This collection contains papers concerning Wilford R. Gardner's service during World War II, his professional career as a teacher, administrator, and researcher for several universities. Series I, Box 1 contains the pre-war and wartime outgoing correspondence of Gardner spanning from 1943 to 1946. It also contains "My Life" by Gardner, a volume which is a compilation of Gardner's wartime correspondence, photographs, military papers, and personal recollections about the war. In the University of California, Berkeley series, there is a great deal of documentation about the reorganization of the College of Natural Resource that took place while Wilford was serving as dean. Gardner served on many committees for national and international organizations. Much of the collection consists of correspondence, research, and reports for these various organizations. In addition to his own files, Wilford has donated some files on Robert Gardner, his father, and Willard Gardner, his uncle, who both made major contributions to the field of soil science. Also included in the collection are drafts and reprints of many of Wilford's publications and writings. The collection was separated into sections by Wilford Gardner before it came to Special Collections and Archives. Those sections were the basis for most of the series that appear in the collection. Overall, the files within each series are arranged chronologically by date. The series are often divided up into different committee efforts, each with their own chronological order. The original order of the Gardner papers was maintained wherever possible. The University of Arizona files are grouped alphabetically by subject and arranged by date within the folder. On the left of the colon is the folder's original title or subject letter. To the right of the colon is further explanation on the title or a description of contents. The inclusive dates are given in brackets. The contents are mostly correspondence. With the correspondence, there are a few drafts, graphs, programs, etc. that relate to the letters.