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The collection documents the history of the YWCA of Albany, which was founded in 1888 by a group of women led by Mrs. Acors Rathbun in order to provide housing and recreational activities for young women searching for work. Through the years, the organization expanded to include classes, childcare, athletics, essay contests, teen issue programs, and an annual awards dinner honoring women. Strengths include the extensive photographic material and meeting minutes from the board of trustees and directors. The collection is weakest at the beginning and end of the YWCA of Albany's existence.

This collection documents the lifelong activism of Albany, N.Y. resident Vera Michelson, especially her work with the Capital District Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism.

Since its establishment in 1966 as the Urban League of the Albany N.Y. Area, the Urban League of Northeastern New York has campaigned for voter registration, housing, education, social services and other issues of concern to African Americans and others in the New York State Capital District.

The Urban Documentation Project Records contains research related to the waste industry, the environment, and related interests in New York State and across the country.

The records of United University Professions (UUP) document the activities of the union and collective bargaining agent for the faculty and non-teaching professionals of the State University of New York. They begin in the 1960s with UUP's antecedents, the State University Professional Association (SUPA) and the Senate Professional Association (SPA), and continue through June 2000 for the materials produced by UUP's Communications Department, and through May 1993 for most other series.

The UUP Oral History Project's intent was to capture the history of the UUP as well as its predecessors through interviews with union executives and members.

United University Professions (UUP) is the union and collective bargaining agent for the faculty and non-teaching professionals of the State University of New York (SUNY). UUP (initially named SUNY/United) was created by the 1973 merger of the Senate Professional Association (SPA) and the State University Federation of Teachers (SUFT).

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.

This collection contains the papers of Thomas Keefe.

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 New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is the preeminent statewide organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of individual civil liberties and civil rights in New York State. Founded in 1951, the NYCLU's mission is to defend and uphold the basic rights and liberties articulated in the Bill of Rights and to advocate, litigate and educate for the protection of civil liberties. Through litigation, legal counsel, advocacy and legislative lobbying, the NYCLU has, among many issues, protected political freedom during the McCarthy era, argued against the constitutionality of the Vietnam War, created the first project focused on the rights of mentally disabled, and was the first civil liberties organization to advocate for reforming the foster care placement system. Over the last thirty years, the NYCLU has advocated for issues surrounding voting rights and censorship, fought to end gender discrimination and school segregation in New York State schools, and defended the separation of church and state. The collection consists of legal case files, administrative records and other archival materials. The collection is being processed and is currently closed, unless permission to access is granted in writing from the NYCLU Executive Director.

The Hunger Action Network of New York State was founded at the Food, Famine and Federalism conference on May 20th, 1982. The statewide membership organization is comprised of direct food providers, advocates, and others with the same goal of ending hunger and poverty in New York State. Today, HANNYS has more than 200 member organizations fighting in unison. The organization holds offices in New York City and Albany, New York.

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 collection contains records of the the Eighth Step, an independent, non-profit organization which held held concerts of folk, traditional, ethnic, blues, and jazz music and was originally involved in and influenced by late 1960s politics.

The Capital District Transgender Community Archive Collection contains material pertaining to local trangender history. This collections contains a large variety of publications about transgenderism.

The Business and Professional Women's Club of Albany, New York, (BPW) was founded in 1934 with 22 charter members as a chapter of the Business and Professional Women's Clubs of New York State, Inc. (founded in 1919) and a member of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc. The objectives of the club, according to its by-laws, were "To elevate the standards for women in business and in the professions; To promote the interests of business and professional women; To bring about a spirit of cooperation among business and professional women of the United States; [and] To extend opportunities to business and professional women through education along lines of industrial, scientific, and vocational activities."

The Brothers was a civil rights group that was active in Albany, New York for several years beginning in 1966.

This collection documents the day-to-day activities of Tenants PAC (Political Action Committee), a tenants rights political advocacy and educational organization.

This collection documents the activities of the Student Association of the State University of New York from its founding in 1970 hrough its first decade of existence.

Organized in 1974, the Southern Coalition on Jails and Prisons was formed to promote greater awareness of the problems of prisons and corrections, improve communication between the prison population and the outside world, and advocate for alternatives to the death penalty.

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.

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 Center was formed in 1981 by an alliance of non-profit activist organizations in order to provide a central location, office space, and basic services for activist groups in Albany, New York.

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

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.

Founded in 1990 to to promote the preservation of agricultural, scenic, forest, natural, recreational, and open space land in Schoharie County.

The Sandra Shapard Papers consist of Ms. Shapard's (largely political) button collection.

This collection contains the writings of Robert Doran as well as materials he collected related to social justice, political and environmental issues.

Death penalty abolitionist who worked with many anti-death penalty organizations, capital defense attorneys, representatives of various communities of faith, newspaper editorial boards, victims' rights groups, members of the families of the condemned, and many death row inmates throughout the country.

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.

P.R.O.T.E.C.T. (Prudent Residents Opposed to Electric Cable Transmission) initially formed in 1982 to oppose construction of a high voltage power line originating from Marcy, New York in Oneida County and running down to the New York City area.

This collection documents political events and issues, predominantly from the early 1940s to the early 1970s, through publications collected by University at Albany graduate student Peter Pollak.

This collection contains records of the Pension Rights Center.

Records of association dedicated to the protection, appreciation, and enhancement of natural resources in and around Otsego County. The group is concerned about numerous issues including the preservation of the Otsego Lake watershed, solid waste management, land-use planning, and water quality.

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 Norman Studer Papers document his career as both an educator and ardent Catskill folklorist. The collection includes significant material relating to his work as director of the Downtown Community School in New York City and Camp Woodland in the Catskills.

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 New York State Common Cause document campaigns against political action committees, election reform, civil service reform, and accountability issues.

The collection documents a sixty-seven year time span (1928-1995) of the New York Public Welfare Association and contains a wealth of material related to the history and diverse functions of the organization including correspondence, memos, minutes of meetings, expenditures, and other files.

Records of non-profit citizens' organization committed to reducing hazardous chemical pesticides use through education and advocacy.

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.

National Association of Black Social Workers, Capital District Chapter Records document the organization's history and activities with various forms

The NAACP Schenectady Branch Records document concerns for discrimination in housing and employment and for the recruitment of black professionals from colleges and universities to the area. The records also show the Branch's involvement with area social service providers, labor unions, and other community organizations, as well as with General Electric, as the area's major employer.

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 Michelle Crone Papers document her experience as a feminist and lesbian activist from the early 1980s until the mid-1990s. The collection includes material from here position as National Civil Disobedience Coordinator for the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, and as a member of the Executive Committee for the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. Also present are records from Michelle Crone's management of a number of women's festivals from 1982 to 1996—most notably Rhythm Fest and the Cultural Festival at Gay Games IV—and records from her Capital District production company, Elword Productions. The collection also includes the records from her experience with the Seneca Women's Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and the National Lesbian Conference. Also included are her personal correspondence, records of her undergraduate studies with the theater and women's studies programs at the University at Albany, SUNY, and political literature from a number of progressive causes at the national and local levels.

This collection contains material related to the social and political activism of Martin Manley, a longtime Schenectady, New York resident.

This collection contains the papers of Mark Mishler, a practicng attaorney in Albany, New York.

This collection contains materials from Malinda Myers' work with the NAACP, Schenectady branch, and Schenectady County Community College.

This collection details the social activism of Malcolm Willison in New York State's Capital Region. As an active board member of several local groups, his papers contain minutes, financial statements and budgets, programming ideas, brochures, planning notes, articles and reports, and clippings that detail the evolution of the various organizations contained in the collection. Organizational newsletters and event flyers, course and conference information planned by Willison in his capacity on executive boards, and vast amounts of correspondence about any number of events and issues are also part of the scope of the collection.

This collection contains the papers of Victor A. Lord.