Jane Campbell Bannerman studied graphic design and illustration at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (now Parsons School of Design), graduating in 1930. She worked for several firms as a graphic and interior designer, and later opened her own interior design business. The collection mainly consists of student work, commercial design work, and travel watercolors, as well as clippings, photographs, and printed items.

Lorraine Fox (1922-1976) began her career in commercial illustration in the 1940s, becoming one of the most celebrated female illustrators of the mid-20th century. The collection, spanning the final decade of Fox's life, includes proofs, transparencies and tear sheets of album covers, book illustrations, greeting cards, and advertisements. Fox taught at Parsons School of Design from 1965 until shortly before her death in 1976.

American artist and founder of Parsons School of Design William Merritt Chase (1848-1916) etched the two works comprising this collection, "Keying Up--the Court Jester" (1879) and "Spanish Peasant" (circa 1881).