This collection consists of Wayland D. Hand's professional papers in the form of his personal files, folklore papers, correspondence, and photographs spanning from 1938 to 1986. This collection is divided into three series; Series I: Papers and Files, Series II: Correspondence (divided into two Sub-Series), and Series III: Folklore Papers. Due to the highly organized nature of Hand's papers when they were donated, this order has been retained.

Series I: Papers and Files. This series contains photographs of Hand, his vitas, topical files, committee papers, and UCLA papers.

Series II: Correspondence. This series contains Hand's incoming and outgoing correspondence from 1938 to the 1986. Hand's correspondence comprises roughly 50 percent of the collection and yields a wide array of topical information. Although most of his letters of correspondence are in English, perhaps 25 percent of his correspondence is in German, French, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Hungarian, and in other languages due to his regular contact with foreign scholars. Hand's correspondence touches on personal issues but primarily concerns his scholarly pursuits. Sub-Series A: contains Hand's incoming and outgoing correspondence from 1930 to 1974, his teaching years. Sub-Series B: contains Hand's incoming and outgoing correspondence from 1974 to 1986, his retirement (although he remained an active scholar). Hand's incoming and outgoing correspondence is organized alphabetically and by the last name of the sender. Hand's largest correspondent during his career was Archer Taylor.

Series III: Folklore Papers. This series consists of a collection of Hand's folklore and folk song files. His folklore files are listed topically.

Those desiring further information on Hand and his work should see Folk Collection 13: The Wayland D. Hand Memorial Collection, and The Wayland D. Hand Collection of Superstition & Popular Belief held in the Fife Folklore Archive in USU Special Collection and Archives.