The large collection covers all aspects of Cordier's life. It contains letters, memoranda, reports, cables, printed materials and photographs, mostly pertaining to his tenure at the United Nations and Columbia University.

This collection of records document the institutional history of the Center for US-China Arts Exchange, established in 1978. Under the directorship of professor and renowned composer Chou Wen-chung, the Center is a not-for-profit organization that connected arts professionals from the US and China through a spectrum of curated programs, conferences, and research trips. Bulk dated between 1977 and 2003, materials in this collection consist of correspondence, reports, photographs, printed materials, as well as audiovisual items. The collection serves as important material evidence that help to tell the recent history of cultural communications among individuals and organizations across the Pacific.

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.

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.

This collection contains the papers of lawyer and legal scholar Herbert Wechsler. The various documentation includes Wechsler's work with the United States Department of Justice (including documents from the Nuremberg and International Military Tribunals), The American Law Institute (including the work of the Model Penal Code), Columbia University, and several other organizations to which Wechsler contributed or with which he was affiliated. The collection also contains papers related to Wechsler's legal work, including documents pertaining to his work on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Wechsler's scholarly work is also collected here including drafts of articles, books, speeches, and special lectures such as his Oliver Wendell Holmes Lecture, "Toward Neutral Principles of Constitutional Law". The Herbert Wechsler papers also cover various points of interaction Wechsler had with other figures in his field including Francis Biddle, Telford Taylor, and Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. The genre of documentation is primarily correspondence, reports, and writings with annotations. The collection also contains some ephemera and photographic materials and one audiocassette.

The Juan J. Linz papers contain correspondence, personal documents, awards, photographs, notes, writings, speeches, lectures and courses notes, research files, press coverage and interviews, and printed material, dating from 1920s to 2010. The materials also include one box of materials on Columbia Student Unrest in 1968. The collection provide an insight on Juan J. Linz's family and childhood as well as his education and his work as a political scientist and a professor.

Nearly all the manuscripts in the collection deal with 20th century Russian and Soviet politics. These include "Chekizm i chekisty," "The Cult of Stalin," "Marks-Lenin-Stalin," "Russkiĭ blankizm" and "Tekushchai︠a︡ sovet︠s︡kai︠a︡ propaganda o revizionizme i dialektike." There is a book-length manuscript entitled "V plenu -- Velikai︠a︡ chistka 1936-1939" and a transcript of a Radio Liberty interview with Shteppa in 1953. There is a lengthy curriculum vitae of Shteppa accompanied by several lists of his major publications. The printed materials include clippings, a number of published articles and booklets by Shteppa as well as a few other journals.

Louis Henkin (1917-2010) was a prominent figure in international human rights law and taught at Columbia Law School for over sixty years. Henkin published more than twenty books on constitutionalism, foreign policy, human rights, and international law, and served as an expert member of the United Nations' Human Rights Committee. The collection consists of 22 linear feet of Henkin's professional record, primarily from the last twenty-five years of his career, and focuses on his teaching activity, writings, and work for the United Nations.

Peter Maas (1929-2001) was an author and journalist, best-known for his non-fiction books on organized crime, particularly The Valachi Papers and Serpico, which were later made into films. The collection includes business files, clippings, correspondence, drafts, interviews (both tapes and transcripts), manuscripts, and research files.

Correspondence, playscripts, screenplays, scenarios, short stories, and other manuscripts, drafts, photocopies, contracts and other documents, tearsheets, clippings, and other materials relating to his career as a screenwriter, playwright, and author of short stories. Correspondence with friends, students, admirers, and professional colleagues concern his teaching, playwriting, films, articles, photography, and literary topics. There are also two groups of letters from students and readers about his textbook, "The Human Nature of Playwriting" (1949). Among the cataloged correspondence are William Gibson, MacKinlay Kantor, Anna Louise Strong, Louis Untermeyer, and Carl Van Doren. Included are manuscripts, drafts, or photocopies of almost all his films, plays, and short stories, such as playscripts and drafts of his plays, "The Jazz Singer" (1922), "Skylark" (1939), "Jason" (1942), and others; screenplays and scenarios, many in photocopy, of "Trouble in Paradise" (1932), "The Merry Widow" (1934), "The Shop Aroung the Corner" (1940), "Suspicion" (1941), "Heaven Can Wait" (1943), and many other films; and manuscripts, drafts, tearsheets, and printed copies of his short stories and articles of film and television criticism. There are also many clippings and reviews, programs, and other printed materials about his plays and films.