Collections

Founded in 1920, the League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that informs citizens about government, encourages their participation, and seeks to influence public policy through education and advocacy. One of nearly 60 local leagues in New York State, the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County (formerly the League of Women Voters, Saratoga Springs Area) formed in early 1965. This collection documents the operation and activities of this local league from its founding through 2010.

The Libby Post Papers contain political campaign documents, professional correspondences, news clippings, meeting minutes, agendas, document drafts, press releases, news letters, civil activism notes, and other materials that document her involvement securing various LGBT rights and with political organizations, as well as the general LGBT community in Albany, NY.

The Margaret Vandiver Papers document Dr. Vandiver's research in capital punishment, involvement with abolitionist organizations, and work with individuals sentenced to death.

This collection documents Maurice Hinchey's service as a member of the New York State Assembly and then a United States Congressman from the Hudson Valley of New York.

The majority of the Menands Book Club Records consists of meeting and treasurer notes and program schedules. There also is correspondence, club histories and an information packet of the village of Menands, NY Anniversary.

This collection consists of the administrative records of the Assistant to the Provost of the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy.

The Public Employees Federation (PEF) was founded in 1979 to represent members of the Professional, Scientific, and Technical (PS&T) bargaining unit of New York State. PS&T employees had formerly been represented by CSEA, the state's largest public employee union. PEF founders believed that the concerns of the PS&T unit were not adequately represented by CSEA, the majority of whose members were non-professional state employees. PEF's stated mission is to "provide the leadership necessary for PEF members to achieve employment security, higher wages, better working conditions, and improved retirement benefits." Materials in this collection document PEF activities at both the state and division level. There is extensive coverage of executive board activities from 1978 through mid-2000, annual conventions, committee meetings, and contract negotiations. Also included are files for PEF Division 169, PEF's Environmental Conservation Division. These include correspondence, agendas and minutes for labor/management meetings, material on committees, and administrative files. This collection also documents the activities of reform groups and political parties within PEF (most notably, the Statewide Coalition for a Democratic Union) and PEF's relationships with its national affiliates, the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Teachers. Particularly strong is the collection of bulletin board postings, which includes almost everything posted on Division 169 PEF bulletin boards from 1979 through 2000. There are also official PEF publications, including a near-complete run of PEF's official monthly newsletter to members, The Communicator.

The New York StateWide Senior Action Council records document the issues faced by senior citizens in New York State over the course of almost three decades. The bulk of the records consist of subject files in the areas of health care, Medicare, and social security issues. In addition to topical material, these records document the fundraising activities of the organization and its various sub-groups. Notably included are publications issued by the organization, including the Sentinel newsletter (1992-1996) and the Senior Action newspaper (1977-1991). The bulk of the material, found in the subject files, is useful for documenting issues about which NYSSAC was active. NYSSAC's work with New York state legislators, as well as government and private agencies in advocating for seniors and social justice issues, and their outreach efforts in education and advocacy, are well documented throughout the collection. Records of the activities of Executive Directors Michael Burgess and Bonnie Ray are the most prominent in the collection.

The North Country James Bay Group records document efforts of this upstate New York environmental organization to stop Hydro-Québec's Great Whale (Grande Baleine) River/James Bay II development efforts in the early 1990s.

This collection documents the activism of November Belford West and her opposition to the death penalty.