The Maxwell Britton Oral History, dated 1966, and 1988-2001, contains recordings, administrative information and a transcript of the interview between Britton and former Ohio State University Polar Archivist Raimund Goerler that took place on March 16, 2000, regarding his experiences as a ecologist at the National Arctic Research Laboratory (NARL) in Point Barrow, Alaska, and as a science officer for the Office of Naval Research for Arctic Research. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. The administrative information gathered for this interview includes two recordings of a previous oral history that Britton conducted with writer Dan O'Neill regarding his interactions with Project Chariot, a plan conceived by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1958 to use nuclear explosions to form an artificial harbor at Cape Thompson, Alaska.

Major themes of the oral history include Britton's decision to pursue an career in science that was shaped by his childhood in Indiana; his college experience, including his initial interest in science and his undergraduate botany assistantship; and his completion of his Master’s degree at Ohio State University and PhD at Northwestern. The oral history also has Britton recount his work at the Office of Naval Research and his perception of the support for projects in the Arctic, his attendance at the first Alaska Science Conference, his experience at Camp Barrow, and his analysis of communication systems in the Arctic. The interview contains Britton's recollections of the International Geophysical Year, the Arctic Research Laboratory Ice Station 2 (ARLIS-2), the discovery of Barrow Sea Canyon, and the use of submarines for the study of the Arctic Ocean while at the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory (NARL). He additionally mentions his impressions of the indigenous Inuit people and their interactions with scientists, and the environmental effects of research, including destruction of permafrost layers and pipeline construction.