The fonds consists of the following eleven series: External Affairs, Prime Minister's Office, Privy Council Office, Northern Affairs, Cabinet, Diary Copies, the Constitution, Quebec, Personal Documents, Post Retirement Career, and Publications and Speeches. The fonds includes records documenting the life and career of Gordon Robertson from his education, to the beginning of his career in 1941 at the Department of External Affairs, to his position as Secretary to the Office of the Prime Minister from 1945-1949 for William Lyon Mackenzie King and Louis St. Laurent, to his early years in the Privy Council Office as a Member of the Cabinet Secretariat and then as Assistant Secretary to Cabinet, to his years as Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources and Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, and finally to his return to the Privy Council Office as Clerk and Secretary to the Cabinet and then Secretary to the Cabinet for Federal-Provincial Relations. Material from this period includes files related to the Federal Provincial Relations Office (FPRO) Special Unit on Québec. In addition the fonds contains personal family records, personal agendas and diaries, personal correspondence dating largely from the 1960s to 2001, certificates, diplomas and honorary degrees received throughout his career, files on his post-retirement career activities, and records documenting the many publications and articles he wrote and speeches he gave during his long career.
The fonds contains photographs and postal covers, ca. 1881-1961. The photographs pertain to events, subjects and personalities associated with the career of Gordon Robertson and include: Secretary to the Office of the Prime Minister, 1945-1949; Member of the Cabinet Secretariat, Privy Council Office, 1949-1951; Assistant Secretary to Cabinet, Privy Council Office, 1951-1953; Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources, 1953-1963; Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, 1953-1963; views of Ottawa, Ont.; members of the Federal District Commission touring Ottawa, Ont., 10 June 1949; activities of Mackenzie King, 1881-1948; Federal-Provincial Constitutional Conference, Quebec City, Que., 1950; Northwest Territories Mace presented to the Council of the Northwest Territories at Aklavik, N.W.T., 1956; Gordon Robertson receiving an honourary LL.D degree at the Golden Jubilee Convocation of the University of Saskatchewan, 29 September 1959, albums from the celebration of Mr. Robertson's 10 years as Chancellor of Carleton University in 1990, Pierre Trudeau's official trip to Japan in May 1970, and Mr. Robertson's trip to Nigeria April-May 1973 while Clerk of the Pricy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. The photographs are by the Canadian Government Motion Picture Bureau, Ottawa; John Argue; Yousuf Karsh, Ottawa; Malak Photographs, Ottawa; National Film Board of Canada. The postal covers are cached first day covers for the 1959 - "50th anniversary of the first flight in Canada", and for the 1961 - "Resources for Tomorrow" commemorative stamp issues.
The fonds also contains maps and several sound recordings. The maps are of Europe and the Near East, 1943; and of Dixon Entrance, British Columbia, n.d., both by the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. The sound recordings include a speech by Robertson at the opening session of the Northwest Territories Council, in Ottawa, 14 July 1958, a recording of the memorial service for Knut Lang May 8, 1964, farewell speeches in Inukvik upon Gordon Robertson's departure as High Commissioner of the Northwest Territories July 12, 1963, a May 2, 1973 interview with Mr. Robertson on "Matters of the Moment" regarding his trip to Nigeria, and a CBC interview with Mr. Robertson August 17, 1973.
The fonds includes a mounted colour print of a winter scene looking toward Carleton University and the Dunton Tower from the Rideau River. The original was painted by John Webster. The print was a gift to Gordon Robertson for his work on a fund-raising committee.
