Collections : [New York State Modern Political Archive]

The files contain newspaper clippings, codes, and investigations on a wide range of topics pertaining to urban issues such as housing codes and enforcement, highway construction, parking, preservation and demolition of buildings and historical sites, preservation of the Pine Bush, security, burglary, a 1973 investigation of police enforcement and corruption, taxes, urban community and neighborhood development and preservation, ordinances, and zoning. They contain correspondence with and information on the Hudson/Park and Pine Hills Neighborhood Associations, Albany neighborhood associations, Capitol Hill Improvement Corporation, Capitol Housing Rehabilitation Corporation, the Historic Albany Foundation, Historic Resources Commission (1988), Historic Sites Commission, Albany Industrial Development Agency, Mayor Corning Memorial Committee (1984), and St. Joseph Housing Corporation (1983); and correspondence with and information on the New York City Brownstone Revival Committee, New York State Council on Architecture, and Preservation League of New York State; and national correspondence with and information on Alliance for Neighborhood Government, and Neighborhood Preservation.

This series contains files pertaining to planning decisions in Albany County, New York. There are a wide variety of documents covering county-level planning -- e.g., open space plans, county land use regulations, transportation plans for I-87/Northway, as well as plans involving the airport and the Pine Bush Preserve. There are also plans for specific municipalities within the county: villages, towns, and the City of Albany, itself. For the City of Albany, there are housing studies, community buying guides, economic development strategies, community improvement program reports, land use inventories, downtown development plans, to name a few of the most common document types.

The minutes include correspondence, newspaper clippings, committee and convention reports, financial reports, and other material. The 1850-55 minute book ends with a copy of the local's constitution signed by each charter member. The 1892-97 minute book is partially burned, and many of the final pages of the book are water damaged, so it is possible that that 1855-74 minute book merely suffered greater damage and was subsequently discarded. The first few minute books are handwritten into bound volumes; however, by the 1890s many of the sheets are typewritten and glued into the volumes. This technique often reduces the legibility of the record. By the twentieth century, the volumes are bound from loose sheets of minutes, correspondence and other material, and the records are more difficult to use. From 1960, the minutes are filed loose in folders. The minutes from 1960s on contain increased documentation of financial activities.

This series contains records related to the Hudson Valley Area Joint Board. This series is divided into four sub-series. The first sub-series contains the subjetc files of the Joint Board. The second sub-series contains records relating to the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA), also known as the Amalgamated Clothing and Textiles Workers Union (ACTWU). The third sub-series cotnains local chapter files and the fourth sub-series is contains records associated with the union councils of the AFL-CIO.

This sub-series contains the subject files of the Hudson Valley Area Joint Board. Included in the subject files are records relating to the organization of the Board, arbitration documents, contracts, correspondence, meeting minutes, and bylaws and constitutions. This series also contains records relating to the Berkshire Joint Board, which the Hudson Valley Area Joint Board oversaw until it left in 1969 to join the Conneticut Joint Board. This series also contains buttons that were worn by the union members to show political support.