Search

This series contains documents related to events in the Albany, New York region. It contains correspondence, photographs, negatives, promotional materials, press clippings, fliers and posters, poems, newsletters, and handwritten notes. Notable groups, institutions and individuals mentioned in this series include: Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, the Bread and Puppet Circus, the New York State Writers Institute, the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and the 10-year annual event Readings Against the End of the World (RAEW). Nattell was involved in the creation, promotion and coordination of most of these events. Oversized materials in this series include scrapbooks which hold assorted art and poems that were mailed in and displayed ca. 1980-1995. Also included are scrapbooks containing photographs of readers at the Readings Against the End of the World.

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.