The Ned A. Ostenso Papers consists of 1,346 35mm slides, many captioned, that document Ostenso's work in Antarctica from 1956-1959, and the Arctic in 1961 and 1965. The collection also contains a biographical file for Ostenso, which dates from 1956-1997, and includes obituaries, resumes and articles.

The Philip M. Smith Papers, dated circa 1898-1935 and 1954-2013, contains photographs, slides, postal covers, publications, reports, newspaper clippings, treaties, artifacts, certificates and maps, which document Smith's career in administration of research in the Polar Regions, as well as his own fieldwork. Some of the artifacts and framed prints contain materials such as paintings and signs that predate Smith's career and relate to polar explorers, including British explorers, and to landscapes.