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E.L. Doctorow, author of the bestselling Ragtime and more than a dozen other novels and short story collections, died on July 21 in New York City. The William Kennedy Papers at the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives contain nearly twenty years of correspondence between the two award-winning authors. In this April 27, 1978 letter, Doctorow provides critical feedback of Kennedy's third published novel Billy Phelan's Greatest Game, the second in his Albany Cycle of novels. Doctorow refers to Albany as "Kennedy's Yoknapatawpha," the fictional county William Faulkner created and utilized as the setting for the majority of his novels. Doctorow also predicts great literary achievement for Kennedy in "another book, or possibly two," accurately anticipating the success of Kennedy's 1983 novel Ironweed. The Kennedy Papers contain correspondence sent to Kennedy from fellow authors, journalists, politicians, and members of the film industry, especially his mentor Saul Bellow and...

Start Date: 7/7/2015 End Date: Until Further Notice While the Campus Center is under construction, access to the Science Library may be disrupted. See attached sketch to plan your route. For more information about the Campus Center Expansion project, visit the UA featured project website at: http://www.albany.edu/facilities/fp/campuscenter.html

In the spring of 1986, Governor Mario Cuomo made an impassioned speech to the graduates of SUNY Albany as part of the university's 142nd Commencement. He talked about ambition and success and the importance of having a strong demand for personal achievement and personal excellence. "You've done well," he said, "but before you move on to the next phase of your lives you have to face one last grueling hurdle at SUNY Albany: the commencement address!" Your browser does not support the video tag. Cuomo celebrated the achievements of the graduates, taking the example of their success as a reflection of the success of New Yorkers of all types, both privileged and unprivileged. He called upon his audience to reject the argument that there is not enough to go around, that it is not always the matter of the lucky and the left-out. He decried the successful who never look...

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 11, 2015) - The University Libraries at the University at Albany, SUNY today presented the 2015 Patricia Stocking Brown Fund for Feminist Social Justice Research Awards to University at Albany graduate students Brittany Frederick and Justin Holzer. Ms. Frederick, who expects to receive a Master of Arts degree in Public History in December 2015, was awarded $500 for her research on Helen Quirini. The project, created as part of a graduate research seminar in American History, examines the life and work of labor activist, feminist, and Schenectady, New York resident Quirini, specifically during the era of the Second Red Scare. Professor Barry Trachtenberg of the Department of History serves as faculty advisor to this project. </img> Working with Professor Gerald Zahavi of the Department of History, Mr. Holzer received $500 to prepare a digital exhibit and produce a 15-minute audio documentary exploring feminist social justice during the...

Marcia Brown, New York State College for Teachers Class of 1940, was an internationally renowned illustrator and author of children's books. She was a three-time winner of the Caldecott Medal, the American Library Association's highest award for excellence in children's'picture-book illustrations, for three of her books: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper (1954); Once a Mouse (1961); and Shadow (1982), and six more of her books are Caldecott Honor Books.</img> Brown produced over 30 children's books during her career and many titles have been reprinted in other languages, including Afrikaans, German, Japanese, Spanish and Xhosa-Bantu. Critics marveled at Brown's use of spare texts, strong images and the vitality reflected in the use of a variety of media ranging from her trademark woodcuts to pen and ink and gouache. Her characters -- lively, humorous and full of magic and enchantment -- included handsome princes, sly cats, evil sorcerers, flying elephants and...

The first two collections processed as part of the Building New Access Tools for the National Death Penalty Archive project are now open and available to researchers. Guides to the Leigh B. Bienen Papers and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Records can now be found on the M.E. Grenander Special Collections and Archives webpage. Visitors may now request to see any part of these collections in the Marcia Brown Reading Room on the third floor of the Science Library.</img> The ongoing project to process and make available 10 collections from the National Death Penalty Archives is funded by the Council on Library and Information Resources as part of its Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives program. The Leigh B. Bienen Papers contain the records of legal scholar Leigh B. Bienen and her efforts to show how the application of capital punishment in New Jersey and Illinois was...

Geoffrey Williams retired after 27 years at the University at Albany on September 2, 2014. To recognize his outstanding accomplishments and his commitment to the University community, a reception was hosted on Thursday, August 21, in the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives. (Below Geoff is pictured with Philip Eppard, Chair of the Department of Information Studies). </img> Geoffrey Williams' accomplishments reflect a long career of outreach to the University at Albany students, faculty, and alumni, as well as helping community organizations in the Capital District preserve their history. Since coming to the University in 1987, Geoff consistently dazzles students and alumni with his factual knowledge of 170 years of University history and traditions. As the institutional memory, he serves as a major source of historical information for administrative and academic offices throughout campus, including the President's Office and Office of Communications & Marketing, as well as students...

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 20, 2014) - The University Libraries at the University at Albany, SUNY today presented the 2014 Patricia Stocking Brown Fund for Feminist Social Justice Research Awards to University at Albany graduate student Tracey Casseus and undergraduate student Gail Bensen. </img> Ms. Casseus, who just received her Master of Arts degree, with a concentration in History and Media, was awarded $500 for her ongoing project to create a 15 minute documentary about United Tenants of Albany, an area housing advocacy group. Professor Gerald Zahavi of the Department of History serves as faculty advisor to the project, which uses the United Tenants of Albany as a case study to examine the disproportionate impact of a lack of affordable housing on low income women. </img> A History major, Ms. Bensen received $100 to support a planned study of gender and power during her Fall 2014 senior research seminar. Her project...

Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) awards a 2013 grant to the University's Special Collections and Archives</img> The University at Albany Libraries' M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives has been selected to receive a 2013 Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) for its project Building New Access Tools for the National Death Penalty Archive (NDPA). One of 22 selected from 75 applicants nationwide, the project is supported by a $119,900 grant for an arrangement and description project that will enhance access and discoverability of research material in the University at Albany Libraries' National Death Penalty Archive (NDPA). The grant project will be directed by principal investigator Brian Keough, Associate Librarian and Head of Special Collections & Archives. The grant project provides funding for a full-time archivist to arrange, describe and catalog 710 cubic feet of NDPA collections...

The School of Criminal Justice invites you to join us for a special event of the National Death Penalty Archive. The Death Penalty: Law, Litigation, and Social Change Dedication of The Henry Schwarzschild Memorial Collection in the National Death Penalty Archive. Materials donated by Eugene (Gil) Wanger Guest Speaker: Professor Michael Meltsner, Northeastern University School of Law Friday, September 20 4:00 pm - Reception and Group Tours of the Archive 4:30 pm - Dedication and Program* M.E. Grenander Special Collections and Archives, Science Library The event is free and open to the public. * The program will include remarks from Eugene (Gil) Wanger and Professor Michael Meltsner. Discussion and a question & answer session will follow. Eugene (Gil) Wanger occupies two important places in the history of the anti-death penalty movement. His first contribution came as the young Republican lawyer who wrote the language that made banning the death penalty...