Collections

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.

Records of Save the Pine Bush, Inc., a non profit organization concerned with protecting the rare inland pine barrens sand dunes of the Capital District, known as the Albany Pine Bush, which are home to the Karner Blue Butterfly.

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

Documents major projects the society undertook to protect water resources, including the Wilmorite project, the Bonded Concrete project, and the water supply applications of the city of Schenectady and the town of Rotterdam.

The Greyhound Strikers Solidarity Committee of the Capital District was created by Albany-area labor union activists in support of the autumn 1983 Amalgamated Transit Union strike against Greyhound Bus Lines. After the strike, the group was reconstituted as the Solidarity Committee of the Capital District (SCCD) and worked to support hundreds of strikes and labor activities in Eastern New York, across the country, and in Latin America.

A public benefit corporation formed to plan, design, construct and provide financing for facilities required by the SUNY system.

The Environmental Clearinghouse, Inc. also known as ECOS, is a regional environmental organization founded in Schenectady, New York in October 1971 by members of the Junior League of Schenectady, Inc. and supported since 1974 by membership contributions, donations, and volunteers.

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 Vincent J. Schaefer Papers represent the professional accomplishments and personal interests of the scientist who discovered cloud seeding. Schaefer spent more than 20 years with General Electric in Schenectady, New York, working his way up from apprentice, to research assistant, to research associate. In those years he was mentored by Irving Langmuir, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry. The work Schaefer did at General Electric laid the foundation for further success as he became director of research for the Munitalp Foundation, began a highly successful summer science program for high school students, acted as an independent consultant, and founded the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at the State University of New York at Albany. This collection contains research data, notes, correspondence, publications, and photographs that showcase Schaefer's long, industrious scientific career as well as highlighting his many hobbies in local history and environmentalism.