The collection consists of 1,683 color slides of the Pacific Northwest and Washington D.C., photographed by Don C. Foster and others from the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s. Photographs of Alaskan landscapes, wildlife, botany, and peoples constitute the bulk of the collection; most images were created during Foster's tenure as the general superintendent of Alaska's National Service. The collection documents various locations in the state, including the Aleutian Islands, Anchorage, Nome, Juneau, Fairbanks, Kotzebue and the Alcan Highway, and shows the state's Native American inhabitants engaged in a variety of activities from ice fishing, reindeer racing, and walrus hunting to training in hospitals and attending school.

Particularly noteworthy items include images of Russian Orthodox churches in the state, the city of Anchorage after the 1964 earthquake, and images from Foster's trip aboard the North Star, a passenger freighter that traveled to remote coastal regions in Northern Alaska. Additionally, the state's abundant beauty and natural resources are well-represented in the collection with photographs of rugged mountain vistas, native wildlife including grizzly bears, reindeer, caribou, seals, beluga whales and salmon, and several types of wildflowers. A small number of scenic images of Warm Springs and Crater Lake in Oregon and Washington D.C. photographed during Foster's family vacations complete the collection.