Collections : [University Archives]

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

This series documents the Project Cirrus program, a weather modification initiative undertaken by GE along with the United States Signal Corps, Office of Naval Research, and the United States Air Force, with general oversight handled by the Department of Defense. As part of the effort, Dr. Vonnegut discovered that AgI, Silver Iodide, was a superior nucleation agent. This discovery significantly influenced the science of artificial precipitation and this method came to be adopted as the chief means of "rain making".

This series contains papers pertaining to Robert Rienow and his family. Included are Rienow's military records from his World War II service in the United States Army and from the New York National Guard. These include discharge papers, appointment papers, immunization records, correspondence and memos. Also found in this series are legal documents and financial records from the estate of Rienow's uncle in Wisconsin, Fred Rienow. Rienow's education is documented through class notes and papers from West Point and from Columbia University, where he completed his Ph.D. There are several folders of brochures, news clippings, and souvenirs from Rienow's travels, including trips to Europe and the Midwest.

Correspondence with publishers and environmental groups including the Constitutional Council for Forest Preserves, 1970–71; Defenders of Wildlife, 1970–76; Albany Environmental Council, 1965–76; draft manuscripts and typescripts, 1956–79, of texts, scholarly and popular articles and books relating to local, state, national, and international government and to environmental issues such as the anti-nuclear movement, forest preservation, wildlife preservation, the Adirondack Mountains, lecture notes taken as a student and given to his classes, 1930–70, scripts for his television series "Man Against His Environment", 1970–71, drafts of speeches on environmental concerns, tape cassettes on environmental issues created as staff lecturer for the Center for Cassette Studies, clippings files on government and environmental issues, photographs of Rienow and his wife. Robert Rienow was educated at Carthage College (B.A., 1930), and Columbia University (M.A., 1934; Ph.D., 1937), served as Instructor, 1936–41, Assistant Professor, 1941–47, and Professor, 1947–80, of Social Science at the State University of New York at Albany, now the University at Albany. Through out his career Rienow maintained an active interest in environmental issues and a belief in the need to popularize issues of public concern. (See also papers of his wife Leona Train Rienow).

This collection is made up of programs for commencement ceremonies at the University at Albany.

The Melvin Urofsky Papers discuss his research and editing of his multi-volume series on the letters of Louis Brandeis. The papers consist of copies of Brandeis' letters, drafts of the volumes co-edited by Urofsky, and several of Urofsky's notebooks.

Records from the Department of Physics from the State College for Tearchers to the University at Albany, SUNY.

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.

Series 1 contains materials Dr. Blanchard published while at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the State University of New York at Albany as well as after his retirement. The topics covered by these publications include the history of science, water-to-air transfer, aerobiology, sea salt aerosols, volcanic electricity, and surface charge. There are also materials covering his studies of bubbles, water droplets, and rain. Along with his scientific publications, Dr. Blanchard also wrote letters to editors, comments and replies to articles, book reviews, obituaries, and autobiographical articles. Dr. Blanchard published materials from the early 1950s to the early 2000s but the majority of materials in are from 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

The Edward E. Potter Club And Alumni Association Records includes documents and objects related to the finances, activities, and history of the Club and subsequent Alumni Association. Materials related to the Edward E. Potter Club include financial settlements, photographs, correspondence, and meeting minutes. Materials related to the Alumni Association include Alumni addresses, memorabilia, and a newsletter. Objects in this collection include mugs, a blanket, stamp, letter opener, compact makeup, and ledger books.

This collection consists primarily of the records of the Treasurer for the State College for Teachers. Also included are some financial records from earlier iterations of the College (New York State Normal School and New York State Normal College) and records of the Financial Secretary, which succeeded the position of Treasurer. Materials include cash books, budget documents, and correspondence.

Contains a variety of cash books and ledgers: account ledgers, cash receipts for room and board, inventories, and library circulation statistics.

The research laboratory at General Electric was the launching pad for some of Vincent Schaefer's most pivotal scientific work. This series contains research notes, photographs, reports (published and unpublished, internal and external), and correspondence relating to all of his more famous experiments as well as a range of lesser-known work accomplished during his years at the G.E. Research Laboratory in Schenectady. The materials cover topics such as smoke/artificial fog generation, surface chemistry, studies of ice and snow particles, and early cloud seeding. The series is divided according to areas of specific interest to Schaefer as well as correspondence and publications.

The Vincent J. Schaefer Papers represent the professional accomplishments and personal interests of the scientist who discovered cloud seeding. Schaefer spent more than 20 years with General Electric in Schenectady, New York, working his way up from apprentice, to research assistant, to research associate. In those years he was mentored by Irving Langmuir, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry. The work Schaefer did at General Electric laid the foundation for further success as he became director of research for the Munitalp Foundation, began a highly successful summer science program for high school students, acted as an independent consultant, and founded the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center at the State University of New York at Albany. This collection contains research data, notes, correspondence, publications, and photographs that showcase Schaefer's long, industrious scientific career as well as highlighting his many hobbies in local history and environmentalism.

The formation and behavior of snow and ice crystals were a lifelong interest of Schaefer's, and in his time at General Electric he was able to focus on the subject during the World War II years as ice related to the safety of U.S. Air Force planes. Schaefer and Irving Langmuir's interest in that topic grew as a result of their World War II-era contract work with the military, and the experiments they conducted after the war's end led directly to their Project Cirrus contract in 1947—an undertaking so extensive that their work in that area merited its own series in this collection. Much of their foundational work in snow and ice composition and behavior was grounded in observations and experiments conducted on Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Schaefer discovered during this time that ice crystals and snowflakes could be captured and observed using Formvar plastic. Using this method, he documented very specific data about ice and snow before creating some of the first replicas of specific snowflake shapes. The work of Schaefer and his colleagues regarding ice research includes handwritten notes, drawings, charts, photographs, reports, and correspondence specific to ice, snow, and Mount Washington.