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The Capital Defender Office (1995-2008) (CDO) was established as part of New York States 1995 death penalty legislation which took effect on September 1, 1995. Under the new law, the State expanded the crime of first degree murder and introduced two new penalties, death and life in prison without possibility of parole, for those convicted. Working from offices in Albany, New York City, and Rochester, the CDO sought to ensure that defendants being tried by the State, who could not afford representation, receive skilled counsel in capital cases. The CDO closed its Rochester office in 2005, and, as no state death penalty cases remain, the Albany and New York City offices in 2008. This collection consists of news clips (filed by subject), subject files, bound records of appeal in the cases of the People v. Cahill, Harris, LaValle, Mateo, McCoy, and Taylor, notebooks with appellate briefs, New York county court papers arranged by county, government studies, reports and debates on capital punishment, annual reports, and a small number of VHS tapes recording court proceedings. There are defendant case files, some with correspondence, court papers, and news clips and others with just news clips.

The records of Citizens' Environmental Coalition (CEC) document its research and activism, from its infancy as part of the New York Environmental Institute, through its independent chartering in 1991, and continuing into the new millennium.

Tenants and Neighbors is a statewide coalition of New York's tenants and tenant associations that fight for tenants' rights and affordable housing for all people. The origins of Tenants and Neighbors dates to a meeting of tenant and housing activists from across the state in August 1972 at St. Rose College in Albany, N.Y. By December 1974, a formal organization was developed by housing and tenant activists across the state that drew up by-laws and created the original name as the New York Tenants Coalition. The first statewide membership meeting was held in February 1975. In 1995, the organization changed its name to New York State Tenants and Neighbors. The collection includes: minutes, annual reports, newsletter and other publications, legislative and organizational memoranda, press releases, clippings, video and press coverage.

The School of Social Welfare Records document the history and day-to-day operations of the School at the University at Albany since its first full year of operation in 1964 through 2000.

The collection documents the day-to-day work of the Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter over three and a half decades.

The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ICADP) formed in 1976 as the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty by Mary Alice Rankin and other activist groups and organizations to try to prevent passage of capital punishment legislation in Illinois. After the state adopted the death penalty in 1977, ICADP expanded its grassroots legislative, education, and communication activities to try to inform the public about flaws and injustices in the Illinois capital punishment system and promote humane alternatives to the death penalty.

This collection contains planning documents used in the development and construction of the University at Albany, SUNY's Uptown campus.

This collection is predominantly composed of Ernest van den Haag's publications from 1950-2000, including articles in published form, drafts, and related correspondence.

The Henry Schwarzschild Memorial Collection contains papers, journal articles and other written materials about the death penalty. Lansing, Michigan attorney and death penalty opponent Eugene G. Wanger donated this collection in memory of Henry Schwarzschild (1925-1996), longtime director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Capital Punishment Project, and head of the New York office of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty at the time of his death.

The William Kennedy Papers document nearly a half century of research, writing, and publishing efforts of the internationally recognized, Pulitzer Prize winning author, playwright, essayist, journalist, script writer, professor, and champion of the arts. The collection consists of records related to all of Kennedy's fiction and nonfiction books through 2002, including his "Albany Cycle" of novels, film scripts, essays, and newspaper articles from the Albany . In addition, there is correspondence with other significant authors of American literature, biographical materials, and records documenting a trip to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with President Bill Clinton.

The Tanya M. Melich Papers contain materials relating to the political landscape of the United states throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, as well as various social movements with a particular emphasis on Women's rights.

The collection contains Pachter's writings in history, economics, current events, the social sciences and other topics. The bulk of the collection consists of Pachter's published essayistic writings, both for journals (including numerous articles for Dissent) and for newspapers.

The State University of New York at Albany Alumni Association Records document the day-to-day operations of the Alumni Association from the 1850s to the early 21st Century.