Collections : [New York State Modern Political Archive]

The Arts in Education Series documents Ruth Perham's concerts, residences, workshops, and programs at various youth-centric and educational institutions. Included are song lyrics she distributed and/or developed with students in various stages of the writing process, legal and financial documentation, correspondence between Pelham and institutional staff (usually school faculty), photographs of events, personal notes, reflections on events, post-performance evaluations, and thank you notes from participants (usually youths). This series is a more intimate look at the inner processes that kept the Music Mobile's wheels turning beyond grant funding and fundraising.

Grant applications are large packets of records and require several forms of documentation from applicants to serve as evidence of an individual or institution's ability to legally and responsibly utilize the monies that could be awarded to them. The grant applications and supporting documents featured in the Grant Funding series are no different and as such feature the same type of documents throughout, regardless of the year. The Music Mobile was prompted to provide financial information that almost always included papers dated from 1979 and 1986. It was also required to provide promotional information, which almost always included newspaper clippings (or copies of newspaper clippings) from a range of dates, some further from the application year than others, as well as flyers and posters, which were considered undated by the processor because they do not have print dates associated with them. All of these factors extended the range of dates featured on the folder titles.

Arranged chronologically and interfiled, except for the minutes of the Executive Committee meetings, 1915-19. Minutes through 1968 are glued into scrapbooks.

This series documents ASLF's numerous projects to seek compliance with pollution discharge regulations and remediation of the environment. Projects include the research into and court proceedings of companies, individuals or government officials, and a few ASLF sponsored workshops. The materials in this series contain: correspondence, compliance reports, discharge monitoring reports (DMR), court documents, drawings, intent to sue, laboratory analysis, notes, news clippings, National Discharge Elimination Permit System (NPDES) permits, photographs, quarterly non-compliance reports (QNCR), remediation programs, citizen standing and workshops. The projects are divided into subseries based on geographic regions.

This subseries documents ASLF's projects in the Midwest states, including: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. In the Midwest ASLF sought to clean up the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi River region. The case against Koch Refining Co. in Minnesota, removed a major source of toxins in the Mississippi River and ensured compliance for many years afterwards. In Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the request of local activists ASLF researched DMRs and discovered almost a quarter of Fort Wayne industries' had a history of CWA violations.

The multiple issues that Rensselaer County Greens (RCG) raised with this company can be seen in the diversity of the records in this series. Environmental issues were the primary priority with information pertaining to water pollution, air pollution, traffic congestion, previous contaminants in the ground where the new site was to be built, and the noise and smell that would be given off by the plant documented in the records. Application and permit material make up a major component of the series while background statistics and material directly from the court proceedings account for another large section of the series. The environmental concerns and research files were created to be used by RCG, and as a result the majority of the information in the series documents RCGs claims against Besicorp. The pros and cons of what Besicorp could mean for Rensselaer and what it could do to influence the lifestyles of Rensselaers citizens is documented in the various newspaper stories on the topic. RCG handouts give a clear statement of why the organization was fighting against the newly planned plant.

Folk music aficionados Bill and Andy Spence retained photographs, newspaper clippings, posters, schedules, flyers, and audio of the Fox Hollow Festival, of which they were involved in through their Capital District folk organization, Pick'n' and Sing'n' Gather'n' (PSG). The Beers family (Robert, Evelyne, and Martha) of Petersburgh, N.Y. held the Fox Hollow Festival on their family farm celebrating the traditions of folk music and arts every year from 1966 to 1980. The Festival consisted of multiple days packed with folk singing groups, workshops, art showings, activities, entertainment, dancing, games, speakers, crafts, and special guests with camping and other site accommodations upon request. This festival served as inspiration for the Old Songs Festival created in 1981 by Andy. The passing of Robert Beers in May 1972 signaled a shift for the Fox Hollow Festival, and Bill and Andy's last year of participation was 1973. PSG were involved as volunteers with the festival from 1966 to 1973, and Andy resigned from the Fox Hollow Board of Directors in September of that same year.