The William L. Holladay papers, 1926-2016 (RG 302), document his life and professional career as a scholar of the Old Testament, minister and missionary for the United Church of Christ, and editor of various Biblical journals. The papers comprise Holladay’s personal and professional correspondence, teaching files, writings, and public talks and sermons. They document Holladay's study of ancient languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, as well as his interest in archaeology. Of particular note are the collected materials that provide a snapshot of the global concerns and the response of the American academic community living in the Middle East during the 1960s to tensions between Israel and Palestine.

After earning his doctorate in theology in 1958 from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, Holladay joined the faculty at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon. In 1970, Holladay returned to the United States to begin a professorship as the Samuel Edgar Lowry Professor of Old Testament at the Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Massachusetts, where he taught until his retirement in 1997. Holladay is most known for his study and publications on the prophets, especially Jeremiah, and the Book of Psalms.