The large collection covers all aspects of Cordier's life. It contains letters, memoranda, reports, cables, printed materials and photographs, mostly pertaining to his tenure at the United Nations and Columbia University.

Correspondence, manuscripts, notes, drafts of speeches, appointment books, subject files, documents, photographs, memorabilia and printed materials. There are notes from her lectures on Sociology at Adelphi College in 1911-1912; papers from 1912-1932, when Perkins served on the Commission for Safety and on the Industrial Commission of New York State; the main body of the material is from the period of her cabinet office, 1933-1945; and some items from her days on the Civil Service Commission, 1946-1953. Also included are personal and family papers.

The Herbert L. Matthews Papers contain the writings, correspondence, and personal papers of this American journalist, a correspondent and editorial writer for the New York Times from 1922 to 1967. Matthews' assignments spanned the world. As a journalist he covered the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 and 1936, Spain and the Spanish Civil War, Italy, India, Europe and World War II, postwar Europe, Latin America; as an editor he wrote about Vietnam, China, and Latin America.

The office files of the American Institute of Pacific Relations and the international Institute of Pacific Relations, containing correspondence and reports concerned with international conferences, research programs, and publications programs of both Institutes, and relating to the political, economic, and social problems in eastern and southern Asia and the South Pacific, as well as with problems of American foreign policy. There are many travel letters and on-the-spot reports relating to conditions in China, Japan, Russia, Australia, the Philippines, India, and Pakistan during the period 1933 to 1954.

Correspondence, manuscripts, lectures, notes, diaries, notebooks, reports, financial records, blueprints, photographs, and printed materials of Y.C. James Yen and the IIRR concerned with the development, sharing, and financing innovative methods of teaching, improving agriculture, health and family planning, and education in impoverished villages. Among the cataloged correspondents are: Pearl Buck, William O. Douglas, Nelson Rockefeller, and DeWitt Clinton.

The Ivan Steen Papers document Steen's service as a Professor of History at the University at Albany as well as his oral history projects.

Correspondence, manuscripts, notes, documents, book typescripts, photographs, and printed materials covering the time from Dorfman's early interest, as a graduate student, in the economic thought of Thorstein Veblen until his retirement. There is correspondence with his academic colleagues, students, publishers, and the family and students of Thorstein Veblen, as well as manuscripts, typescripts, drafts, revisions, notes, photographs, pamphlets, and related materials for his articles and books which include: THORSTEIN VEBLEN AND HIS AMERICA, 1934; THE ECONOMIC MIND IN AMERICAN CIVILIZATION, 1946-1959; EARLY AMERICAN POLICY, 1960; INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS, 1963; TYPES OF ECONOMIC THEORY, 1967; and NEW LIGHT ON VEBLEN, 1973

The bulk of the collection deals with Marie Curie's travels in the United States in 1921 and 1929, as a result of Marie Mattingly Meloney's fundraising campaigns to purchase radium for Curie's experiments. It includes correspondence with, photographs of, and manuscripts and printed material by and about Marie Curie. There is also an academic cap worn by Marie Curie while accepting honorary degrees in the United States, and a watch given to Meloney by Curie.

The collection consiste of correspondence, memoranda, reports, bulletins, clippings, photographs, awards, and printed material. The files, arranged by genre and topic and reflect her philanthropic and legislative work in the areas of health, specifically cancer, heart disease, and mental health. Her civic and legislative work is covered in detail, as well as her private interests and activities.

Correspondence, playscripts, screenplays, scenarios, short stories, and other manuscripts, drafts, photocopies, contracts and other documents, tearsheets, clippings, and other materials relating to his career as a screenwriter, playwright, and author of short stories. Correspondence with friends, students, admirers, and professional colleagues concern his teaching, playwriting, films, articles, photography, and literary topics. There are also two groups of letters from students and readers about his textbook, "The Human Nature of Playwriting" (1949). Among the cataloged correspondence are William Gibson, MacKinlay Kantor, Anna Louise Strong, Louis Untermeyer, and Carl Van Doren. Included are manuscripts, drafts, or photocopies of almost all his films, plays, and short stories, such as playscripts and drafts of his plays, "The Jazz Singer" (1922), "Skylark" (1939), "Jason" (1942), and others; screenplays and scenarios, many in photocopy, of "Trouble in Paradise" (1932), "The Merry Widow" (1934), "The Shop Aroung the Corner" (1940), "Suspicion" (1941), "Heaven Can Wait" (1943), and many other films; and manuscripts, drafts, tearsheets, and printed copies of his short stories and articles of film and television criticism. There are also many clippings and reviews, programs, and other printed materials about his plays and films.