The S. Edward Roos Papers date from 1928-1999 and 2009, with the bulk of materials dating between 1928-1991; incidental materials related to Roos and his career dated after his death were kept by his son. The rest of the collection consists of items created and collected by Roos over the course of his sailing career, including notebooks from his trips to Antarctica during Byrd Antarctic Expeditions I and II, a photograph album from Byrd Antarctic Expedition I, ship service records spanning his entire career, and correspondence and newsletters from fellow members of the Byrd Antarctic Expeditions. Also included are newspaper clippings about the ships he was on that survived torpedo attacks, research about other ships he had sailed on in his career, a Swedish Admiral Byrd obituary clipping, and photocopies of the Roos Papers at the United States National Archives. Finally, the collection contains Roos's medals and uniform decorations from the United States Merchant Marine, his World War II Victory Medal, Byrd Antarctic Expedition II Guernsey Cattle Club medal, cap badge and shoulder boards, and two Freemason rings. These items arrived in a military medal rolled storage pouch, with Roos's service award bars pinned to it; these bars remain attached to the pouch.

The Russell S. Robinson Collection consists of materials related to Robinson; the original materials were collected by Peggy Royall, a friend of Robinson's during his youth. The original materials were photocopied in 2011 and annotated by the donor (Royall's daughter) prior to donation; this collection consists solely of these photocopies, with no original materials. The photocopies consist of clippings about Robinson's time on Byrd Antarctic Expedition II, school programs, and a holiday card sent to Royall while Robinson was in Antarctica; the original items dated from 1923 to 1933.

"Memories of an Old Ship: The Bear" Manuscript by Russell S. Robinson is a narrative documenting Robinson's experiences crewing the icebreaking ship Bear of Oakland, one of two vessels bound for Antarctica to conduct the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition (BAE II). In addition to an account of the near-catastrophe that occurred soon after the initiation of the ship's voyage on October 4, 1933, the manuscript includes two hand-drawn diagrams of the Bear of Oakland's architecture and mechanical systems. The manuscript is dated circa 1991.

"The Daily Dirt" by Walfred Miller, Annotated and Edited by Michael J. Hughes is a transcription of Miller's daily logbook from his time aboard the "Bear of Oakland" during the Byrd Antaractic Expedition II (BAE II) from September 1933 through May 1935. Miller's log records his experiences and thoughts, as well as as the ship's location, weather, recipes, autographs from crew members, lists of correspondence he sent and received throughout the expedition, and lists of rolls of film he used. Michael J. Hughes transcribed the pages of Miller's logbook into a typescript in 2009 as part of a personal research project, and included photocopies of select original pages. The document also includes photocopies of photographs from the expedition, and supplemental information added by Hughes, such as maps and images of Antarctica. The end of the document includes photocopies of newspaper articles and photographs about Miller's life in Alaska after BAE II. This edition was revised in 2019 to include the supplements.