The Chinese oral history project collection (中國口述歷史項目檔案) provides a wealth of information on the development of the project and its interviews with eminent Chinese political figures abroad in the United States and Hong Kong from 1958 to 1980s. The highlights of the collection consist of the administrative subject files, correspondence, interview photographs and reports, transcript drafts, collected autobiographies and manuscripts, audio recordings, and card files of names mentioned in the transcripts.

The Collection of China's spring 1989 democracy movement (六四前后中国民主运动资料汇集) documents the legacy of the democracy movement in China during 1989 as well as events leading up to the Tiananmen Square Incident and its aftermath, dating from 1988 to 1997, and with the bulk of the materials dating from 1989 to 1990. The collection holds the originals and the photocopies of over 300 ephemeral posters, leaflet/handbills, newsletters, open letters, and petitions created and distributed in 1989, including those issued by the Peking Workers Autonomous Association (北京工人自治联合会), student groups from various universities, the "Hunger Strike Newsletter" and other unofficial news bulletins, intellectuals' petitions to the government, cartoons, and poetry. The collection also comprises over 200 photographs depicting demonstration banners, big character posters, petitions and letters to the leaders. The collection also contains 15 eye-witness reports by Asians and Westerners, reports of human rights organizations, as well as books, miscellaneous news magazine articles and newspaper clippings. Related materials in the collection also include Spring 1989 issues of the banned intellectuals' journal "Eastern Record"; 147 slides of work shown at the Peking National Gallery's avant-garde exhibition; and a video tape of interviews with artists and performance art at the February 5, 1989 opening of that exhibition. Other items are several VHS, audiocassettes, floppy disks, fragments of wall posters, a T-shirt, and commemorative envelopes. A large fabric banner prepared by Chinese students at the University of Michigan which was sent to Peking where it was displayed at Tiananmen Square in May 1989 and later returned to the U.S., is also included in the collection.

Douglas Putnam Haskellan (1899-1979) was an American writer, architecture critic and magazine editor. This collection contains correspondence, memos, articles, speeches, lectures, transcripts, clippings, notes, printed matter, photographs, audiotapes, and memorabilia mainly relating to Douglas Haskell's editorship at Architectural Forum and his professional activities. The collection includes items dating from 1866 to 1979, with the majority of materials dating from the period of 1949 to 1964.

Gordon Bunshaft (1909-1990) was an American architect who, as a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, had a significant impact on large-scale corporate architecture. His projects include such significant urban office towers as the Lever House in midtown Manhattan, as well as modern office campuses set in natural landscapes, including such examples as the American Can Company in Greenwich, Connecticut or the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company headquarters in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Additionally, his interest in art caused him to actively integrate work by well-known modern artists into the public plazas and interiors of SOM's projects. The professional aspects of this collection can be found in clippings, project photography, oral history records, and publications, however, the majority of the collection is personal and reflects the life of Gordon and his wife Nina Bunshaft. Through correspondence, snapshots, objects, and personal papers the collection focuses on the Bunshafts' friends, their travels, and their impressive art collection of both modern and ancient sculptures and paintings.

Personal and professional papers of comics artist Howard Cruse (1944-2019). Cruse was author of the graphic novel Stuck Rubber Baby (1995), the comic strips Wendel (1983-1989) and Barefootz (1971-1979), and founding editor of the anthology Gay Comix (1980-1991).

The collection documents the scholarship and writing of John Eugene Unterecker, a poet, biographer of the poet Hart Crane, and professor of English. The majority of the collection is composed of correspondence and manuscripts. Materials date from 1961 to 1987.

Judith Crist (1922-2012), was a film critic, journalist, and long-time adjunct professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism (1958-2012). Her papers include clippings, correspondence, interviews, mementos, notes, photographs, review files, telephone logs, and audiovisual materials.

The Richard Brick and Geri Ashur collection consists of materials related to film productions created and collected by Richard Brick and Geri Ashur, dating from 1968 to 2014. The materials document the career of Richard Brick as a filming professor, producer, and the first commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting (MOFTB). The collection also includes materials related to films by Geri Ashur. The bulk of the collection focuses on the motion picture films and production files of the films Richard Brick and Geri Ashur produced, as well as the administrative records that document Richard Brick's contribution to the filming industry in New York during his tenure as the commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting (MOFTB).

The Theodore Richards Conant Collection documents the life and film making career of Theodore Richards Conant, dating from 1949 to 2010, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1953 to 2000. The focus of the materials is on the Korean War, Korean culture and society. Materials in the collection consist of his personal papers and a substantial amount of audiovisual materials related to the documentary films created and/or collected by him during his career. The personal papers consist of clippings, ephemera, correspondence, scenarios, notes, catalogs, journals and other unique items. The photographs in the collection document Korea's political and cultural aspect, as well as Conant's work in Korea as a film producer while working in the UN Korean Reconstruction Agency (UNKRA). The audiovisual materials are the documentaries directed and filmed by Conant, related to the Korean War, Korean society and culture.

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.

The student strikes of this era, in particular that of 1968, represent the main focus of the collection, although other issues and many voices are expressed. The collection contains material authored by Columbia University administration, faculty, students, as well as non-affiliated organizations and individuals.

The Wallace K. Harrison architectural drawings and papers consists of architectural drawings, photographs, correspondence, notes, speeches, manuscripts, press releases, clippings, memoranda, printed material, job lists, curriculam vitae, contracts, articles, and other material related to Harrison's architectural projects. The collection also contains a significant amount of material regarding Harrison's position as director of the Office of Inter-American Affairs, director of planning of the United Nations Headquarters and biographical material. Approximately a third of the collection is made up of photographs. Photographers include Wendy Barrows, Shirley Burden, George Cserna, Y[uzo] Nagata, and Ezra Stoller, among many others. There is also a collection of 148 art books that belonged to Harrison referred to as his "doodle books." A list of these books with brief descriptions of where Harrison drew in them is contained in the finding aid. Projects documented include Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera House, Rockefeller Center, Albany Mall (Empire State Plaza), United Nations, X City, ALCOA building, Corning Glass building, First Presbyterian Church, La Guardia Airport, Socony-Mobil building, Battery Park City, Radio City Music Hall, New York World's Fair (1939 and 1964), Institute for Advanced Study, National Academy of Science, Pahlavi National Library Competition, Oberlin College's Hall Auditorium, Pershing Memorial, Rockefeller University, Hopkins Center, The Anchorage, Avila Hotel, and numerous other buildings and residences.

This collection documents the life and career of African-American social worker and educator William Neal Brown. Personal material includes his military records, family photos, material from his undergraduate years at the Hampton Institute, and various tributes from later in his life. The professional material is primarily typescripts of speeches and papers that Brown presented in the late 1960s and early 1970s to various academic and community groups. The audiovisual material includes audio of his debate with Malcolm X, titled "Integration or Separation," that took place on Ovember 3, 1961, at Rutgers University.

Correspondence, manuscripts, speeches, documents, news releases, printed materials, audio recordings, and motion picture film. Of interest in the correspondence are letters from John Foster Dulles, Lieut. Gen. John R. Hodge and Maj. Gen. Archer L. Lerch, the first two U.S. military governors of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Kim Il Sung. His correspondence deals mainly with the issue of reunification. The manuscript series includes articles and speeches by Kim as well as unpublished manuscripts by others assigned to him. The documents are mainly those related to the Korean Affairs Institute. The press clippings and printed materials cover Korean problems from 1945 to 1975 and include Korean language newspapers and periodicals. Thera are also some books and pamphlets from his library, including printed volumes of Korean government documents and other books on Korea from the first two decades of the twentieth century, six electrical transcriptions of radio programs in which Kim was interviewed, and one motion picture film "Liberation of Korea."