The collection reflects Dr Esther Breitenbach's feminist activism from the 1970s onwards. This includes papers reflecting her contributions to the Women’s Legal and Financial Independence Campaign, the Radical Scotland Women’s Group, and the European Forum of Socialist Feminists, as well as papers relating to the activities of the Women's Co-ordination Group, which advanced the demand for 50:50 gender representation. The collection includes assorted annotated pamphlets, conference papers, and printed reports on global feminist campaigns and strategies, which informed various aspects of her work on gender equality.

The papers also include collections of materials from her work on secondments to government, reflecting the main focus of her work in these posts. Publications and unpublished papers in this collection indicate the role of academic research in informing the campaign for the Scottish Parliament and developments in equal opportunities strategies. The collection also includes unpublished papers reflecting on the possibilities and limitations of the role of research advice in government.

The archive also includes papers relevant to the founding of the Scottish feminist organisation Engender (from 1991-2006), and to Dr Breitenbach’s work as co-editor of the Engender ‘Gender Audit’.