The Historical Subject Files Collection documents Columbia University history and related topics from 1754 to the present. The collection includes articles, booklets, clippings, correspondence, memoranda, non-photographic images, notes, pamphlets, posters, press releases, programs and reports.

This collection consists of materials created by Professor John Palfrey. It contains some materials related to his role on the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) but the majority of the collection documents his career at Columbia Law School and includes course materials, student papers, articles, reading materials, etc. There is also some material from his work at Harvard Business School, as well as personal material, and material related to his book manuscript, Bottling the Genie (on atomic energy).

The Wilfred Feinberg papers consist of over 200 linear feet of material, primarily dating from his fifty years as a judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Some highlights of the collection include rulings and case files from precedent-setting cases, Feinberg's committee work drafting the 1995 Long Range Plan for the Federal Courts, and a detailed oral history.