The M.C. Lawton Civic and Cultural Club Records showcase the operations of the first black organization in Albany that was actively involved in community service and educational advancement, which was founded in 1919.
Collection of records and materials that document the day-to-day activities of the Albany branch of the NAACP, mainly from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s.
The NAACP Schenectady Branch Records document concerns for discrimination in housing and employment and for the recruitment of black professionals from colleges and universities to the area. The records also show the Branch's involvement with area social service providers, labor unions, and other community organizations, as well as with General Electric, as the area's major employer.
The Norman Studer Papers document his career as both an educator and ardent Catskill folklorist. The collection includes significant material relating to his work as director of the Downtown Community School in New York City and Camp Woodland in the Catskills.
The Ralph Boyd, Sr. Papers contain personal and professional correspondence, news clippings, work manuals and agendas that document his career as a General Electric employee, community activist and member of the Schenectady branch of the NAACP.
The Sigma Pi Phi, Beta Psi Boulé Records document the history and day-to-day operations of the Beta Psi Boulé. A professional fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi was founded on May 15, 1904 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and its members are distinguished African American men with college and graduate degrees. Beta Psi is the fraternity's 69th Boulé founded on May 5, 1984 in the Capital District of New York.
The Center was formed in 1981 by an alliance of non-profit activist organizations in order to provide a central location, office space, and basic services for activist groups in Albany, New York.
Organized in 1974, the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons was formed to promote greater awareness of the problems of prisons and corrections, improve communication between the prison population and the outside world, and advocate for alternatives to the death penalty.