This collection consists primarily of black and white glass lantern slides of California collected by L. R. Higgins dating from the 1910s-1920s, and possibly from the 1930s. Most of the slides appear to be the work of L. R. Higgins himself, and some are labeled as the work of his acquaintance W. A. Fiske. The two men photographed together throughout California in the 1920s, later exchanging lantern slides, which is evidenced by a letter included in the collection. Fiske is present in at least some of Higgins' photographs. Other photographs by Higgins may date later to the 1930s. This collection of personal snap shots was supplemented by copy prints from publications and lantern slides purchased from professional photographers.

Higgins organized the slides into different series using numbers, letters, and alphanumeric indicators that match manuscript descriptions in three accompanying notebooks. These series have been retained. A number of slides are unnumbered, but are described.

California locales and subjects include Pasadena and vicinity, Camp Baldy and vicinity, sequoias, Yosemite Valley, the High Sierras, the city and residences of Los Angeles, the Tournament of Roses, Spanish mission churches, the town of Riverside, colored slides of local semi-precious gemstones, and relief maps of California.

Manuscript notations about the slides include the exact locations of photographs; addresses of residences; notes on local landscapes, vegetation, geology, and minerals; and narrative accounts of the views and experience of hiking in the California landscapes. Correspondence includes one letter from Fiske to Higgins, and correspondence between Higgins and the Department of Geology at Princeton University.