This fonds contains correspondence with family, friends and colleagues; biographical and research grant information; research and bibliographic files and notes; manuscripts and typescripts of published and unpublished scholarly articles, book reviews, addresses and books; lecture notes and course materials; as well as drafts and typescripts of plays, short stories and several books for youth. A large percentage of the research files contain photocopies of secondary and primary materials.

This fonds consists of records of the Joseph Hinde and Henry Wake families, members of an English Quaker community in Birmingham who immigrated to Canada in 1912. The records reflect their daily lives and the operation of the Hinde family's Valley Springs Ranch near Borden, Saskatchewan. Materials relating to the Horn family farm at Spring Valley Saskatchewan during the Depression comprise the second series of records in this fonds. The types of records included are diaries, correspondence, photographs, financial records, publications, artifacts and clippings.

This fonds contains Rife’s diary for 1910, the year he decided to lease his homestead and pursue a degree at the University of Saskatchewan. A book owned by his father, George Rife, documents the area of Pennsylvania where Rife family were before they emigrated to Canada. Notes by Rife’s daughter provide context and additional information.

This fonds consists of Reid's research materials relating Isaac Barr and the Barr Colony. Materials include copies of documents on the Barr family and the Barr Colony, dating from 1883. The records have been sorted into three broad categories. New file titles have been created only when it was appropriate to do so.

This collection contains material obtained by the Committee on Historical Records, established at the University in the early 1940's to obtain historical documents and reminiscences from individuals throughout the province. Although many responses are brief and contain only suggested names of people to be contacted, some replies provide detailed accounts of early settlement and community development. The fonds also contains brief family histories from a class in 1943.

This collection includes 7 original photograph albums, primarily documenting life overseas for Canadian servicemen during World War I. In addition to the military images are photographs of the Canadian west, including the Better Farming Train, fairs and livestock exhibitions, and early images of Banff, the Rockies, and Vancouver.