Captain Wood was president of Wood Towing Corporation (Tugboats), a member of the Norfolk City Council (1926-1930, 1934-1944), and mayor of Norfolk (1940-1944). He also served on a number of public boards, most notably the Elizabeth River Tunnel Commission. His papers are divided into six sub-groups: personal, public service (non-political), business, mayoral files, City of Norfolk data, and polltical papers. The personal papers contain some family genealogy, correspondence, his autobiography, and a variety of financial records. The public service papers deal mainly with his service on the Elizabeth River Tunnel Commission. The business papers consist of correspondence, tug repair estimates and labor relations files. The bulk of the mayoral files are correspondence, while the City of Norfolk material focuses on financial data and is not duplicated by material found at Norfolk City Hall. Where possible Captain Wood's own filing system was followed.