Collections

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 collection contains photocopied news clippings related to the death penalty, amassed by the New York State Defenders Association.

The New York State Executive Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice Records is composed of materials retained by Vincent O'Leary, a past president of the State University of New York at Albany and member of the commission. The collection provides insight into the inner workings and public exchanges of the commission members as they discussed and dealt with problems associated with the criminal justice system.

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.

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 records of the Rensselaer County Greens (RCG) contain relevant information behind its efforts to protect the Rensselaer County, New York community from the destruction of environment and historical landmarks.

Correspondence with publishers and environmental groups including the Constitutional Council for Forest Preserves, 1970–71; Defenders of Wildlife, 1970–76; Albany Environmental Council, 1965–76; draft manuscripts and typescripts, 1956–79, of texts, scholarly and popular articles and books relating to local, state, national, and international government and to environmental issues such as the anti-nuclear movement, forest preservation, wildlife preservation, the Adirondack Mountains, lecture notes taken as a student and given to his classes, 1930–70, scripts for his television series "Man Against His Environment", 1970–71, drafts of speeches on environmental concerns, tape cassettes on environmental issues created as staff lecturer for the Center for Cassette Studies, clippings files on government and environmental issues, photographs of Rienow and his wife. Robert Rienow was educated at Carthage College (B.A., 1930), and Columbia University (M.A., 1934; Ph.D., 1937), served as Instructor, 1936–41, Assistant Professor, 1941–47, and Professor, 1947–80, of Social Science at the State University of New York at Albany, now the University at Albany. Through out his career Rienow maintained an active interest in environmental issues and a belief in the need to popularize issues of public concern. (See also papers of his wife Leona Train Rienow).

The Saratoga Springs Open Space Project worked for the preservation of open space in Saratoga Springs. It supported the creation of nature trails, scenic walkways, and biking paths as well as vigorously opposed sprawl and loss of open space by organizing opposition to unsustainable development. In addition, the organization coordinated several programs aimed at aiding the development of Saratoga Springs and maintained a special interest in the development of the downtown area. The collection includes administrative files, grant files, material related to programs and issues, documentation of trails, and subject files.