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The papers consist primarily of records created or maintained during David A. Paterson's tenure as Lieutenant Governor and Governor of New York. The papers include approval and veto messages, budget materials, certificates, correspondence, litigation records, messages of necessity, photographs, press releases, proclamations, program bills, resolutions, schedules, speeches, video recordings, and visitors' logs.

The Howard "Stretch" Johnson Papers document the life of Howard Johnson, known for most of his life as "Stretch." Johnson was a tap dancer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and performed in Harlem at the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater in the 1930s. After joining the Communist Party of the United States of America in 1940, Johnson went on to engage in social activism for most of his life, living in a number of places, including Brazil, Galveston, Texas, Hawaii, Paris, and St. Croix. The Papers contain correspondence, both personal and work related, as well as a nearly finished typescript of Stretch's autobiography. There are a number of photographs, mainly copies of the various performers at the Cotton Club, as well as audio and videocassettes, and ephemera. Additionally, the collection contains a family scrapbook with photos from the late 1940s and early 1950s.

This collection is a combination of several different accessions of prints, negatives, contact sheets, color slides and digital files that were created by the University Photographer and others in the Columbia University Office of Public Affairs. The collection documents many events held on campus (e.g., commencement, homecoming, 1968 protests), the Morningside campus, individuals (faculty, student athletes), and sporting events.