This collection consists of an introductory booklet to Benedict J. Fernandez's portfolio of photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr., taken in the last year of King's life, Countdown to Eternity: Photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960's. Fernandez was founder of the photography program at Parsons School of Design, serving as chair from 1981-1994.

Occurring annually between 1981 and 1989, the Focus Photography Workshops offered a week-long immersion in a specialized area of photography with a public lecture series running during the same period. The workshops were targeted toward non-degree students with advanced photography skills. This collection includes audio recordings from the Focus lectures by professionals in the fields of photojournalism, advertising and fashion photography.

The Parsons School of Design Centenary Oral History Project consists of recorded sound interviews with twelve individuals as well as two audio monologues by the project's manager, Martica Sawin. The interviews, recorded in 1994, cover the history of different academic departments and design disciplines over the course of the twentieth century as experienced by former and then-current instructors and administrators. Recordings are all in English.