The fonds consists of books and other materials about Black people in history and contemporary society which Roy States collected from his teenage years to the end of his life. The materials are primarily English-language works produced during his lifetime, and the majority of them are from Canada or the United States. The physically largest series within the collection (Series B, Monographs) consists of 679 published volumes, most of them books and a smaller number of them booklets. These volumes are all catalogued individually, with a common sublocation of "Roy States Collection" within Rare Books and Special Collections. The remaining series contain a diversity of published, ephemeral, and unpublished materials, including various items by or about Roy States himself. Series A is a group of biographical materials and other items which relate directly to States. Series C consists of booklets and brochures. Series D consists of complete issues of newspapers, and Series E consists of complete issues of serials other than newspapers. Series F contains an assortment of newspaper and magazine clippings, as well as reprinted or photocopied extracts from books, journals and other works. Series G contains materials relating to conferences and meetings, chiefly involving groups and organizations advocating for civil rights; the materials include programs, agendas, minutes and reports, as well as the text of various speeches presented at these events. Series H consists primarily of graphic materials which have been mounted in cardboard-and-plastic display sleeves or in glass-fronted wooden frames. Series I is a group of miscellaneous materials such as studies, reports, typescripts, bibliographies and leaflets.
Fonds consists of photographs and other items that document the early career of Isadore Hirshberg while studying medicine at McGill University from 1909-1914, including 60 album-sized photographs, a framed group photograph of Hirshberg and Montreal General Hospital residents, Hirshberg's framed provincial medical certificate, and two certificates of residency. Subjects include Hirshberg and classmates; campus and student life; photographs of staff, doctors, and nurses in hospital settings, including two photographs of John McCrae at the Alexandra Hospital; and various views of McGill medical buildings and hospitals, including the new medical building at the time of construction in 1910, the Royal Victoria Hospital around 1910, and the Western Hospital in 1913. Two photographs features the medical school janitor James "King" Cook, a fixture of the school and a favorite with the students from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries. His wife was Frank Buller's housekeeper during Osler's time. Fonds also includes a large framed group photograph, Resident Medical Staff/Montreal General Hospital/1914-1915 by Wm. Notman & Son and Hirshberg's Quebec medical license issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Quebec and dated July 1914. Descriptions of the photographs where present are in Hirshberg's hand except in cases in which there were additional descriptions in the album. These were copied in pencil on the verso of the related photograph.
The fonds consists of two bound volumes of notes on Endocrinology (some handwritten, some typed) from 1938-1939 and 1941-1942 while Masson was a PhD candidate at McGill University. Lectures given by: J. S. L. Browne, H. Selye, D. L. Thomson, C. F. Denstedt, C. Lyman Duff, C. P. Leblond, D. McEachern, R. L. Noble. Also included are three volumes of published works.
The fonds also consists of three bound volumes of Masson's published work from various medical journals (published in France, Canada, and USA) between 1932-1959. The articles are mostly in English, and some are in French.
The fonds consists of a single 3-page manuscript letter document. Original laid paper watermarked '1805'. Letter is from John MacKellar, dated 16 June 1807. The letter is addressed to the Hon. George Cranfield Berkeley (1753-1818). MacKellar explains his strong reservations about establishing a prison hospital for sick prisoners of war. He warns of high expenses and inconvenience, using the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, hospital as an example of the expenses required.
Melville Island, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was formerly known as Kavanagh's Island and used to house French prisoners of war after 1793. The Chesapeake Affair happened six days after this letter was written in 1807 under the command of Admiral G. C. Berkeley.