Some of the earlier material appears to have been lost in the Khotso house bombings where the DPSC offices were located. It should also be noted that the DPSC operated under extreme conditions of State repression (banning orders, detentions etc.) and as a result certain transactions (meetings etc.) went unrecorded. Although the DPSC did not operate in isolation, the sheer numbers of those detained and the impossibility of dealing with every case should also be taken into account.

The Helen Joseph Papers consist of correspondence, diaries, speeches, memoranda, articles, printed items, press cuttings, posters and photographs.

The papers were built up by Helen Joseph during her life time and relate to her personal fight against apartheid. Her papers cover her involvement in politics, the Human Rights Welfare Committee, the 1956 Treason Trial, bannings, banishments, house arrests, detentions, relocations, women's issues, churches and universities.