Collection contains photographs from Leland's expedition as part of the Alaska Boundary survey, photographs of scientific equipment, field notebooks and diaries, and coursework for survey classes at Cornell University. Also includes letters from manufacturers of scientific and engineering supplies and equipment.

Includes letters from Chinese engineering professors with references to their work and the effect of the war on China, letters complaining about the conduct of the students at the summer surveying camp, letters from Ora Miner Leland, one of Underwood's teachers, a signed "Expression of Esteem from the Faculty of the School of Engineering," and a history of the Cornell Summer Surveys.