This collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, drawings, diaries, notebooks, and photographs. Sanderson began his travels in the jungles of Asia and Africa before starting his formal schooling at Eton and Cambridge in the late 1920s and early 1930s. His papers reflect his interest in animals, jungles, and natural history. Late in his life Sanderson's interest turned to UFO's and he was the director of the Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained.

This collection consists primarily of correpondence and writings by Murphy. The correspondence is both family and professional, the former being largely of a social nature and including letters of her grandfather (Amos Chafee Barstow), mother (Grace P. Barstow), and sister (Mary Mason Barstow). Much of the correspondence with her sister reveals Murphy's interest in, and dedication to, conservation. There are articles and speeches pertaining to her interest in conservation or relating to the various trips she took with her husband, Robert Cushman Murphy.

This collection includes letters, diaries, notebooks, and early photographs, relating primarily to the Wister family of Germantown and Philadelphia. Much of the correspondence concerns domestic news and consists of letters from or to Sarah Wister. These include interesting observations on Germantown and Philadelphia society from other families as well, such as the Bayntons and Bullocks. There are numerous letters from various Wisters, including Casper, Charles Jones, Elizabeth (including a journal of a trip to Bristol, 1783), Hannah, John, Owen Jones, and others. There is also poetry by Sarah.

These papers include diaries (1777-1782), expense books (1794-1804), notebooks, a commonplace book, drafts of essays, excerpts from minutes of Friends' Monthly Meeting, Tortola (1741-1761), newspaper clippings, sketches, and correspondence. Also included are letters and papers of Mrs. Thornton.

A collection of letters (family and professional), notebooks, diaries, lectures, articles, and photographs, of Smith, a noted American geographer who influenced the teaching of geography after 1920 through his many elementary texts. There is much material relating to these writings. His contributions to the rise of human geography and the related areas of conservation and ecology, are documented. His study in Europe under Friedrich Ratzel, at Leipzig in 1901-1912, is touched on in his journal for those years; included are many interesting observations on German university life. There is also much material on his nursery business in Virginia. Organizational files are numerous, e.g. Association of American Geographers, Columbia University, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Much of the correspondence is limited to only a few letters from each correspondent. Among the names included are: Willard G. Bixby, Isaiah Bowman, John W. Hershey, Emory R. Johnson, Walter C. Lowdermilk (of particular note is his 1926 paper, written while at the University of Nanking, "Forest Conservation in Shansi, China"), and Lewis Mumford.

William Jacob Robbins (1890-1978, APS 1941) was a botanist and physiologist. From 1937 to 1957 he was director of the New York Botanical Garden. His research focused on culture methods of plants in relation to biochemistry and nutrition, especially on the synthetic abilities of fungi. His studies paralleled the scientific agenda of the Rockefeller Foundation, an agency with which he was closely associated for years as adviser and trustee. He was perhaps the most influential botanist in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) during the early postwar era, and a principal participant in the plans for the global reconstruction of science. Robbins served as president of the American Philosophical Society from 1956 to 1959.

This collection includes correspondence, lectures, notebooks, reports, photographs, and maps. There is much in Russell's papers concerning the Department of Geography at L.S.U., as well as faculty and research concerns and other needs of the university.