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Interviews document the lives of seventeen prominent figures in the Republic of China (1911-1949). Narrators discuss military affairs, politics, national and regional governance, education, economics, culture, transportation, and other topics. Military campaigns are a major topic of the collection. Narrators discuss the operations and impacts of the Northern Expedition (1928-2928), Second Sino-Japanese War/War of Resistance (1937-1945), and Chinese Civil War (1945-1949). Narrators discuss the practical matters of governing during a period of upheaval. They also discuss the politics of the era and entities such as the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party. Many narrators studied abroad in the United States and Europe. The collection gives insights into Chinese education and the experiences of Chinese nationals abroad, including observations from their travels. Several narrators worked as diplomats for the Republican government and offer insights into international affairs and world leaders of the mid-20th century.

Correspondence, subject files, manuscripts and printed materials documenting the work of C. Martin Wilbur, George Sansom Professor Emeritus of Chinese History, Columbia University. Correspondence with non-Columbia organizations includes the Institute of Pacific Relations, Far Eastern Association, INDUSCO, Council on Foreign Relations, Asia Foundation, and American Council of Learned Societies, among others. Subject files relevant to Columbia University include items pertaining to the Department of Chinese and Japanese, later renamed the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, as well as teaching files, student files and research projects directed. The manuscript files contain the notes and, in some cases, printed copies of published and unpublished works and public talks. Wilbur's writings and research concentrate on the history and politics of twentieth century China, with emphasis on the Chinese Revolution, 1920-1929, Sun Yat-sen, and communism in China. There are translations of minutes for the first and second Kuomintang Congresses, copies of documents from the Kuomintang Archives, and photographs of members of the Young China Party, Sun Yat-sen and several historical events in the 1920s. Files on fund raising efforts for the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Wellington Koo Fellowship also contain relevant correspondence. Biographical information includes a curriculum vitae (ca. 1968)

A collection of letters, notes, lectures, and reprints by Sansom, including correspondence between Sansom and professor Evarts B. Greene dealing with the hiring of Sansom as a visiting professor for the 1935-1936 academic year; holograph and typed lectures given during his second appointment as visiting professor, 1940-1941; a holograph notebook of miscellaneous items; a binder of holograph notes and essays on Japanese cultural history which possibly was drawn upon for his book, JAPAN, A SHORT CULTURAL HISTORY, 1931; and a list of Japanese books consigned by Sansom to Columbia University in 1941.

Correrspondence, manuscripts, notes, memoranda, documents, photographs and printed materials. In addition to personal correspondence and documents, there are files of Amnesty International, the human rights organization of which Morris was American Section chairman. Also included are notes and manuscripts of Morris' studies in Japanese literature and culture, particularly relating to his many books and translations. His interest in puzzles, and compilations of several volumes of them, are reflected in notes and correspondence. Among the major correspondence are Donald Keene, Anthony Powell, Sacheverell Sitwell and Arthur Waley