Cooper's papers fall into two almost equal categories: teaching materials and research materials. The teaching materials are largely files of examination questions, with Cooper's notes and drafts and occasionally some worked answers by students. These cover undergraduate courses at McGill and Sir George (1936-1969), special subjects, Ph.D. comprehensives, graduate and honours papers (1937-1967), historical method and philosophy of history (1937-1961), and McGill and Sir George courses in Latin American history (1937-1961). Course materials include an outline for an extension course in Canadian history (ca 1950), and notes for a course in 18th century diplomacy. A file of correspondence on History Department business (1952) largely concerns a doctoral thesis for which Cooper was external examiner. Other files contain lists of graduate student papers (1964-1966). Cooper's research files contain his notes, and occasionally some correspondence, on Latin American and West Indian history, early American historiography, banking and shipping in Québec and the history of higher education in the United States and Québec. His notes on historiography and 18th century diplomacy were probably gathered for the courses he taught in those subjects, and there are about 20 cm of index cards on mercenary regiments in the Crimea. There is a file of correspondence with the British Museum concerning Colonial maps, and one of correspondence and memoranda on Cooper's proposal for a history of McGill (1949). As well, there is a file of correspondence relating to the Klieforth Prize and the publication of Cooper's winning manuscript (1947-1949). Finally, a copy of Cooper's draft article for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography on James and Andrew McGill reflects his interest in Montréal and McGill history.

The John Howard Toynbee Falk fonds was created during Falk's time in Montreal, including papers and addresses on the themes of social work including the role of the church in social services. They document the ideas of a leader and educator in the field of social work. In this vein there is, for example, a letter written by William Lyon Mackenzie King to Falk as the Director of the McGill School of Social Workers. These records also complement other holdings of t he McGill University Archives, including the official records of the School of Social Work and the private fonds of the Montreal Council of Social Agencies. The fonds also documents Falk's family life and his work with refugees during the 1905 Russian Revolution.

The fonds comprises of records generated by John Herd Thompson during his years as a Professor at McGill University in the History Department. It consists mainly of correspondence with students and other professors, departmental memoranda, notes, committee minutes and reports.

The fonds contains four original manuscript diaries (1 per calendar year), from 1889 to 1991 (transatlantic) with original watercolor drawings by John Henry Wye, Allan Line ship’s surgeon.

The John Henry Rogers fonds contains 9 certificates awarded to John Henry Rogers between 1876 and 1887 by McGill University, Methodist Book and Publishing House, Model School Montreal, Academy School Montreal, Bar of the Province of Quebec, Pfficers teachers of St. James Afternoon Sabbath School and Lillic. In addition, the fonds contains a Prince of Wales Medal with Prince Albert's profile on the abverse and the McGill crest on the reverse.

McLaren's papers contain a notebook of lectures for an engineering course, 1901 copies of operating costs for the Union Light, Heat and Power Co., 1904-1905; and a certificate from the Engineering Institute of Canada, 1947.

These papers consist of photographs and programmes of McGill activities during the 1890s and include the invitation of the 1893 graduating class to the opening of the Macdonald Physics Building and a menu for a reunion dinner of the Applied Science class of 1893, 1898.

The Grierson Collection was assembled by the Communications Department, McGill University, by soliciting, from a variety of sources, documentation on Grierson himself, on the institutions for which he worked (particularly the National Film Board of Canada), and on the history of documentary film. The core of the collection is from the Film Board, and consists of audio-visual production materials for films on Grierson and related topics; supplementing this are collections of documentation, and some personal papers (correspondence, notebooks, speeches), mostly obtained from associates of Grierson.

Fonds contains a manuscript, entitled "Remarks on the Osteology of Alexander Monro by himself", written by Dr. John George Bethune who transcribed an old damaged manuscript found in a trunk in the garret of the steam factory of Bethune's father in August 1848. The damaged manuscript was, according to Bethune, from one of three famous physicians, three successive generations of an Edinburgh family, who all bore the name Alexander Monro.