Edward Antony Benbrook was born in South Orange, New Jersey on May 15, 1892. He received a D.V.M. (1914) from the University of Pennsylvania.

After receiving his degree, Benbrook became a veterinary pathology assistant and an instructor in veterinary bacteriology at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1915, he took a position at the Oklahoma A&M College (Oklahoma State University) as an instructor in the Department of Veterinary Science, and he was soon promoted to Assistant Professor. He remained in this position, until 1918 when he came to Iowa State College (University) as an Associate Professor of Veterinary Investigation. A year later Benbrook became Professor and Head of the Department of Veterinary Pathology. He held this position until 1957, when he retired as Department Head. Benbrook continued as a Professor in Veterinary Pathology and Parasitology on a nine-month basis until 1962 and on a three-month basis until his death on January 20, 1967.

Benbrook authored and co-authored numerous articles and publications. In 1948, he collaborated with Dr. Margaret Sloss to publish Veterinary Clinical Parasitology. This text is used internationally and is one of the many publications Benbrook wrote with Sloss.

He was also an active member of several professional organizations including: American Veterinary Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Research Workers in Animal Diseases, American Society of Parasitologists, and National Board of Veterinary Examiners.

For his achievements as a researcher and instructor, Benbrook was awarded the Clarence Hartley Covault Distinguished Professorship in Veterinary Medicine (1959), and Professor of the Year by the Cardinal Guild (1961). Through a donation from Benbrook's son and daughter-in-law, Stanley and Jane Stahlings Benbrook, the College of Veterinary Medicine established the Benbrook Professorship in Veterinary Medicine in 1996.

The collection contains biographical information on E. A. Benbrook, including obituaries, news releases, faculty information sheets, and photographs from his days at Oklahoma A&M College. The majority of the collection consists of photographs of parasites taken with Margaret Sloss. Other information in the collection includes notes from courses in parasitology he taught at Iowa State University and Oklahoma A&M College, and two articles: "Dracunculus Medinensis Appears in the United States as a Parasite of the Fox" (1932) and "The Occurrence of the Guinea-worm, Dracunculus Medinensis, in a Dog and in a Mink, with a Review of this Parasitism" (1940).

The collection is arranged in alphabetical order.