The William B. Drew collection consists of materials from Drew’s Cinchona mission in Ecuador, reports about the effects of herbicide in South Vietnam, reports about swidden (slash and burn) to forest in Thailand, and the essay “History of the Botany and Plant Pathology Department from 1945-1973.” In this essay Drew writes about his time as a professor and head of the department and describes events in the department as well as faculty members.

The collection also includes MSU Men’s Club correspondence with letters from J. Edgar Hoover, Nelson Rockefeller, Harry Truman, Lewis Strauss, and John F. Kennedy. The materials from the Cinchona mission records from 1944-1945 include site reports, observations and field notes, maps, memorandums to researchers and assistants, financial papers, and reports written on the research conducted. There is also a manuscript of a book written by William Drew and a copy of the final book, which was finished by his daughter, Cynthia Drew Redman. The collection also has a newspaper bulletin from Ecuador in 1944. Also included is a photograph of professors Jack C. Elliott, William B. Drew, Methodius S. Sefcovic, and Edmund Tylutki inspecting greenhouse plants. There are also newspaper articles about the Beal-Darlington Herbarium in 1963. William Drew is in the pictures associated with the articles.