Charles Harbutt taught photography at Parsons School of Design from the early 1990s until his death in 2015. He served as the president of the photographic cooperative Magnum twice, and his work appeared in many publications and exhibitions. The collection consists of material created and assembled by Harbutt for his Parsons classes.

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.

Parsons School of Design was established in 1896 and became affiliated with The New School as the university's art and design college in 1970. New School Archives staff assembled this collection of audiovisual materials, exhibition catalogs, posters, publications, student work, and other formats from departmental transfers and personal donations by Parsons School of Design faculty, students and administrative staff beginning in 2009.

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.