The scrapbooks consist two volumes of news clippings, 1894-1942.
Volume 1, 1894-1933, includes news clippings pertaining to the Lehigh University football team; McCarthy's mother's obituary; buildings designed by McCarthy including the Bryn Mawr Apartments located on Prospect Park West in Park Slope and the Cathedral Arms Apartments on Ocean Avenue in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn; McCarthy's design for elevated sidewalks on Fulton Street in Brooklyn; and various news clippings from local Brooklyn and New York newspapers quoting McCarthy regarding housing, building, and zoning related issues such as the New York State Multiple Dwelling Law of 1929.
Volume 2, 1933-1942, includes news clippings pertaining to the Red Hook Houses in Brooklyn and to various building and zoning laws in Brooklyn and New York City.