The papers of the ALA (Agencia Latinoamericana) are divided in 3 major categories: the articles written by the contributors to the ALA (collected during almost 40 years), their correspondence, and the newspaper clippings of those articles.

The writers are mainly from Latin American countries and Spain, but with a few American and British writers also included, such as Waldo Frank and Hugh Thomas. The articles provide information on literature, journalism, sociology, economics and political history of the major powers of the world of that period, and in many cases relating to the Latin American countries.

The bulk of the collection is comprised of contributions from Víctor Alba, Marco A. Almazán, Luis Araquistain, Paul Andrade, Germán Arciniegas, Carlos Alberto Montaner, Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Julian Marias, Cristina Martin, Alberto Luis Sanchez, Salvador de Madariaga, Ramón Sender and Arturo Uslar Pietri. There are also articles by other distinguished authors, such as Miguel Angel Asturias, Alberto Baeza Flores, Alejandro Casona, Pablo Neruda and Alfonso Reyes.

Included among the ALA papers are articles written by Joaquín Maurín, who used the pen names of W.K. Mayo and Félix R. Anderson. He also wrote under the pen names of John Andersen and Julio A. Roy, but these articles ore not included in this collection. When signing correspondence, he used his own name, Joaquín Maurín, as well as J.M. Juliá and Ray Campbell. Joaquín Maurín's son, Mario, wrote some articles under the same pen name as his father, John Andersen.

Dr. Charles A. Bicking was an award-winning mechanical engineer active in the fields of Industrial Engineering, Industrial Statistics, Engineering Statistics, Operations Research, and Quality Control. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Techology, Bicking has held numerous posts as an engineer, consultant, and lecturer in a number of countries. Bicking also published and presented dozens papers in the above fields. Bicking was an official U.S.A. delegate for the 1953 session of the International Statistical Institute in Rome. He won the ASTM Award of Merit in 1962. Some of the organizations, corporations, and associations that Bicking worked with include the American Society for Quality Control, the American Statistical Assocation, A.S.Q.C., Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, White Sands Missile Range, Carborundum Company, Hercules Powder Company, NASA, Nashua Corporation, Tracor Jitco, the American Society for Testing and Materials, and the Control Data Corporation.

The Charles Bicking Papers contains documents spanning across the entirety of Dr. Bicking's career, as described above.

Leola G. Hartwell was an architect who resided in New Jersey and Miami. The L. G. Hartwell Collection consists of materials documenting her architectural design work primarily in the greater Miami area, but also some in other parts of the state and the country at large. Among projects that Hartwell worked on include the construction of Miami Dade Community College South Campus, a number of different constructions for the City of Miami, and an Opa-Locka neighborhood facility project.

The records of Pan American World Airways Inc. begin with the company's founding in 1927 and document the 64 year lifespan of a pioneer airline and international symbol of adventure and romance. The 1,500 linear foot collection contains evidence of Pan Am’s long list of accomplishments, which includes being: the first American airline to operate a permanent international air service, the first American airline to use radio communications, the first American airline to develop an airport and airways traffic control system, the first American airline to employ cabin attendants and serve meals aloft, the first American airline to develop a complete aviation weather service, the first airline in the world to offer scheduled transpacific passenger and mail service, the first airline in the world to offer scheduled transatlantic passenger and mail service, and the first airline to operate jets within the continental United States.

Among the many divisions, departments, offices and individuals that contributed to the daily operations of Pan Am reflected in this collection are: the Alaska Division, the Atlantic Division, the Latin American Division, China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), Pan American Grace Airways (Panagra), the Technical Assistance Program, the legal department, the library, and the offices of: Pan Am Founder and Chief Executive Officer Juan T. Trippe, Andre Priester, C. Edward Acker, Charles Vaughn, Erwin Balluder, Everette M. Goulard, Franklin Gledhill, G. Erskine Rice, George Rihl, H. Preston Morris, Harold Bixby, Harold E. Gray, Humphrey Toomey, John C. Leslie, John C. Pirie, Karl Lueder, Kathy Babl, Najeeb E. Halaby, Mike Clark, Peter Paul von Bauer Chlumecky, Robert G. Thach, Russel L. Ray, Jr., Samuel Pryor, Sergio Bettancourt, Thomas G. Plaskett, William Langhorne Bond, William Mallory, William T. Seawell, William Van Dusen, and Willis Player.

The types of records contained in the collection include: administrative reports, clippings (newspapers, magazines, etc.), contracts (agreements, legal instruments, etc.), corporate minutes, correspondence (letters, memos, telegraphs, telexes, etc.), financial records (financial statements, bonds, expense accounts, taxation, etc.), legal records (trial and arbitral proceedings, dockets, applications for court orders, exhibits, etc.), logbooks, manuals, pamphlets (booklets, brochures, etc.), periodicals, press kits, press releases, sales records (purchase agreements, invoices, etc.), and timetables. Additionally, the collection contains audiovisual material, graphic material and over 2,000 folders of photographs.

Among the noteworthy people referenced in the collection are: famed aviator and technical assistant to Pan Am, Charles Lindbergh; Haitian writer Pradel Pompilus; famed navigator and aviation pioneer Frederick “Fred” Noonan; the Beatles; Raquel Welch; former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill; former Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan; and former First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Mamie Eisenhower.

Collection highlights include: correspondence between Charles A. Lindbergh and Juan Trippe from 1933 regarding the establishment of a transatlantic air route, many internal publications containing detailed accounts of everything from the operations of company divisions to biweekly memoranda from Juan Trippe to top executives regarding changes to corporate structure, hundreds of files documenting the vital role Pan Am played in World War II, and the records of National Airlines obtained during the Pan Am/National Airlines merger in 1980.

Absent from the collection are employee medical and personnel records. These were retained by Pan Am during bankruptcy proceedings. Their disposition is unknown.