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Schaefer's connection with the University at Albany began in 1959 when the school was still known as the New York State Teachers College, located in downtown Albany. When Schaefer began the highly successful Atmospheric Physics Program via the Loomis School in Connecticut, he attracted the attention of Dean Oscar Lanford and President Evan Collins of the New York State Teachers College. They asked Schaefer to come teach at their Albany school, and within his first year as a faculty member, the idea for the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC) was born. Officially established in February 1961, it was originally located in the old General Electric hangar at Schenectady Airport. Although the former New York State Teachers College expanded to the current uptown Albany campus in the mid-1960s, officially becoming the University at Albany, State University of New York, the ASRC remained centered in Schenectady at that time. Meanwhile, the Atmospheric Physics Program that began at the Loomis School shifted to Albany to be under the sponsorship of the ASRC, where it became the Natural Sciences Institute (NSI). However, since the program's roots were not originally with the ASRC and University at Albany, those records comprise their own series within this collection (Series #5).

The pamphlet collection contains many rare and unique publications which will eventually be individually catalogued.

This series contains a large amount of photographs taken during Senator Ronald Stafford's time in office. Senator Stafford can be seen with school groups, organizations such as 4-H, and other legislators. Some files also contain the letter sent along with the photographs. This series contains photographs of identified groups or individuals as well as unidentified ones. Photographs of identifiable events were each given their own folders. Headshots of Senator Stafford and negatives of photographs are also included.

This series contains press and photo releases issued by Senator Ronald Stafford's office. The majority of releases date from the years 1978-1981. There are also newsclippings from the 1970s.

The location of correspondence in this collection is based on how the archivist found the materials as donated by Schaefer. Although he filed a considerable amount of correspondence within materials from specific affiliations (ex. General Electric, Munitalp, consulting work), the archivist found still more correspondence boxed separately. Roughly half of these items were not subdivided or specially categorized in any way while others were foldered by topic. This arrangement has been retained by the archivist. Please note that this series contains letters, cards, and postcards that span the majority of Schaefer's life, from young adulthood to the weeks before he died in July 1993. Some are professional in nature while others are from friends and family.