The Irv Schankman Baseball and Architecture Collection contains photographs taken or collected by Irv Schankman. Many of the photographs were likely taken for the Sporting News, which was a frequent client of Dorrill Studios, where Irv Schankman worked as a photographer. Other photographs may have been taken directly for the St. Louis Cardinals, although this is unclear.

The majority of photographs focus on St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns baseball players, including Lou Brock, Satchel Page, Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Torre, Joe Garigiola, Curt Flood, Red Schoendienst, and others. The collection also includes players from other teams, including Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, and Yogi Berra. Photographs show players in action during the game, as well as players and teams posed for portraits. Other photographs show aerial views of baseball stadiums from across the county, and two photographs show announcers Jack Buck and Bill Durney.

Non-baseball related images show a variety of architectural features around St. Louis, including Mansion House Apartments, Union Station, the statue of St. Louis, the Missouri Historical Society's sunken garden, the entrance to Grant's Farm, and others. Several photographs show Schankman himself at local events, and one photograph shows Curt Douglas participating in a Salvation Army drive. One photograph shows a map of the United States air mail routes.