The William H. Turner papers documents Turner’s career as a Dade County School Board member and Florida state senator.  The most extensive part of the collection is Turner’s correspondence from his time as an elected official, predominantly incoming professional correspondence, with small amounts of outgoing and personal correspondence as well.  The collection also includes newspapers and newspaper articles that Turner collected, including the Miami Herald, Miami Times, Miami News, Liberty City News, Miami Courier, Miami Today, Model City News, and two high school newspapers.  Some of these articles are directly linked to Turner, and some are on issues that he was interested in.  Additionally, the collection includes event programs, other printed material (such as newsletters), photos, and other miscellaneous materials. 

The Turner papers provides information about the Miami-Dade public school system and the workings of the school board and state senate, containing correspondence between Turner and other elected officials, constituents, and advocacy organizations.  The collection provides insight into the career of a black elected official, documenting his state senate campaign and elections, his communication with many other elected officials, the events he attended, and political campaigns and organizations with which he was associated.  Particular subjects which are documented in the collection include: black history month events, school crime, Turner High School, Dade County Public Schools personnel matters, Overtown historic preservation, Bethune-Cookman College alumni events, Hurricane Andrew, the 1976 Jimmy Carter presidential campaign, and the 1996 Bill Clinton presidential campaign.