Capital District Reference Collection, 1868-2005
Collection context
PDF Finding Aid
- PDF Finding Aid:
- Finding Aid
Summary
- Abstract:
- This collection was artificially assembled by University at Albany library staff in the mid to late 20th century to provide general reference information about cities, communities, and towns and various aspects of life in the Capital District of New York State.
- Extent:
- 15.13 cubic ft.
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, box, folder, Capital District Reference Collection, 1868-2005. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Capital District Reference Collection).
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection consists of reference materials primarily concerning cities, communities, towns and various aspects of life in the Capital District of New York State but also contains items concerning other regions of the state, including the Adirondacks, Buffalo, New York City, and Ulster County. The archivist has defined the Capital District as consisting of Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, and Washington Counties.
The collection primarily consists of newspapers and newspaper clippings but also includes advertisements, applications, art books, bank signets, booklets, book plates, brochures, bulletins, by-laws, catalogues, charts, circulars, city and community plans, club records, contracts, correspondence, digests, directions, directories, event flyers and programs, greeting cards, guides, histories of local communities and institutions, illustrations, information cards, instructions, lectures, lists, magazines and magazine clippings, maps, membership cards and forms, memoranda, monographs, newsletters, notices, photographs, political primers, posters, prints, proposals, reports, schedules, short biographies and descriptions, short publications, speeches, statements of condition, studies, and surveys. Finally, the collection contains materials pertaining to the Albany Times Union, such as audit reports, the organizations's by-laws and constitution, and a survey of employees' experience and wages from 1946.
Some newspapers articles in the collections are split between a folder and flat file, specificially those concerning Newburgh, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, and Schuylerville.
The vast majority of the materials are in English, but one of the items, which concerns the Spanish Center in Albany, is in Spanish.
- Biographical / historical:
-
This collection was initially assembled by library staff at the University at Albany sometimes in the mid 20th century and was later added to by library and archival staff over time until 2005. The vast majority of the newspaper clippings in the collection date from the 1950s to the early 1908s, and the bulk of them span the period from 1977 to 1981.
- Acquisition information:
- This collection was initially assembled and arranged by the library staff at the University at Albany sometime in the mid to late 20th Century. The exact date or year of initial creation is unknown. The exact manner in which the department of special collections and archives acquired the collection is also unknown, but its likely that library staff simply moved the collection from the library's main collections to those of special collections and archives.
- Processing information:
-
The collection was processed by Michael David Munsey in in 2024-2025.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection is arranged alphabetically. There are and no series.
- Physical location:
- The materials are located onsite in the department.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard [DACS]
Indexed terms
Using these materials
- Access:
- The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.
- Restrictions:
-
Access to this collection is unrestricted.
- Terms of access:
-
The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright. Whenever possible, the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions, but the legal determination ultimately rests with the researcher. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
- Preferred citation:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, box, folder, Capital District Reference Collection, 1868-2005. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Capital District Reference Collection).