Collections

This collection documents the day-to-day activities of the Zonta Club of Albany, a service organization in the Captial Region of New York, comprised of executives, professionals, and businesswomen, as well as documenting the activities of the Club within Zonta International.

The Woman's Club of Albany Records document the day-to-day operations of the first 100 years of this community organization founded in 1910.

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.

The Victor Streib Papers contain research materials and legal case files on the death penalty in the United States with a focus on how it has been applied to women and juveniles.

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.

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 Tom Blandy Papers document the group Concerned Citizens for the Environment's legal and political opposition to the proposed Green Island Solid Waste Incinerator

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 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 Pi Omega Pi Records contain documents pertaining to the National Business Education Teacher Honor Society's Beta Eta chapter at the University at Albany.

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 records of the New York State Conference of Local Mental Hygiene Directors trace the development of mental healthcare throughout the state from the early 1950s through the beginning of the twenty-first century. Established in the mid-1970s, the Conference's records include correspondence, memos, meeting minutes, reports, and manuals that chronicle the efforts of mental health professionals as they encourage local, county, and state agencies to provide quality, affordable services for persons living with mental illness, chemical dependency, and/or developmental disability.

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 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.

The papers of Nancy Papish document her involvement with Clearwater, North River Friends of Clearwater (NRFC), and the campaign to stop Hydro-Quebec's development plan for James Bay. These papers document the environmental activism of Nancy Papish from the 1970s through the 1990s. Included are meeting minutes, notes, mailings, press releases, news clippings, magazine articles, programs, and publications. The Clearwater files contain near-complete runs of newsletters produced by both NRFC and the parent Clearwater organization. Evidence of NRFC's outreach activities is found in a slide show titled "This Is Clearwater" and numerous poster displays. Documentation of Clearwater's organization and administration, such as meeting minutes, internal reports, and committee files, are almost entirely absent. There is little information about the membership of Clearwater. The James Bay files contain materials from several organizations.

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 M. Watt Espy papers chronicle the extensive research efforts that led to the creation of the Capital Punishment Research Project and the database known as the Espy File. Espy spent three decades gathering and indexing documentation of legal executions in the United States. His papers contain both primary and secondary sources used to catalog thousands of instances of capital punishment in the United States and its territories since the 1600s. The collection includes material from corrections records, newspapers, county histories, legal proceedings, and books. In addition to the records pertaining specifically to the death penalty, there is also a selection of magazines collected by Espy that cover true crime stories as well as life in the American Old West.

The Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation Records document the organization's efforts to abolish the death penalty in all cases. The organization includes family members of both homicide victims and those executed as well as their respective supporter. Included in the collection are handwritten notes, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, brochures, booklets, programs, information packets, photographs, flyers, proofs, drafts, manuscripts, correspondence, memos, transcripts, mailing lists, schedules, meeting agenda, meeting minutes, meeting summaries, by-laws, manuals, checklists, worksheets, evaluation forms, resumes, applications, forms, financial summaries, budgets, contracts, court proceedings, legislative bills, amici curiae, memorabilia, audio/video materials.

The Monday Music Club was formed in 1904 among twenty women, to practice their music skills. The women practiced their skills in workshops and other artistic excerices. Even though they were founded in 1904, the collection does not cover the first twenty years of the club.

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.