Charlotte "Lottie" May Rogers was born to Elizabeth Mary Keim and George W. Rogers. She graduated from Ames (Iowa) High School in 1900. She attended (1901-1902) Iowa State College (University) and was enrolled in the general and domestic sciences program.

Rogers gained national recognition when she filed a claim for a homestead in the Rosebud Indian Reservation near Gregory, South Dakota. Undated newspaper accounts report that the unwed, 24-year-old woman received over one hundred marriage proposals after news of her claim was circulated throughout the country.

After several years, Rogers returned to Ames and was employed by Iowa State as a stenographer (1910-1914) in the Farm Crops Department. She also served as the Executive Secretary of the Iowa Corn Growers' Association. She was an active member in social clubs, including serving as president (1909-1910) of the T.Y.L. Club, a group affiliated with the Ames Federation of Women's Clubs.

This collection (1897-1914, n.d.) consists of the loose pages of a scrapbook compiled by Lottie M. Rogers primarily documenting her time as a young adult in Ames, Iowa. The scrapbook includes a number of dance cards, news clippings, photographs, and programs.

Most of the items document Rogers' personal activities and accomplishments, though she kept some materials related to friends and former classmates. For example, one page is dedicated to Norma Read, a former classmate who died at an early age, and several other pages contain collections of name cards of friends. Rogers also devoted several pages to Charles N. McBryde, the former president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia. These items include newspaper clippings, notes, photographs, and published research papers. It is not known what relation McBryde or his wife may have been to Rogers.

Almost all of the photographs in the scrapbook are unidentified, though some are probably images of Rogers and there are also two pictures that are likely of Rogers' homestead cabin. The programs in the scrapbook are from a variety of groups and events, including musical and theatrical productions and social and literary club activities. Ribbons and other souvenirs also document these social events. The scrapbook contains a number of holiday and birthday greetings sent to Rogers and she also included several academic report cards from high school and college.