The Elihu Thomson papers were owned by the Thomson Laboratory before being transferred to GE's Hall of History, which then merged with the Schenectady Museum in the late 90s. The original arrangement and description was performed by the Laboratory, and that order has been maintained through the collection's travels. As some point, probably at the Hall of History, the collection was placed in binder sleeves. The collection is described to the item level, divided up into small series.

The collection contains materials collected by John Anderson during his career at General Electric, as an engineer in the Research Laboratory and as a volunteer in the GE Hall of Electrical History and the Schenectady Museum Archives. The working papers found here largely consist of correspondence, which makes up the first series. There is also a series of articles and reports written by Dr. Anderson during his time in the Laboratory