Fonds consists primarily of Cohen’s records of his professional and administrative work at McGill, with some materials on his own research and publishing interests. His university administrative files (1948-1975), while concerned largely with the business of Senate and its committees, also contains a full record of Cohen's work on the McGill brief to the Royal Commission on Bi-culturalism and Bilingualism (1963-1967). Also noteworthy are extensive files on the organization of the McGill conferences on world affairs, industry and government, and the future of competition in Canada (1958-1972), and on student unrest (1960-1970).

Faculty of Law administrative and teaching files (1953-1957) contain notes, memoranda, reports and correspondence concerning admissions, staff relations, curriculum, and study materials. Special emphasis is given to the files on the Institutes of Comparative and International Law, and Air and Space Law, and to Cohen's teaching records for his seminars on international law and government control of business (1966-1973).

Files of correspondence and reports document Cohen's involvement in various professional organizations, legal (e.g. bar associations, Canadian Association for Comparative Law, Canadian Foundation for Education in World Law), educational (e.g. associations of law teachers and law schools, CAUT, MAUT), and international (e.g. ILO). There are also files on conferences concerning legal teaching, international law and business law. The period covered is 1952-1975.

Subject files of notes, correspondence, and Cohen's essays and addresses illustrate his interest in diplomacy, international relations, trade unions and industrial arbitration, family law, and civil liberties. Also included are some of his earlier writings (1923-1945) on Canadian business in the pre-war and World War II era, on international relations during the War, as well as on famous criminal cases in Western Canada. Most of the papers documenting Maxwell Cohen's national and international career are held by the Public Archives of Canada.

In addition, there are approximately 25 books, journals and published articles related to Law and which belonged to, or were written by, Maxwell Cohen. The items contain dedications and/or have been annotated.

The three series of files are as follows:
I. Papers primarily relating to the administrative and governing bodies of McGill University, particularly the Senate.
II. Papers arising out of administrative and teaching duties in the Law Faculty, and
Ill. Papers documenting professional activities and interests, including associations and conferences. Included are files raised in connection with various writings (originally received with Accession 162).

The fonds consists of textual documents, photographs, films, drawings and medals relating to Maxwell J. Dunbar’s professional life. These documents predominantly cover his early career (1935-1970), though include his later distinctions (1980-1990). In addition, there are 13 diaries of scientific expeditions (1935-1938), which reveal the progress made in the Field of Arctic research, mainly of scientific exploration in Greenland and Ungava Bay. One diary, non-scientific in nature, was kept by Maxwell Dunbar’s wife, Jean, during a winter in Greenland (1945-1946), when Dunbar was Acting Consul for Canada. The diary gives an interesting account of day-to-day life in Greenland in the post-war period. Included is correspondence and reports on Nansen Drift Station, and Dunbar’s extended biography (about 100 pages). Cartographic materials consist of charts dealing with fauna, fish, seabirds, and shorebirds of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (1980). Non-textual records comprise of 7 reels of film with an Arctic subject. The files are arranged by subject and the diaries are in chronological order.

The fonds consists of notes, reports and a copy of Maysie MacSporran’s thesis on James McGill and reflects her research activities in Canadian archives for the Library of Congress as well as her student activities at both Columbia and McGill. There is very little material on her teaching career.

The fonds consists of textual records including proposal letters, guidelines, budget documents, and the six original VHS tapes made in 1984-85. Preservation copies of DVDs and mp4s made in 2016 are also included.

The fonds concerns the association’s interaction with members and negotiations with the McGill University administration. The majority of the records concern internal committee meetings, research on issues, with much smaller amount of records consisting of executive correspondence and newsletters.

The fonds consists of 1 ledger book and 1 record book for the Montreal Classical Club, 1922-1938 and one copy of the club's constitution.

Collection contains two financial documents related to McGill College. The first is a memorandum between the College and its creditors in which the College agrees to pay out dividends and pay in installments towards the balance of the College's debt. It is signed by the individual creditors as well as by the principal of McGill College, Edmund A. Meredith. The memorandum contains a list of creditors of McGill College with their names and occupations listed, including William Lyman, druggist, Robert Abraham, printer, John Keller, merchant, and many others. A note dated 24 March 1847 with a response from representatives of the creditors is pasted on. The second document is a ledger sheet dated from 1844 to 1847 with the caption: "The Directors of McGill College to Joseph Hitchens."

The fonds of the McGill Dames Society consists of correspondence, notes, newsletters, a cookbook, minutes and agendas of meetings.