings from the late 1930s and early 1940s comment on the influence of Christianity in Japan and on events leading up to World War II in Asia. Also included are essays and talks on Manzanar Relocation Center and her experiences in the Middle East in 1946 and 1947 while she served with the Syria Mission. Talks given to church and civic groups after her return to Kentucky in 1947 detail life in Lebanon and her teaching work there. Essays written after her return to Japan in 1948 document life under U.S. occupation. Talks, essays, and writings given after her retirement in 1954 cover a number of topics including the world mission of the Presbyterian Church, Japanese education, life and work in the Near East, and Christian values.
A small amount of subject files and clippings documents subjects of interest to Oltmans including "new religions" in Japan; Japanese education; and travel, mission work, and politics in the Middle East. There is one file on the Manzanar Relocation Center, 1943-1981.
The photographs include portraits of Oltmans and group shots of fellow missionaries, friends, and pupils. Also included are images (annotated by Oltmans) of people, buildings, and historic sites in Japan, China, and the Middle East.