The collection consists mainly of letters from and articles about missionaries who knew Ross, who were connected with the Boy Scout Association or who were associated with Aberdeen. Much of the material was collected by Ross for use in his Sunday school classes, but some is more personal, many of the articles are cutting from Life and Work or other missionary publications, and there are some photographs. There is only a small amount on each missionary: Gertrude Becker, Earl L. King, H. R. Ferger, C. E. Tyndale-Biscoe, Elizabeth Hewat, Helen Hewat, Herbert Torrance, W. Idris Jones, Robert Calderwood, W. H. Watson, James Dewar, Johanna Tocher, Eric Liddell and Albert Schweitzer. There is also correspondence with those associated with the Boy Scout Association in India (1922-1931) and with the Grenfell Association (1920s-1940s) and there are two files of general press and missionary cuttings and articles.

Content warning: within the collection, there is some inappropriate language, some accounts of religious and gender-based abuse, and some racist images.