This group of materials consists of photographic albums and individual photographs, postcards, travel diaries, magazine articles, and some supplemental material documenting the history of the Ruas family in Tianjin, China, and illustrates the history of Tianjin primarily between the years of 1910 and 1946. Two of the photograph albums were put together by Charles Ruas' grandfather and father who were French engineers in the early Chinese ship-building industry at Dagu (Taku) and the water supply system of Tianjin. There is a group of 17 albums documenting the Taku Tug & Lighter Company that were put together by another source. The Manchu General Marshal Yin Chang was the father of Charles Ruas's mother, so there are also some rare Chinese photographs of the imperial family.

Two albums show the beginning of the Chinese shipbuilding industry in the early 20th century at the Taku shipyards and colonial life in Tianjin in the 1910s and 1920, as put together by Charles Ruas' grandfather and father. They show the Brossard shipyard, images of several ships under construction and the conditions of workers at the shipyards, and the various other shipyards at Taku. Other photographs show important landmarks in the city. A group of 17 albums broadly document shipbuilding and vessel salvage on the Hai River in the 1930s with several of the albums specifically depicting some of the work of the British shipbuilder, Taku Tug & Lighter Company, which specialized in shipbuilding, engineering and repairs, salvage, lighterage, and towage. There are also two albums that Charles Ruas created to document the life of his mother, Erika Ruas (1910-1992). Two additional albums show colonial life in Tianjin from the 1920s to 1946. They show historical events such as the famine of 1920-1921, the flood of 1924, the inauguration of the International Bridge, the Japanese attack on Tianjin in 1937, the Japanese Blockade of 1939, the great flood of 1939, the liberation of Tianjin by United States Marines and the history of the Ruas family in Tianjin. Another album, originally belonging to an unidentified American soldier of the 15th United States Infantry which was based in Tianjin, has photographs dating from 1912 to 1940, and includes photographs of Marshall Zhang Zuolin in Tianjin, General William Conner and Prince Chun, father of emperor Pu Yi, with his entourage. Other photos show city life and religious ceremonies.

There are also a small number of rare photographs of the Qing imperial family illustrating the early interaction of the Qing court with Westerners. These include for example a photograph of Emperor Pu Yi against a painted automobile prop, taken at the British Country Club in Tianjin as well as a collection of photographs from a collection of glass negatives by Shun Ling, brother of Princess Der Ling, that show landmarks in the Forbidden City. The collection also includes a photographic album entitled 皇室旧影 that shows members of the imperial family. The photographs in this album were likely also taken by Shun Ling.

Spellings/transliterations on folder titles reflect those found on the materials or the inventory provided by the donor. Some of the materials are accompanied by print-outs of description and information provided by the donor.