This collection contains correspondence, research notes, research notebooks, data, photographs, abstracts, memorandums, publications, graphs, and maps. The collection spans most of Oliver Gish's life but is primary focused on his professional career. The earliest materials concern his higher education; the latest materials document some of his final research in the later years of his life, a few decards after he retired from Carnegie. The bulk of the collection consists of research records and administrative papers from his time at the Carnegie Institution of Washington (1922-1948).