New York architect, historian, and attorney Andrew Alpern co-wrote Holdouts! The Buildings That Got In The Way with Seymour Durst. Holdouts! examines over 50 examples of New York City holdouts or building owners who refuse to make way for office buildings and other urban designing projects.

An American architect and urban planner, Shadrach Woods was a student of Le Corbusier and worked extensively throughout North Africa, France, Germany and New York City on projects ranging from low-cost housing developments to university campuses. Also highly regarded as a critic and theorist, Woods taught at Harvard and Yale and lectured and published widely. The collection represents the span of Woods' life and career through papers, photographs, architectural drawings, writings, and published materials. A small group of materials documents his childhood and education through personal papers and photographs. However, the bulk of the collections relates to his professional work and collaborations.