The Mary Culver papers contain resources and materials related to Culver's course of study, employment and personal interests in the historic preservation field. The collection is arranged alphabetically and is divided into six series: Historic Preservation Graduate Program at Eastern Michigan University, Historic Preservation and Local Resources, Historic House and Outbuilding Resources, Historic Preservation Organizations and Institutions, National Registry of Historic Places, and Personal. Although records date from the 1980s through the 2000s, the bulk of the records are from the 1990s.

The series Historic Preservation Graduate Program at Eastern Michigan University documents the work Culver did both as a student in the Historic Preservation program and as an adjunct faculty. Included in the series are her course materials, files on the courses taught, notes and resources, papers and projects and a file on Preservation Eastern the student organization for the graduate program. Historic Preservation and Local Resources series includes files arranged alphabetically primarily by topic and include information on form, function, and geographic areas.

The Historic Houses and Outbuildings Resources is the most comprehensive of the series of materials and begins with a series of articles arranged alphabetically. From there files include collected materials related to house and outbuilding type. Two subseries, Greek Revival and Interiors, contains additional subgroups of research materials. The subseries Houses is further divided into Michigan and Non-Michigan homes. The Michigan subseries has extensive files pertaining to Ann Arbor and then townships within Washtenaw County. These are arranged alphabetically and the township files are not equally representative.

Historic Preservation Organizations and Institutions includes both national and local organizations that Culver participated in at varying levels. Files are arranged alphabetically with further groupings for materials related to organizations in Michigan, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Pioneer American Society. Given Culver's role in the Ann Arbor Historic District Commission one would expect to find more in this series of materials, but it is still a good representation of the function and role of the Historic District Commission in the city of Ann Arbor. The National Registry of Historic Places series includes work done by Culver in pursuit of having properties placed on the National Registry and includes information on property nominations including application forms, instructions, and sample nomination forms. The series of Personal records contains travel files, correspondence, photographs and other collected ephemera related to her family, but primarily with those who she met and worked with during her time in the field of Historic Preservation.