The fonds consists chiefly of architectural drawings, photographs, reports, and other records relating to Erickson's architectural projects in the Middle East. The materials document Erickson's involvement with building projects in the Middle East. Erickson's concern for bold masses, indigenous forms and contextuality can be seen in designs for the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia (1983) and the Abu Nuwas Conservation and Development Project in Baghdad, Iraq (1981). These designs are better understood as small-scale cities rather than buildings and reflect Erickson's humanist approach to the problems of Modern design. The majority of the architectural drawings in the fonds date from 1976 to 1986 and include 1,468 multimedia drawings. These include drawings for over a dozen Middle East competitions and projects such as designs for the Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia (1983), King Faisal Air Force Academy and Mosque in Al Kharj (1980) and the Etisalat Headquarters in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (1986). An additional seventeen drawings were created before 1950 and include nine drawings for an office building and eight drawings for an arts centre for Vancouver. These executed while a student at the McGill School of Architecture. The fonds also contains 102 photographs and 26 slides also dating between 1976 and 1986 as well as 4 three-dimensional scale models. These models are for the Islamic University of Madinah (1983), the Abu Nuwas Conservation and Development Project (1976), Sancst Science Halls (1981) and Etisalat Headquarters (1986). The fonds also contain competition submissions and project development documentation (1976-1987), bound in 43 volumes. Nine copies of three published books also included contain surveys of Erickson's work and career. The fonds also contains Erickson's correspondence and other papers.

Le fonds se compose principalement de dessins d'architecture, de photographies, de rapports et d'autres documents relatifs aux projets architecturaux d'Erickson au Moyen-Orient. Ces documents témoignent de l'implication d'Erickson dans des projets de construction au Moyen-Orient. L'intérêt d'Erickson pour les masses audacieuses, les formes indigènes et la contextualité se retrouve dans les projets de l'Université islamique de Médine en Arabie saoudite (1983) et du projet de conservation et de développement d'Abu Nuwas à Bagdad, en Irak (1981). Ces projets sont davantage considérés comme des villes à petite échelle que comme des bâtiments et reflètent l'approche humaniste d'Erickson face aux problèmes du design moderne. La majorité des dessins d'architecture du fonds datent de 1976 à 1986 et comprennent 1 468 dessins multimédias. Ils comprennent des dessins pour plus d'une douzaine de concours et de projets au Moyen-Orient, tels que le plan de l'Université islamique de Médine, en Arabie saoudite (1983), l'Académie de l'armée de l'air du roi Fayçal et la mosquée d'Al Kharj (1980) ainsi que les quartiers généraux d'Etisalat à Abou Dhabi, aux Émirats arabes unis (1986). Dix-sept autres dessins ont été réalisés avant 1950, dont neuf dessins pour un immeuble de bureaux et huit dessins pour un centre d'art à Vancouver. Ces dessins ont été exécutés alors qu'il était étudiant à l'école d'architecture de McGill. Le fonds contient également 102 photographies et 26 diapositives datant également de 1976 à 1986 ainsi que 4 maquettes en trois dimensions. Quatre projets sont documentés par des maquettes tridimensionnelles : l'Université islamique de Madinah (1983), le Projet de conservation et de développement d'Abu Nuwas (1976), les Sancst Science Halls (1981) et les quartiers généraux d'Etisalat (1986). Le fonds contient également des soumissions de concours et de la documentation sur le développement de projets (1976-1987), reliés en 43 volumes. Neuf exemplaires de trois livres publiés contiennent également des études sur le travail et la carrière d'Erickson. Le fonds contient également la correspondance et d'autres documents d'Erickson.

Collection consists of an album of travel photographs (chiefly black and white, with some colour). Captions date the photographs to between 1946-1956 and then to between 1989-1994. The captions also include information about the photographs themselves. The first portion of the album contains photographs taken in Niagara Falls, Manitoulin Island, northern Ontario, Bermuda, the Maritime provinces, and the United States, including Howe Caverns, Fort Williams, New York, Yellowstone National Park, Plymouth Rock, Washington, New Orleans, and Mackinac Island, dated between 1946 and 1956. The second portion contains photographs dated from 1898-1994 and documents travel to Israel, Albania, the former Yugoslavia, Russia, Estonia, England, Greece, Costa Rica, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Ukraine. The album is cloth bound in blue with the title "Snaps" in black with painted tulips.

The papers of "Jackrabbit" Johannsen reflect his personal, professional and recreational activities, mainly between 1934 and 1985. The largest part of the papers consists of correspondence with friends and organizations, particularly relating to skiing and outdoor life. Family relations are also covered. A series of brief journals provides a record of some of his daily activities, from 1948 to 1984. The remainder of the fonds include publications about Johannsen, photographs, maps and personal documents such as passports.

The Dawson-Harrington Families Fonds follows the family of Sir John William Dawson, geologist and Principal of McGill University from 1855-1893, through four generations, including both personal and scientific papers of John William Dawson, his son-in law, B. J. Harrington, and his son, explorer, geologist, and Director of the Geological Survey George Mercer Dawson. Other family members include James Dawson, father to Sir John William Dawson, a Scots immigrant to Nova Scotia, printer, stationer, unsuccessful investor and zealous Presbyterian; John William's wife Margaret Mercer; their children William Bell Dawson, an engineer, Rankine Dawson, a physician, and Anna Lois Dawson. Also represented are Anna Dawson Harrington and B. J. Harrington's children, Eva Dawson and her husband, Hope Atkin, and their families

The William Feindel fonds documents the research, writing, teaching, and various professional activities of William Feindel. Materials related to Feindel’s research make up the bulk of the fonds and cover his many research interests in the field of neurology as well as his interest in the history of medicine and the legacies of Wilder Penfield, William Osler, and 17th-century physician and neuroanatomist Thomas Willis. An entire series is dedicated to records related to Feindel’s role as the curator for the Wilder Penfield archives. The William Feindel fonds also documents his work for the Montreal Neurological Institute, his role as Acadia University’s Chancellor, and several professional appointments. A series of notebooks consists of Feindel’s notes on various research topics but also contains notes regarding personal matters. Along with the notebooks, a series that documents Feindel’s personal life includes materials related to his family, his years as a student, and a variety of souvenirs and books that he kept as part of his personal library.

The fonds consist of draft reports and texts of speeches given by Vincent de Pasciuto-Ponte as well as bound reports and promotional material related to projects that Ponte was involved in through his work with architect I.M. Pei including McGill College Avenue and Place Ville Marie in Montreal, Quebec. In addition, the fonds contains published materials such as periodicals related to art and architecture, maps, travel literature and guidebooks (mostly relating to travel to Rome, Italy). Six black and white photographs of Ponte are included.

The fonds primarily reflects Pappius’s activities as a researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital (MNI/H): both her experimental research as such and various support activities, including academic publication, coordination of research projects with colleagues, and acquiring funding. It also contains much information about her leadership of the Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory. The fonds contains smaller amounts of documentation regarding her activities as a professor at McGill University, her administrative roles at the MNI/H, and her participation in professional organizations, which reflects the smaller place that those roles occupied in her professional life.

The period of time best documented in the fonds spans the early 1980s to Pappius’s retirement in 1995. Correspondence with colleagues, mostly though not exclusively work-related, contains relatively more material from Pappius’s early career; although, here too, most of the material dates from the 1980s and after.

The main document types in the fonds related to Pappius’s research activities are experiment worksheets and printed tabular research data. Many of the research-related files contain negatives of autoradiographies, with a smaller number of photographic prints. Correspondence can be found in many series besides series F (Correspondence), as much of Pappius’s work was collaborative in nature.

The fonds is divided into eight series: (A) Research, (B) Academic events, (C) Teaching, (D) Administrative activities, (E) Professional organizations, (F) Correspondence, (G) Personal collections, and (H) Visual documents.