The papers of George Ferdinand Becker (1847-1919) span the years 1814-1928, with the bulk of the items dating from 1870 to1919. The papers primarily relate to Becker's service as geologist-in-charge of the United States Geological Survey during which time he conducted investigations in Nevada, southern Alaska, South Africa, the Pacific slope, and the Philippines as well as his service as the geophysicist of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and as the United States representative to the Radioactivity Congress in Brussels, Belgium. Mostly in English with Spanish and German, the papers are organized into the following series: Family Correspondence; General Correspondence; Letterbooks; Subject File; Biographical File; Blueprints, Maps, and Sketches; Addition; and Oversize.

The Family Correspondence consists mainly of letters exchanged between Becker, his mother Sarah Cary Tuckerman Becker, and wives Alice Theodora ("Elsie") Watson Becker and Florence Serpell Deakins Becker. A separate group of early family letters includes the correspondence of Joseph Tuckerman, Becker's grandfather, and other members of the family with literary and scientific figures of the time. Letters for the years 1834-1838 contain references to literary figures Harriet Martineau with whom Sarah Cary Tuckerman Becker traveled and William Ellery Channing.

The General Correspondence and Letterbooks contain Becker's correspondence from about 1857 to his death and document his service as geologist-in-charge for the United States Geological Survey. Correspondents include Andreas Arzruni, James Franklin Bell, Theodore E. Burton, Willilam Crozier, Edward Salisbury Dana, James Dwight Dana, Samuel Franklin Emmons, Archibald Geikie, Arnold Hague, Eugene W. Hilgard, Edmund Otis Hovey, Henry Marion Howe, Louis Janin, Waldemar Lindgren, Charles Washington Merrill, Simon Newcomb, Charles S. Peirce, Chester W. Purington, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Ward Turner, Charles D. Walcott, and Robert Simpson Woodward. The Letterbooks are legible except for one, but are in poor chronological arrangement and contain an incomplete index with each volume.

The Subject File relates to Becker's work on Panama Canal landslides, and the gold fields of South Africa, California, and southern Alaska. A large number of the files document Becker's work in the Philippine Islands where he served as the geologist for the United States Army and was later appointed to prepare a report on the desirability of scientific exploration in the area.

The Biographical File is largely comprised of the diaries, journals, and personal notebooks of Alice Theodora ("Elsie') Watson Becker, Sarah Cary Tuckerman Becker, Andrew C. Becker, and Becker himself. Included also are biographical sketches of Becker, his obituary notices, his school essays and notebooks, and folders on other family members.

The collection is rounded out by the Blueprints, Maps, and Sketches series with printed maps and blueprints relating to Becker's career as well as a large number of sketches of landscapes and interiors, by an Addition containing the 1902 book Geophysics with handwritten margin notes by Becker, and Oversize largely comprised of maps and certificates.