The collection contains biographical material, correspondence, manuscripts, and printed material. The biographical material includes several resumes and newspaper clippings. There is one correspondence file for letters from Ross and Mary Abrams. A second correspondence file contains letters from friends and former students. The manuscript files contain papers and notebooks written by Houchens as a graduate student. There is a file for the Institute for Advanced Study in Arts and Humanities, a summer program Houchens participated in a as teacher. The file contains syllabi, clippings and notes. The Briarpatch file contains correspondence and copies of Rough Beast, a Briarpatch Press publication. The Construction of Color Wheel file contains his notebook with painted wheels and squares and notes on color theory.The images file contains sketches and photographs.