Correspondence, family papers, transcripts of an oral history interview, speeches, writings, draft opinions, memoranda, notes, professional and subject files, and other papers pertaining to Goldberg's service as secretary of labor in the administration of John F. Kennedy, associate justice in the U.S. Supreme Court, and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; his law practice in New York, N.Y., and Washington, D.C.; and his role as chairman of the U.S. delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1977-1978. Also includes material on his World War II activities with the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, his work as legal counsel to the United Steelworkers of America and the AFL-CIO, and his unsuccessful campaign for governor of New York in 1970. Other topics include organized labor and local politics in Chicago, Ill., national politics, international relations, constitutional law, shipbuilders and steelworkers' strikes, Israel and the Jewish community, tension in the Middle East and South Africa, conflict between India and Pakistan, North Korea and the Pueblo incident, and nuclear proliferation. Also documented is Goldberg's legal representation of Kaiser Industries Corporation, the Denver Post, and baseball player Curt Flood in cases concerning corporate social responsiblity and free agency for baseball players.

Papers of his wife, Dorothy Kurgans Goldberg, comprise correspondence, diaries, speeches and writings, and other papers documenting her activities as an author, lecturer, and wife of an ambassador and prominent public official. Includes notes and journal kept by her as a member, along with her husband, of the U.S. delegation to meetings of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Also includes material on her work in promoting public schools in Washington, D.C., the National School Volunteer Program, and the U.S. President's Task Force on International Education. Topics include art, Jews, voluntarism, and women's issues.

Correspondents include Emery Bacon, David L. Bazelon, Arnold Beichman, William Benton, Hugo Lafayette Black, Stephen G. Breyer, Alan M. Dershowitz, William J. Donovan, William O. Douglas, Dwight D. Eisenhower, David E. Feller, Abe Fortas, Richard N. Gardner, Conrad N. Hilton, Hubert H. Humphrey, Lyndon B. Johnson, Edgar F. Kaiser, Max M. Kampelman, Freda Kirchwey, Philip M. Klutznick, Benjamin Landis, David J. Macdonald, John S. McCain, Golda Meir, Agnes Elizabeth Ernst Meyer, Abner J. Mikva, Newton N. Minow, David A. Morse, Daniel P. Moynihan, Yitzhak Rabin, James Roosevelt, Walter Reuther, Robert Shaplen, Simon Ernest Sobeloff, Harry S. Truman, Earl Warren, Jacob Joseph Weinstein, Simon Wiesenthal, and J. Skelly Wright.