The Violet Holsinger Mueller papers are divided into three series, based on different areas of her life. Researchers should be aware that, as with many designers, personal life and professional activities often intersect.

Personal materials include biographical essays, correspondence, photographs and a photograph album, and ephemera. Mueller was proud of her family history, and engaged in genealogical research for the benefit of her nieces and nephews. Her family owned the Winkle Terra Cotta Company, and two folders in the collection document the now-closed St. Louis business.

Professional work includes clippings, correspondence, project and publicity files, and ephemera. Mueller's experience decorating churches is amply documented. She was a devout Christian, and her faith is often referenced in correspondence with clergymen and their wives. The redecoration of Grace United Methodist Church of Salem, Illinois is comprehensive, with an essay by Mueller explaining her design process. Additionally, correspondence between Mueller, her colleagues at Stix, Baer & Fuller and the department store's clients provides a sense of her professional activity and the geographic range of her travels over a period of two decades. Of potential interest to researchers investigating sustainable design are two albums documenting Consultants in Color and Design projects using recycled textiles. Mueller repurposed men's neckware to decorate the Jerseyville, Illinois public library, and, with Mary Miller, created a line of decorative wall hangings incorporating antique fabrics.

Mueller's student work includes a course catalog for the Paris Ateliers (she was awarded a scholarship to study in Paris, but was unable to go), her student notebook, and a portfolio of fashion design assignments. Timed sketches--possibly created during a Costume I course--are plentiful, as is the use of Dynamic Symmetry in the designing of fashions, textile patterns, and the drawing of animals. One set of drawings depicting flappers documents a fashion illustration assignment, while another set of drawings depicts the Dennisen Dancers performing at Carnegie Hall in 1927. Other assignments include still lifes, Native American textile research at the American Museum of Natural History, and notes from lectures by Frank Alvah Parsons.