The Solander collection consists of twenty-four bound volumes of letters, reports, and ephemera documenting the ups and downs of the life of a civil engineer during and after the Great Depression. From 1930 to 1958, Solander kept and collected a wide array of information on the varied engineering jobs on which he was employed, including photographs, blue prints, graphs, daily reports, references, journals, diagrams, articles, maps, specifications, and sanitation plans. The range of projects is remarkable: Solander worked primarily on water programs and construction, but at various times, his employers sent him from his home in New England to Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Ohio, and Florida. The final volume includes various newspaper clippings pertaining to political matters, more specifically, pertaining to Solander's campaign for election to the Board of Public Health. There are also flyers and articles on other Massachusetts electives and on the 1960 presidential election.

The material collected in these volumes provides an impressive resume and historical blueprint for the life of an engineer. The photographs and prefaces within the volumes add a personal touch. The majority of the final volume consists of paperwork from Solander's run for office and newspaper ads for himself and his competitors. In addition to material relating to the election in Solander's own district, the volume also includes a few pieces relating to the 1960 presidential election: an article on John F. Kennedy during his years in the Senate and also a five page report issued by U.S. News and World Report entitled "More Light on the '60 Election." Finally, the collection includes twenty-one pieces of ephemera pertaining to political contests in western Massachusetts covering the various nominees for Governor, Senator, and House of Representative. The newspaper clippings mostly include articles on the same nominees.