The collection consists of documents, archival records, photographs, ephemera and artifacts related to three broad themes: British Columbia history, immigration and settlement and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Included are the archival fonds of the Yip family and Yip Sang Company, the Dart Coon Club and Chinese Freemasons of Victoria, Hugh G. Robinson (regarding the S.S. Greenhill Park Explosion), Rev. MacDonnell (regarding the Clandonald colony of Scottish immigrants in Alberta) and the British Columbia Coast Steamship Service. Includes documents, ephemera and artifacts of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, including records of travelers on CPR rail and steamships.

The collection comprises records acquired by Peter Moogk about aspects of British Columbia’s history, including the British Columbia Electric Railway Company’s interurban train lines (predominantly from 1909-1958), and photographic representations of persons (especially white settlers, from 1870-1960), places, events and activities in the province.

The collection includes six series: British Columbia Electric Railway Company Records, Portraits of Persons in British Columbia, Photos of places, streets, and architecture in British Columbia, Photos of events and activities in British Columbia, British Columbia ephemera and Records from British Columbia Penitentiary.

Records relating to the first series, British Columbia Electric Railway Company Records, include: photographs; postcards; original BCER documents, such as union agreements and timetables; BCER employee publications; transit tokens; signs and posters from within Vancouver streetcars; and a copy of a CJOR radio script.

Records relating to the second series, Portraits of Persons in British Columbia, include: photographs and handwritten notes by Moogk about Vancouver photographers operating from 1858-1920.

The focus of the third series, Photos of places, streets, and architecture in British Columbia, is photographs of structures and places of British Columbia, notably building exteriors and interiors, and street views from 1880-1959.

The fourth series, Photos of events and activities in British Columbia, includes photos of notable events and public activities (predominantly dating 1911-1941), as well as everyday life, and also includes handwritten and photocopied information on the provenance of the photos and activities depicted.

The fifth series, British Columbia ephemera, is mostly paper ephemera representing the variety of business and activity in the province from 1890 to 1990, and includes menus, theatre programs, business correspondence, and Chinese textbooks as well as some photographic materials.

The sixth series, Records from British Columbia Penitentiary, includes textual records and photographs relating to the British Columbia penitentiary.

Collection consists of records collected by Catherine B. Clement towards her research project on the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act that will mount a 100th year commemorative exhibition in 2023. The collection includes Chinese Immigration and other registration and identification certificates contributed by individuals, families and organizations across Canada.

The Tiananmen Square incident, also called June Fourth incident or 6/4, was a culmination of a series of protests and demonstrations in China in the spring of 1989 that culminated on the night of June 3–4 with a government crackdown on the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Although the demonstrations and their subsequent repression occurred in cities throughout the country, the events in Beijing—and especially in Tiananmen Square, historically linked to such other protests as the May Fourth Movement (1919)—came to symbolize the entire incident.

Writing on the inside front cover of the photo album reads as follows:
"伟大的一九八九年 历史片断 4/27-5/18"
(Translation: Great 1989, historical pieces: April 27 to May 18)

Labels on the album pages indicate that the first 23 photographs in the album were taken on April 27, 1989, and the following 19 photographs were taken on May 4th, 1989.

Writing on the inside of the back cover reads as follows:

"四月至六月简史
四.十五，胡耀邦逝世，四.十五 - 四.二五，学生及北京市民自发进行悼念活动。四.二二，耀邦追悼会，三名学生在人民大会堂外台阶下跪请愿。四.二六，人民日报社论定学生运动为“动乱”。四.二七，举行了近百万人的示威游行。五.四游行。五.五 - 五.十二,平静。五.十三，北大，人大，清华有数百人于广场绝食。五.十五戈氏访华。五.十七百万人民声援大游行。游行声援持续至十九日白天。17，18，19三天电台作了真实报道。五.二十凌晨0:30分，李鹏宣布对北京部分地区戒严。时隔半个月，发生了六.三惨案，或说是六.三暴乱"。

(Translation: A brief history from April to June
On April 15, 1989, Yaobang Hu passed away. From April 15 to April 25, students and citizens of Beijing spontaneous mourned. On April 22, the memorial service held for Yaobang Hu, three students kneeled in protest outside the Great Hall of the People. On April 26, the People’s Daily editorial described the student effort as “turmoil”. On April 27, near one million people held demonstrations. The demonstrations continues on May 4. From May 5 to May 12, the streets are calm. On May 13th, hundreds of students from Peking University, Renmin University of China and Tsinghua University conducted a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square. On May 15, Gorbachev visited China. On May 17, millions of people took on the streets to hold a solidarity parade. The solidarity continued until May 19th. On May 17 through 19, Media continually made the real reports. At 12:30 am on May 20, Peng Li announced the implementation of martial law
in parts of Beijing. After half a month, on June 3 rd , massacre occurred — the 6/3 tragedy.)

The collection is made up of 11 cassette tapes containing 12.5 hours of audio, of the interviews that Angela Codina conducted with the leaders of the Tiananmen Square uprising. The collection also consists of the following textual materials: written transcripts that were later made of the interviews (at the behest of Geraldine Bowman); materials for a book written by Angela Codina; newspaper clippings; periodicals and journals; and correspondence. The collection also contains 274 photographic negatives and 448 colour photographs.

Collection consists of primary resources and related materials created and used by Canadian women composers. Each series is dedicated to one of the participating composers, which currently consists of Deborah Carruthers, Dorothy Chang, Zosha Di Castri, Lori Freedman, Barbara Monk Feldman, Ana Sokolović, Chiyoko Szlavnics, and Elizabeth Raum. Materials include a variety of records, such as original scores, manuscripts, working drafts, photographs, prints, published articles, correspondence, and materials used as inspiration in the artists' work. Going forward, the collection is expected to evolve and incorporate additional Canadian women composers.