In the documents of the collection all the diversity of the city's history in the XXth century can be traced and reflected: the First World War, the Revolution, the NEP, space exploration.
A special place is occupied by the relics of the Great Patriotic War and Siege of Leningrad - personal complexes and selected documents of the city's defenders, partisans, residents of Leningrad. Some of these documents can be seen in the expositions and exhibitions in the Rumyantsev Mansion, in the Memorable Hall of the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad.