Jacques Judah Lyons, hazzan, rabbi and community leader, was born in Surinam and emigrated to Philadelphia in the early 1800s. Minister of the New York Congregation Shearith Israel for 38 years, he gathered extensive materials on early Jewish history in the United States, Canada and the West Indies. His papers include manuscripts, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, notebooks, photographs and a Sansom ship's log book. Contains material relating to Jews in North and South America generally and more specifically to Congregation Shearith Israel and the Jews in New York, the Touro Synagogue and cemetery and the Jews in Newport, Rhode Island, Philadelphia and the West Indies. Also contains material relating to Jews in the wars of the United States, correspondence of the Jews with George Washington and items relating to Haym Salomon. Collection consists of manuscript material and five notebooks and three scrapbooks of Lyons. Contains also material not listed in calendar consisting of sermons by Lyons, a manuscript prayer book used in Surinam and a guide for religious ceremonies at Congregation Shearith Israel, as well as letters written during the Civil War period and correspondence relating to the personal life and career of Lyons.

The Chester Carlson Family Papers include a correspondence exchanged between Carlson and his relatives from 1951-1968, as well as letters written to the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory from 1956-1968. Perhaps most significant are the materials related to patents that Carlson developed and his writings about xerography. The collection also includes Carlson's personal journals written from 1931-1968. There are also speeches delivered byween 1954 and 1968. There is a large body of biographical materials created by Carlson as well as others who knew him. Included in the collection as scrapbooks with articles documenting Carlson's life and legacy from 1940-1968. There are also numerous items related to the Xerox Corporation, specifically the 1968 annual report, sales publications from the 1980s, as well as news and articles written about the company.

Finks' papers collected in Rare Books/Special Collections begin with writings by David Finks and then move to documentation of Finks' life and work, including material and some correspondence relating to Catholic Council of Urban Ministries, Campaign for Human Development, and the Downtown (Rochester) Community Forum. Next are Finks' personal records which are combined elements of both a journal and a scrapbook. Contained in binders, they are a combination of journal entries, articles, letters, cards, flyers, programs, and anything else that was meaningful to him. There are a few gaps, but the journals cover from 1985-2007. Finally, the last few boxes are articles and letters regarding people and issues, largely religious, of interest to Finks as well as personal correspondence and photographs.

These files concern the publication of Anne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girl in 1952, the dramatization of this diary and the subsequent legal disputes with Meyer Levin over the play, and the motion picture made from the play. They also deal with the activities of the Anne Frank Foundation, primarily support for the renovation of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the programs of the International Anne Frank Youth Center. These files include 145 letters from her father, Otto Frank, and letters from Alfred Kazin, Max Lerner, Meyer Levin, and Eleanor Roosevelt. There are also seven letters from Adela Rogers St. Johns and related materials about her own books and the 1963 volume of minutes of the Doubleday & Co. Publishing Committee.

Max Gordon (1931-1990) was an internationally renowned architect who specialized in the design of galleries and exhibition spaces for modern and contemporary art. The collection is composed primarily of project files, architectural drawings, photographs, correspondence, legal papers, personal diaries, and student sketchbooks.

Papers related to the career of Dr. Adeline Levine (1925-2015), Department of Sociology, State University of New York at Buffalo. Includes correspondence, writings, teaching and research material, and documentation of professional involvement with the Pro-Choice Network of Western New York.

Pamela Moore (1937-1964) was an American novelist, best known for Chocolates for Breakfast (1956). The papers contain correspondence, clippings, contracts, diaries, drafts, manuscripts, memorabilia, photographs, notebooks, notes, outlines, proofs, school materials, sketch books, and a collection of published editions of Moore's novels.

Ulysses Kay (1917-1995) was a noted twentieth-century American composer. The collection includes audio reels, biographical materials, correspondence, diaries, phonograph records, photographs, programs, and scores.

Correspondence, photographs, leaflets, pamphlets, manuals, reports and newsletters. Much of the correspondence details Marcu's efforts to persuade the American Military Government for Bavaria not to issue a weapons permit to a former Nazi who was seeking a position with the newly reconstituted police force.

Included are Sanger's personal diaries (1936-1967) relating to WQXR. Also included is a complete bound file of the WQXR PROGRAM GUIDE (June 1936-December 1963) containing a record of the broadcasting of classical music in New York City, the daily schedule, and essays on composers, music festivals, individual compositions and music in general by such writers as Irwin Edman, Will Durant, M. Lincoln Schuster, Edward Johnson, John Barbirolli, as well as by Sanger and his co-founder, John V. L. Hogan. The collection includes business letters, congratulatory and testimonial letters from listeners and advertisers, reports on the station's history, samples of newspaper clippings containing WQXR advertisements and program listings, market surveys of listeners, and promotional brochures prepared for prospective advertisers. There is a corrected typescript and galley proofs for Sanger's book Rebel In Radio (New York, Hasting House, 1972) and 6 volumes of documents in support of the station's application for "clear channel" status filed with the FCC. Also included are 49 photographs of the station's staff and musical personalities, 4 audiotapes of 1973 interviews with Sanger, and 4 audio cassettes celebrating WQXR's 50th Anniversary.