Latest Posts

Race and the Death Penalty: A Tribute to the Life and Work of David C. Baldus

Mark Wolfe - April 11, 2012

The School of Criminal Justice and the University Libraries are pleased to invite the public and the University community to an event to be held on Friday, April 20 at 3:30 in the Standish Room, on the third floor of the Science Library, to announce the addition of the personal papers of the late David C. Baldus, Joseph B. Tye Professor at the University of Iowa College of Law, to the National Death Penalty Archive. David Baldus's research and scholarship on the influence of race in the administration of the death penalty are unparalleled. His study of racial disparities in the application of Georgia's death penalty served as the foundation of the landmark Supreme Court case, McCleskey v. Kemp (1987). In that decision, by vote of 5-4, the justices upheld Georgia's death penalty law against constitutional challenge despite dramatic race-of-victim differences in capital charging and sentencing decisions that were revealed...

Camp Woodland Reunion July 14, 2012

Mark Wolfe - March 05, 2012

What: Camp Woodland Reunion and Square and Folk dancing When: Saturday July 14, 2012, 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM Where: University at Albany, SUNY, Campus Center Activities include: • Panel Discussion on the Norman Studer Vision of a Living Democracy (Lead by Joan Studer, Bill Horn, Sue Rosenberg and others). • Panel discussion of historical period that Camp Woodland existed, the oral history/folklore of the Catskill area and the role of the SUNY archive in preserving the Camp Woodland Archive. • Sessions to sing the songs collected in the Catskills and other songs sung at camp Woodland: an informal sing with non-performing campers joining with performers and the singing of the Cantatas sung at Catskill Folk Festivals. Lonesome Train, We've Come from the City, Boney Quillen, Sojourner Truth. Conducted by former Music Counselors. • Square and Folk dancing to songs from Camp Woodland. • Oral history interviews of Camp Woodland...

Minerva: UAlbany's Enduring Symbol Since 1888

Mark Wolfe - February 28, 2012

UAlbany TV interviews University Archivist, Geoff Williams, and he tells the history of the statue of Minerva: http://www.albany.edu/news/21489.php?WT.svl=image

It Happens Every Four Years...

Mark Wolfe - February 28, 2012

The ME Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives announces the opening of a new exhibit entitled It Happens Every Four Years: U.S. Presidential Election Campaigns from the Archives of Public Affairs and Policy. As 2012 will witness a U.S. presidential election, the media, political observers and commentators, academic analysts and ordinary Americans will focus on the election at key points throughout the year. This includes the primaries and caucuses, the campaign trail for the general election, the nominating conventions, and the election in November. Presented in this exhibit are political photographs, correspondence, books, pamphlets, research, memorabilia, and other archival materials from more than a dozen collections. These items document the many facets of U.S. presidential elections during the past century. Some are well-known, like trade union outreach on behalf of candidates, cultivating media endorsements or ongoing campaign appearances to shake hands with potential voters. Other materials highlight less familiar...

Closed Thanksgiving & November 25th

Mark Wolfe - November 21, 2011

The M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will be closed Thursday, November 24th and Friday, November 25th.

CSEA Publications Document Aftermath of 9/11 and Impact upon State Workers

Mark Wolfe - September 09, 2011

This September the University at Albany Libraries’ M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives is spotlighting the recently digitized publications of the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., or CSEA, from the fall of 2001 which focused upon the aftermath of the events of September 11. The department holds the records of the CSEA, Local 1000, AFSCME, AFL-CIO. CSEA is the largest public employees' union in New York State with over 260,000 members. This substantial collection documents the organization’s 100 year-old history with administrative files, subject files, photographs, audio/video materials, scrapbooks, and publications. The official CSEA magazine The Work Force, published from 1978 through today, is just one highlight of the collection. The commemorative November 2001 issue of The Work Force mourns the 42 state workers, 39 from the Department of Taxation and Finance and three from the Department of Transportation, lost in the tragedy at the World Trade Center....

New Exhibit - University at Albany's Past Commencements

Mark Wolfe - May 04, 2011

The two display cases near the entrance to the University Library contain items from Special Collections and Archives about the University at Albany's Past Commencements. The New York State Normal School, as the University at Albany was originally known, was founded in 1844 and held its first graduation ceremony on August 27, 1845. The Normal School awarded diplomas to thirty-four students, who are listed in the Executive Committee Annual Report to the New York State Legislature, January. 27, 1846. The New York State Legislature created the State Normal School to train teachers for the common schools of New York State. It was the fourth state normal school in the country, the first in New York and the first outside of Massachusetts. On January 23, 1885, U. S. President elect and New York State Governor Grover Cleveland presents degrees at Commencement for the New York State Normal School in Albany, N.Y....

Search the Albany Student Press Online

Mark Wolfe - February 11, 2011

The University at Albany Libraries’ M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives has made the State College News, 1916-1962, and the Albany Student Press, 1963-1986 available online. The search box below allows for keyword searching of the student newspapers. The Libraries is currently developing advanced search techniques, such as by date, and is working on digitizing the student newspaper from 1900-1916 and 1985-2008. If you want to search keywords in the Albany Student Press, click here: Search the Albany Student Press</img>

New Finding Aids Communications Workers of America (CWA)

Mark Wolfe - January 07, 2011

The M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives is pleased to announce the completed archival processing and new online finding aids for the records of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 1104, Telephone Operator’s Division and Education Division. With over 10,000 members in New York State, CWA 1104’s organizational history traces a union that grew over the years to protect the interests of a large variety of professions. The CWA, 1104 Operator’s Division records consist of a variety of documents illustrating the union’s evolution from its origin as the Telephone Traffic Union Upstate (TTUU) founded in Albany in 1945 and later affiliated as the Telecommunications International Union (TIU), Local 1112. Industry changes and the legendary 1984 AT&T breakup led Local 1112 to merge with CWA and was renamed the Telephone Traffic Union Upstate, CWA Local 1112. As the telephone industry privatized and became more automated, operators relied heavily...

Winter Intersession Hours for 2010-2011

Mark Wolfe - December 14, 2010

The M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives will be closed Friday, December 23, 2011 through Monday, January 2, 2012. The Department will reopen on Tuesday, January 3, 2012, and resume regular reference hours from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Department's complete reference hours can be found here.