The series contains photographs, newspaper prints, art prints, and negatives collected by Effie and Alex McPhail. The majority of the photographs were taken in Western Manitoba. These include pictures of farms, businesses, city streets, houses, the Brandon Council of Women, as well as graduating classes from Brandon College and Normal School. Photographs include family and friends of the McPhail and Weir families. There are also multiple portraits of unidentified children and adults. Additionally, there are pictures from Ontario of bridge construction, mining, and the Algoma shipwreck. There are photographs printed in newspapers of log cabins and farming. The collection contains five negatives. There are five artistic prints of paintings or drawings in the collection.