Collected correspondence, maps, newsletters, clippings, philatelic material, certificates and photographs, relating to Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, Operation Deep Freeze, International Geophysical Year, and the DEW line.

The collection is limited to an 11 year period, primarily to the years 1860-1871 and the Charles F. Hall polar expedition. Included are letters to Grinnell from C.F. Hall in New London, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C., regarding Arctic exploration and Hall's work in obtaining a Congressional appropriation for an expedition. Included also is a list of donations to the Hall Franklin expedition of 1860.