The David Mason Papers reflect the varied interests and research pursuits of this beloved Fairhaven professor and include a small portion of materials relating to the lives of his parents, Lucille (Roush) and Herbert Mason.

Family and Personal papers contains correspondence, photographs and background information about Mason and his immediate family.  The Mason and Roush family photographs date from approximately 1865 to the middle of the 1900s and document Herbert Mason’s research expeditions to the arctic during the early 1900s, Yosemite National Park field school, Stanford and Berkeley, California, as well as a host of botanical and geological locations.  This series documents his school and formative years, including his experimentation with LSD in the mid 1960s, teaching and scholarly pursuits, and ongoing contact with family, male and female lovers, and friends.

Records pertaining to Mason's education and career comprise the core of his collection, including samples of course materials (lectures and notes) from classes he taught at Western Washington University and at Fairhaven College from the late 1960s through the 1990s.  Course materials include a clippings file from Mason's Gay Studies class from the early 1970s, as well as handwritten lectures from popular and well-attended biology and ecology classes.  Education and Career records also contains project notes, data, published, and unpublished research papers about various sites Mason explored including the Alaskan Arctic, Mono Lake and other sites in California, the Stehekin River in Whatcom County, Washington, and Georgia-Pacific mill among others as well as correspondence and reports from Mason’s sabbaticals and Fulbright travels. This series also contains speeches, lectures, publications and letters of appreciation regarding Mason’s popular and dynamic traveling multi-media slideshows.

The collection contains scripts and musical compositions from Friends of Fairhaven Theater productions in which Mason played the vital roles of producer, director, actor and musician. Writings and Art contain samples of Mason's creative writing, drawings, musings, and include several one-of-a-kind local gay publications.