This collection consists of materials of Simon Dubnow, a historian, political thinker, educator, collector of historical and ethnographic documents in Russia and Poland, writer, and an activist. These materials include community registers (pinkasim) and other communal documents, historical documents relating to restrictions and privileges issued by governments to Jewish populations, blood libel trials and the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648-1649, documents from the Russian Justice Ministry and Senate, materials on pogroms in the Russian empire, and Dubnow’s family and general correspondence. The collection demonstrates Dubnow’s importance in helping to establish the idea of Jewish ethnographic history.

William Yukon Chang was the founder and editor of "Chinese-American Times", a Chinese American paper that published completely in English from 1955 to 1972. While running the newspaper, Chang also served in local social and civic groups to address issues facing the New York Chinatown community, including poverty, juvenile delinquency, mental illness and lack of access to adult language programs. The William Yukon Chang papers document Chang's life and career, Chinese American life, and social service and activism scene in the Lower East Side from the 1950s to the 1970s.