This collection consists of correspondence, both personal and professional, of Andrew Cordier from the late 1920s through 1974, as well as administrative records related to Cordier's tenure at Columbia University.

Central Files is composed chiefly of correspondence sent and received between Columbia University administrators and other University officers, faculty, and trustees, as well as correspondence sent and received between University administrators and individuals and organizations from outside the university.

The surviving files of official correspondence, reports, documents, and printed materials of King's College from 1750 to 1784 and Columbia College from 1785 to 1890, as well as Columbia University up to 1964. The King's College era materials include grants, deeds, indentures, lists of governors, leases, accounts, etc. The Columbia College era papers commence with documentation regarding the attempts to revive the college at the end of the American Revolution. In the later period these papers primarily supplement and document the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Governors and the Board of Trustees. Much material was destroyed and scattered in the late 19th century leaving this collection quite incomplete.

This collection is composed of the general files of Columbia College's Dean's Office, the minutes of Columbia College committees and the correspondence of Columbia College administrative officers during the years 1892 through 2019. A review of this collection allows researchers to gain insights into the interaction of Columbia College faculty and administrators with students, fellow faculty members, parents of students, and administrators of other colleges.

Correspondence, memoranda, reports, notes, committee minutes, student information cards, pamphlets, flyers, and announcements relating to the Office of the Dean and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The materials that comprise the Historical Biographical Files have been collected and added to from a variety of sources over the years by current and previous staff. The files consist of materials related to people who have a connection to the University whether as student, alumni, administrator, faculty, staff, guest lecturer, or honorary degree recipient. Materials generally consist of newspaper and magazine clippings, press releases, programs, ephemera, printed matter, lists, reports, and pamphlets.

This collection consists of Winsten's records from her time on the Commission on the Status of Women, the University Senate and the Columbia Administration Staff Association (CASA). The records include her work on subcommitees and task forces addressing issues such a salary equity, fringe benefits, retirement plans, staff professional development, parental leave or workload relief, child care, sexual assault policy and procedures, personnel grievance procedures, and staff representation on the University Senate committees.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Columbia students urged the university to divest from companies doing business in South Africa in protest of South Africa's system of apartheid. After a series of student protests culminating in a month long blockade of Hamilton Hall in 1985, the Trustees voted to begin full divestment. The collection contains the administrative records of this decision making process in the 1970s-1980s.