The Russian Transpolar Flight Collection primarily documents the June 1937 transpolar flight by Russian aviators Valery Chkalov, Georgii Baidukov, and Alexander Belyakov with photographs, clippings, audio-visual materials, and various textual materials. It also features a small amount of material about the July 1937 transpolar flight by Russian aviators Mikhail Gromov, Sergei Danilin, and Andrei Yumashev, as well as general Russia-related research materials. The materials are grouped by subject, arranged roughly in chronological order. The bulk of the collection is commemorative in nature, rather than from the actual events. Some materials are in Russian, the majority of material is in English.

Series I, Soviet Transpolar Flight of June 1937, contains twenty-seven (27) black-and-white photographs, including one (1) large photograph of the Tupolev ANT-25, from the June 20, 1937 landing at Pearson Field, Vancouver, Washington. Most of these photographs were taken by Leverett Richards and do not include any captions. Though these images were taken the day of the landing, the photographs are modern prints. The images depict the Tupolev ANT-25 parked in Pearson Field and in the air, various shots of the crowds, and one snapshot of Valery Chkalov speaking with a small group of unidentified men. The series then moves on to various celebratory and commemorative materials, from June 30, 1937 through June 21, 2012. Highlights include the 50th, 60th, and 75th anniversaries. Materials include clippings and articles, slides and photographs, audio-visual materials, and assorted printed ephemera, such as a poster, postcards, and programs from various anniversary events.

Series II, Soviet Transpolar Flight of July 1937, documents the second landing in San Jacinto, California, three weeks later on July 14, 1937 with a photocopied scrapbook compiled by Leland Barker, and a small amount of 50th Anniversary materials, including an exhibit leaflet and three (3) color photographs and their negatives of paintings, possibly done by Yumashev. Additionally there is a black-and-white photograph of the Tupolev ANT-25 at the World's Fair in New York in 1939. Though the images were taken in 1939, the photographs are modern prints. There is also a small amount of research materials which focuses on the Russian pilots Valery Chkalov, Mikhail Gromov, and Sigizmund Levanevsky. These materials were reproduced from the National Archives.

Series III, Russia-related research materials, is comprised of various research materials about flying suits, aviation in general, and historical events of 1937, apparently compiled by Mary Rose. Materials include various articles, two booklets, a VHS tape labeled "Mary Rose -- Russ[ia] Stuff" as well as assorted printed ephemera about Russia, a map of the eastern U.S.S.R, and a framed piece of cloth commemorating the Apollo-Soyuz project with signatures of the 5-man crew. There are also six (6) black-and-white photographs; one depicts Jimmie Mattern, an aviator who tried to break the world record for aerial circumnavigation in the 1930s, next to an aircraft. The remaining five (5) are possibly snapshots of General Marshall's driver at Pearson Field and his wife, per donor information.