Collections

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.

For over six decades, Eugene G. Wanger created or collected the materials about capital punishment that comprise the Eugene G. Wanger and Marilyn M. Wanger Death Penalty Collection. The collection includes a wide range of materials on the death penalty documenting its history, efforts to abolish or reinstate the practice, its psychological impact, compatibility on religious, moral or ethical grounds, and its operation.

The Duncan Blanchard papers document Blanchards career as a research associate at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and as a senior research associate at the State University of New York at Albany.

Michael A. Mello (1957-2008) was an internationally recognized authority on the death penalty and capital punishment issues. He was a lawyer, professor, and author. Michael Mello served as counsel or informal advisor to many significant cases, including Joseph Robert Crazy Joe Spaziano, Theodore Kaczynski, Theodore Bundy, Rolando Cruz, Alvin Ford, Stephen Todd Booker, and Robert Straight.

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.

Administrative records from the Office of the President, which guides the overall direction and leadership of the school. This collection documents major university initiatives and trends since it's beginning in the 19th century.

The Bernard Vonnegut Papers document Vonnegut's career as a researcher in the field of atmospheric science with a focus on his time at GE, Arthur Little, and the State University of New York at Albany. The collection includes technical memoranda, research, data, inventions and patent forms, equipment specifications, drawings, figures, handwritten notes, manuscripts, reports, correspondence, publicity materials, course materials, news clippings, photographs, memorabilia, and audio/video materials

A reference collection created by archivists that includes clippings, copies of official records, publications that document the University, students, alumni, and members of the faculty.

This collection consists of the papers of Dr. Vivian Constance Hopkins, documenting both her career in academia and her personal correspondence.

The Correctional Association of New York Records includes records from the Board of Directors, annual reports, prison visit files, Narcotics Committee files, program and bureau files, project files, subject files, and publications. The only records of the organization available from the nineteenth century are the annual reports, which have been microfilmed and are available in the University Library.