Collections

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 National Organization for Women--Albany, N.Y. Chapter Records document the daily activities and special events involving the chapter as well as the chapter's interactions with the state and federal organizations.

This collection contains documents concerning the work of Ruth Pelham, a singer/songwriter and educator in the Albany, New York area who has been performing for decades in an effort to bring about peaceful communities through music. From the late 1970s to circa 2016, Pelham traveled in a mobile music program called the Music Mobile; singing, teaching, and writing songs with the community.

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 Thomas E. Mulligan Papers document Mulligan's life from 1941 to 1973 including his two unsucessful political campaigns, one for Mayor of Albany and the other for assemblyman.

The Thomas Nattell papers document the life of a mental health worker and political activist active during the 1980s and 1990s in Albany, New York. He created and participated in organizations like the Albany Peace and Energy Council (APEC) and the Three Guys From Albany poetry troupe. He also acted as promoter and event coordinator for movie showings, poetry open mics and an annual 24-hour poetry reading alongside a coinciding international postcard art event. Nattell used poetry and other arts to advance world peace, anti-nuclear power and proliferation, and environmental issues. This collection contains videos of events, photographs, scrapbooks full of art and poetry mailed from around the world to Nattell, subject files with research on topics related to his professional work as well as his activism, poetry, correspondence, and clippings.

The United Tenants of Albany is an association dedicated to improving housing situations for Albany's low to moderate income families and businesses with safe, affordable living and working space.

The collection documents the history of the YWCA of Albany, which was founded in 1888 by a group of women led by Mrs. Acors Rathbun in order to provide housing and recreational activities for young women searching for work. Through the years, the organization expanded to include classes, childcare, athletics, essay contests, teen issue programs, and an annual awards dinner honoring women. Strengths include the extensive photographic material and meeting minutes from the board of trustees and directors. The collection is weakest at the beginning and end of the YWCA of Albany's existence.