diff --git a/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/collection/collection-model.js b/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/collection/collection-model.js
index 3b4fe0a8017..1550000e94f 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/collection/collection-model.js
+++ b/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/collection/collection-model.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import DATASET_MODEL from "mvc/dataset/dataset-model";
 import BASE_MVC from "mvc/base-mvc";
+import Utils from "utils/utils";
 import _l from "utils/localization";
 
 //==============================================================================
@@ -280,16 +281,19 @@ var DatasetCollection = Backbone.Model.extend(BASE_MVC.LoggableMixin)
                 return parsed;
             },
 
-            /** save this dataset, _Mark_ing it as deleted (just a flag) */
-            delete: function(options) {
+            /** save this collection, _Mark_ing it as deleted (just a flag) */
+            delete: function(recursive, purge, options) {
+                recursive = recursive || false;
+                purge = purge || false;
                 if (this.get("deleted")) {
                     return jQuery.when();
                 }
-                return this.save({ deleted: true }, options);
+                options = Utils.merge(options, {"method": "delete"});
+                return this.save({ deleted: true, recursive: recursive, purge: purge }, options);
             },
-            /** save this dataset, _Mark_ing it as undeleted */
+            /** save this collection, _Mark_ing it as undeleted */
             undelete: function(options) {
-                if (!this.get("deleted") || this.get("purged")) {
+                if (!this.get("deleted")) {
                     return jQuery.when();
                 }
                 return this.save({ deleted: false }, options);
diff --git a/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/dataset/dataset-li.js b/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/dataset/dataset-li.js
index e1b54b1d0ce..ff9a6a1cf0d 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/dataset/dataset-li.js
+++ b/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/dataset/dataset-li.js
@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ var DatasetListItemView = _super.extend(
             )}">
                         <span class="fa fa-floppy-o"></span>
                     </a>
-                    <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu" aria-labelledby="dLabel">
+                    <ul class="dropdown-menu" role="menu">
                         <li>
                             <a href="${urls.download}">
                                 ${_l("Download dataset")}
diff --git a/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/history/hdca-li-edit.js b/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/history/hdca-li-edit.js
index db96ef88def..72283944338 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/history/hdca-li-edit.js
+++ b/client/galaxy/scripts/mvc/history/hdca-li-edit.js
@@ -11,6 +11,13 @@ var HDCAListItemEdit = _super.extend(
     /** @lends HDCAListItemEdit.prototype */ {
         /** logger used to record this.log messages, commonly set to console */
         //logger              : console,
+        /** set up: options */
+        initialize: function(attributes) {
+            _super.prototype.initialize.call(this, attributes);
+
+            /** allow user purge of dataset files? */
+            this.purgeAllowed = attributes.purgeAllowed || false;
+        },
 
         /** Override to return editable versions of the collection panels */
         _getFoldoutPanelClass: function() {
@@ -25,22 +32,46 @@ var HDCAListItemEdit = _super.extend(
             return _super.prototype._renderPrimaryActions.call(this).concat([this._renderDeleteButton()]);
         },
 
-        /** Render icon-button to delete this collection. */
         _renderDeleteButton: function() {
-            var deleted = this.model.get("deleted");
-            return faIconButton({
-                title: deleted ? _l("Dataset collection is already deleted") : _l("Delete"),
-                classes: "delete-btn",
-                faIcon: "fa-times",
-                disabled: deleted,
-                onclick: () => {
-                    // ...bler... tooltips being left behind in DOM (hover out never called on deletion)
-                    this.$el.find(".icon-btn.delete-btn").trigger("mouseout");
-                    this.model["delete"]();
-                }
-            });
+            return $(`
+                <div class="dropdown">
+                    <a class="delete-btn icon-btn" title="${_l('Delete')}" data-toggle="dropdown">
+                        <span class="fa fa-times"></span>
+                    </a>
+                    <ul class="dropdown-menu pull-right" role="menu">
+                        <li>
+                            <a href="" class="delete-collection">
+                                ${_l("Collection Only")}
+                            </a>
+                        </li>
+                        <li>
+                            <a href="" class="delete-collection-and-datasets">
+                                ${_l("Delete Datasets")}
+                            </a>
+                        </li>
+                        <li style="display: ${this.purgeAllowed ? 'inherit' : 'none'}">
+                            <a href="" class="delete-collection-and-purge-datasets">
+                                ${_l("Permanently Delete Datasets")}
+                            </a>
+                        </li>
+                    </ul>
+                </div>`);
         },
 
+
+        // ......................................................................... misc
+        events: _.extend(_.clone(_super.prototype.events), {
+            "click .delete-collection": function(ev) {
+                this.model["delete"]();
+            },
+            "click .delete-collection-and-datasets": function(ev) {
+                this.model["delete"](true);
+            },
+            "click .delete-collection-and-purge-datasets": function(ev) {
+                this.model["delete"](true, true);
+            }
+        }),
+
         // ......................................................................... misc
         /** string rep */
         toString: function() {
diff --git a/client/galaxy/style/less/ui/icon-btn.less b/client/galaxy/style/less/ui/icon-btn.less
index a880656b1a6..25b67a37643 100644
--- a/client/galaxy/style/less/ui/icon-btn.less
+++ b/client/galaxy/style/less/ui/icon-btn.less
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 
 .icon-btn-group {
     display: inline-block;
-    .icon-btn:not(:last-child) {
+    .icon-btn:not(:last-of-type) {
         margin: 0px;
         border-radius: 0px;
         border-right: none;
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/managers/collections.py b/lib/galaxy/managers/collections.py
index e823b0f44ca..fe688abad53 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/managers/collections.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/managers/collections.py
@@ -215,10 +215,20 @@ class DatasetCollectionManager(object):
         collection_type_description = self.collection_type_descriptions.for_collection_type(collection_type)
         return builder.BoundCollectionBuilder(dataset_collection, collection_type_description)
 
-    def delete(self, trans, instance_type, id):
+    def delete(self, trans, instance_type, id, recursive=False, purge=False):
         dataset_collection_instance = self.get_dataset_collection_instance(trans, instance_type, id, check_ownership=True)
         dataset_collection_instance.deleted = True
         trans.sa_session.add(dataset_collection_instance)
+
+        if recursive:
+            for dataset in dataset_collection_instance.collection.dataset_instances:
+                self.hda_manager.error_unless_owner(dataset, user=trans.get_user(), current_history=trans.history)
+                if not dataset.deleted:
+                    dataset.deleted = True
+
+                if purge and not dataset.purged:
+                    self.hda_manager.purge(dataset)
+
         trans.sa_session.flush()
 
     def update(self, trans, instance_type, id, payload):
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/history_contents.py b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/history_contents.py
index ef73f4fffe3..dc418e3472f 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/history_contents.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/api/history_contents.py
@@ -624,22 +624,26 @@ class HistoryContentsController(BaseAPIController, UsesLibraryMixin, UsesLibrary
 
     # TODO: allow anonymous del/purge and test security on this
     @expose_api
-    def delete(self, trans, history_id, id, purge=False, **kwd):
+    def delete(self, trans, history_id, id, purge=False, recursive=False, **kwd):
         """
         delete( self, trans, history_id, id, **kwd )
         * DELETE /api/histories/{history_id}/contents/{id}
-            delete the HDA with the given ``id``
+        * DELETE /api/histories/{history_id}/contents/{type}s/{id}
+            delete the history content with the given ``id`` and specified type (defaults to dataset)
         .. note:: Currently does not stop any active jobs for which this dataset is an output.
 
         :type   id:     str
         :param  id:     the encoded id of the history to delete
+        :type   recursive:  bool
+        :param  recursive:  if True, and deleted an HDCA also delete containing HDAs
         :type   purge:  bool
-        :param  purge:  if True, purge the HDA
+        :param  purge:  if True, purge the target HDA or child HDAs of the target HDCA
         :type   kwd:    dict
         :param  kwd:    (optional) dictionary structure containing:
 
             * payload:     a dictionary itself containing:
                 * purge:   if True, purge the HDA
+                * recursive: if True, see above.
 
         .. note:: that payload optionally can be placed in the query string of the request.
             This allows clients that strip the request body to still purge the dataset.
@@ -654,7 +658,14 @@ class HistoryContentsController(BaseAPIController, UsesLibraryMixin, UsesLibrary
         if contents_type == "dataset":
             return self.__delete_dataset(trans, history_id, id, purge=purge, **kwd)
         elif contents_type == "dataset_collection":
-            trans.app.dataset_collections_service.delete(trans, "history", id)
+            purge = util.string_as_bool(purge)
+            recursive = util.string_as_bool(recursive)
+            if kwd.get('payload', None):
+                # payload takes priority
+                purge = util.string_as_bool(kwd['payload'].get('purge', purge))
+                recursive = util.string_as_bool(kwd['payload'].get('recursive', recursive))
+
+            trans.app.dataset_collections_service.delete(trans, "history", id, recursive=recursive, purge=purge)
             return {'id' : id, "deleted": True}
         else:
             return self.__handle_unknown_contents_type(trans, contents_type)