The George Segal Papers document over sixty years of the artist's life and include materials relating to almost every aspect of his creative work: photography, exhibitions, critical reception, activity within the art world, and personal interests beyond that of sculpture. The collection includes artwork, photographic prints and slides, negatives, handwritten and typed correspondence, book drafts and articles, audio and visual media, notebooks and early school assignments, photocopied newspaper clippings, exhibition catalogs and posters, and the photography of Donald Lokuta.

One of the most unique aspects of the collection is a series of artwork produced by Segal during his early education as an artist. These sketches and paintings in a variety of media highlight the heretofore unknown development of Segal's approach before and during his establishment as a major artist and feature many themes that prefigure his later work in sculpture, including sensuality and urban environments.

The bulk of the collection (and also representing a rarely seen aspect of Segal's art) is a collection of photographic prints produced over the course of some sixteen years towards the end of Segal's life. These prints chronicle Segal's interest in photography and his fascination with the environs immediately surrounding his home in South Brunswick, New Jersey, as well as New York City and cities abroad.

A large part of the collection consists of business files on a variety of topics that span Segal's entire career. Rich in information and opinion, this material provides a wide and varied portrait of the man as well as the artist, lending particular insight into the interpersonal relationships Segal had with family and friends (often used as models in his sculpture). This is demonstrated by personal correspondence and intimate photographs present in the collection.

At the same time, Segal was very active in regard to creating, exhibiting and speaking about his own artwork evidenced by the bulk of business correspondence relating to the production and exhibition of his work, numerous photographs of Segal sculpting, decade's worth of interviews and awards recorded on visual and audio media, and over fifty years of newspaper and magazine clippings that trace his career and celebrity. Segal's personal and other artistic interests are reflected in the causes he was a part of, the projects and commissions he was involved in, and the photography he created.