Research: Tools:

Statewide Resources: Digital Collections

Barnard College
Title Barnard Electronic Archive and Teaching Lab (BEATL) Image Archive Dept/Division Archives Description Images documenting the history of Barnard College and Columbia University and New York City, 17th century-present. Highlights include images of campus buildings, photographs of 1968 campus protests, manuscript maps of New York City. Other images document New York City maritime history, New York City landmarks, and noted New York residents.

Central New York Library Resources Council
Title Franklin Automobile Photograph Collection Dept/Division Onondaga Historical Association Description Searchable database of more than 150 photographs documenting the production, sale, and use of cars produced by the Syracuse-based Franklin Automobile Company during the early twentieth century.

College/University Resources
Title Women & Social Movements in the United States, 1830 - 1930 Dept/Division University of Binghamton Description This site consists of digitized primary documents that shed light upon the women's suffrage movement and women's involvement in the temperance, pacifist, abolitionist, child health, and birth control movements.

Title The Onondaga Public Library Postcard Collection Dept/Division Living SchoolBook, School of Education-Syracuse University Description Digitized images of 175 historical postcards depicting buildings in Syracuse, Onondaga County parks, the Syracuse University campus, activities at the New York State Fair, salt production, transportation, area lakes, rivers, and streams, and weather disasters that beset central New York State. A nice example of a modest local history project.

Title The New Deal Art Project Dept/Division Living SchoolBook, School of Education Syracuse University Description Digitized images of Central New York public buildings and artwork created under the auspices of Works Progress Administration and accompanying historical text. Of special note is "The Underground Railroad" mural in the Dolgeville Post Office building.

Cornell University Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Title Louis Agassiz Fuertes and the Harriman Alaska Expedition Dept/Division Cornell Institute for Digital Collections Description Ithaca native Fuertes was a renowned ornithological painter. This exhibit chronicles the work that he did during this 1899 scientific expedition.

Dutchess Community College Library
Title Before DCC: Samuel and Nettie Bowne Hospital Dept/Division Library Archives Description Images of buildings, grounds, staff and patients at the Bowne tuberculosis hospital created ca.1935. After the hospital closed in 1956, the facility became part of the Dutchess County Community College campus.

Erie County
Title Aerial Photographs of Erie County Description Aerial shots taken in the 1920s and 1951 of Erie County. Created by the Erie County Depatment of Public Works Division of Highways.

Fordham University
Title Cuban Baseball Description Images and documents highlighting Cuban students who learned to play basebale while at Fordham (ca. 1860-1900) and then helped to popularize the game in Cuba.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum
Title Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Description Select "10,000 Digitized Documents" for reproductions of documents from the President's Secretary's Files (PSF). Select "New Photos" for reproductions of thousands of digitized photographs of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Depression- and World War II-related subjects.

Fulton County Historical Society
Title Selected Digital Material Description Upstate New York Old Newspapers pages and other Documents 1832-1989. Site requires Macromedia Flash Player 8.0 or Higher to run.

Fulton-Montgomery Community College
Title Fulton-Montgomery Photographic Archives Dept/Division Evans Library, Kenneth R. Dorn Regional History Collection Description Images from Fulton and Montgomery County repositories (Johnstown City Historian, Johnstown Historical Society, Johnstown Public Library, The Montgomery County Archives, Fulton County Museum) showing area landmarks, social gatherings, and newsworthy events.

Hofstra University Archives
Title Mr. and Mrs. Hofstra: Founding a University Description Information about William and Kate Hofstra, the Hofstra home in Hempstead, L.I., Kate Hofstra's pets, and the founding of Hofstra University.

Title Builders and Founders: An Exhibition of Materials from the Hofstra University Archives Description Images of south campus buildings completed before 1965, with information about each structure's architect, completion date, square footage, and current uses. Also includes biographical sketches of the people for whom the buildings were named.

Title Dr. Harold Yuker: Eliminating Barriers Description Overview of the life and work of psychology professor and university administrator Harold Yuker, who spearheaded the campaign to make the Hofstra campus fully accessible to people with disabilities.

Miscellaneous Resources
Title Underground Railway Project of Oswego County Description This website is a collection of stories and primary sources (including pictures, newspaper articles, letters, and diaries) about the underground railway in Oswego County.

Title The Erie Canal: A Journey Through History Dept/Division Epodunk Description Combines songs, historic information, post cards, panoramic photos, maps and community profiles to create a comprehensive multimedia package about the canal and its national impact.

Morrisville State College
Title Lee Brown Coye Collection Dept/Division Library Description Transcript of a 1964 oral history interview and online collection of artwork created by Coye, a lifelong Central New York resident best known for illustrating Weird Tales and other fantasy and horror publications.

New York Public Library - The Research Libraries
Title Berenice Abbot, Changing New York, 1935-1938 Description More than fifty images documenting changes in the built environment of New York City. Also includes a capsule biography of Abbot, one of the most influential documentary photographers of the twentieth century, and information about the Federal Arts Project, the New Deal initiative that hired Abbot to produce these images.

Newsday Library
Title Long Island: Our Story Description Documents Long Island local history from the Ice Age to the Space Age. In addition to the hundreds of pages produced for Newsday's print editions, this site offers a wealth of additional photos, source documents, audio, video, and more.

Niagara University Library
Title University Archives Digitization Project Dept/Division Special Collections Description 19th century course catalogs, mid-20th century photographs of the campus, and a 1945 image of the U.S.S. Niagara Victory.

Out of State Resources
Title Lewis Wickes Hine: The Construction of the Empire State Building, 1930-1931 Dept/Division Library of Congress, American Memory Description Twenty-six photographs detailing the activities of high-rise construction workers and the structural foundations of the Empire State Building. Also includes a capsule biography of Hine, who saw documentary photography as a vehicle for social reform

Title William P. Gottlieb: Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz Dept/Division Library of Congress, American Memory Description More than 1600 photographs of prominent jazz artists taken between 1938-1948. Many were taken in New York City, and many of those photographed were New Yorkers. Among them: Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holliday, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker.

Title The American Experience: Coney Island Description Material supplementing the PBS documentary, including: postcards, photographs, and moving pictures documenting Coney Island amusement parks, capsule biographies of amusement park founders and other pivotal figures, and a brief history of the economic and cultural factors that first gave rise to Coney Island's amusement parks and later caused their decline.

Title The American Experience: The Rockefellers Description Material augmenting the PBS documentary, including: excerpts from Ida Tarbell's celebrated 1905 expose of John D. Rockefeller Sr.'s business practices; accounts of the 1914 Ludlow Massacre and its impact on the Rockefeller family; and oral history interviews with two men who played key roles during the 1971 riot at the Attica Correctional Facility. The accompanying teacher's guide contains letters between John D. Rockefeller Sr. and John D. Rockefeller Jr. documenting the latter's philanthropic activities.

Title American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 Dept/Division Library of Congress Description Transcripts of thousands of oral history interviews, four hundred of which document various aspects of Depression-era New York City life: African-American Pullman porters and dining car workers, African-American religious leader Father Divine, Yiddish folk stories and songs, Irish-, German-, Polish-, and Russian-American folk beliefs and customs, and the religious beliefs and work experiences of a wide array of New Yorkers

Title The Last Days of a President: Films of McKinley and the Pan-Am Exposition, 1901 Dept/Division Library of Congress Description Twenty-eight short films showing the visit of President William McKinley and other events at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901 and the funeral procession following his assassination at the exposition.

Title Woody Guthrie and the Archive of American Folk Song: Correspondence, 1940-1950 Dept/Division Library of Congress, American Memory. Description Digital images of fifty-three letters between folk musician Woody Guthrie and the staff of the Library of Congress's Archive of American Folk Song division. Most of the letters concern Guthrie's musical career, but many also discuss his home and family in Brooklyn, the New York City folk music scene, labor and radical politics, and the Second World War.

Title The Leonard Bernstein Collection, ca. 1920-1989 Dept/Division Library of Congress Description Photographs, transcripts of pre-concert speeches, and correspondence documenting the life and work of this noted New York City-based composer

Title The Aaron Copland Collection, ca. 1900-1990 Dept/Division Library of Congress Description Music sketches, correspondence, photographs, and writings documenting the life and work of Copland, who lived in and around New York City for much of his life.

Title America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945 Dept/Division Library of Congress Description More than 112,000 black-and-white and 1,600 color photographs taken by Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information personnel. More than a thousand document life in New York State communities. The images show Americans at home, at work, and at play, with an emphasis on rural and small-town life and the adverse effects of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and increasing farm mechanization.

Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Office of
Title Civilian Conservation Corps Photographs Dept/Division New York State Civilian Conservation Corps Museum Description Over 150 historic photographs relating to the Civilian Conservation Corps at Gilbert Lake State Park. Also includes history of the Corps.

Private Resources
Title The Buffalo History Works Dept/Division Buffalo History Works Description This site contains a wide selection of on-line exhibits, images (photographs, postcards, maps), articles, and related links on the history and culture of Buffalo, NY and its surroundings.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Archives
Title Postcard Views: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Troy, New York Description Images of buildings on the RPI campus, aerial pictures of the campus, and businesses, parks, public buildings, and schools in Troy.

Rochester Regional Library Council
Title Western New York Suffragists: Winning the Vote Shares Unique Collections Description Rochester Regional Library Council, chronicles women and men in the five-county Rochester region who championed women's right to vote. The website features biographical sketches of 35 suffragists, a summary of the suffrage movement, timelines of local and national events, and links to related resources.

Rockland County
Title Minutes of Legislative Meetings Description Furnishes the full text of minutes of the sessions of the Rockland County Legislature (1999-2000). To access the minutes, click on the County Legislature link and then click on the Minutes of Legislative Meetings link.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
Title Images of African Americans from the 19th Century Description A collection of digitized images that includes photographs and engravings of African American life in New York City, Syracuse, Buffalo, the Hudson Valley, and elsewhere. Several images are of James W. Smith, the West Point cadet court-martialed in 1871.

Title African American Women Writers of the 19th Century Description African American Women Writers of the 19th Century is a digital collection of some 52 published works by 19th-century black women writers. It includes Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, as Told by Herself. Jacobs escaped from slavery and lived in New York City for a number of years.

Title Selected Clips from the Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project Description Contains brief excerpts from videotaped oral history interviews with twenty-one musicians who played with Armstrong.

Skyscraper Museum
Title Bankers Trust Collection Description A collection of over 200 photographs documenting the construction of the Bankers Trust Building in New York City.

State University College at New Paltz
Title SUNY New Paltz Postcard Collection Dept/Division Sojourner Truth Library Description Over 400 postcards chronicling the development of New Paltz from the late 19th century to the present. Includes images documenting the evolution of the college, the Village of New Paltz, and the Huguenot Street National Historic District. Finding aid for the collection also available.

Syracuse University Library
Title The Gerrit Smith Virtual Museum Description This website was created to facilitate access to information about an important figure in American history. Gerrit Smith was a leader of anti-slavery activities in Syracuse, and nationally.

Town of Amherst
Title Town of Amherst Archive: Town Board Meeting Minutes Description Furnishes the full text of the meeting minutes of the Amherst Town Board (1974-2002)

University at Albany, University Libraries
Title Historical Photograph Collection Dept/Division M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collection and Archives Description The database containing over photographs related to the history of University at Albany buildings and construction on the Uptown Campus and students from the classes of 1874-1950. the database can be searched by keyword, subject term, or photographer and a browseable list of subject terms is also available. The database contains both images and descriptions

University of Rochester Rush Rhees Library
Title University of Rochester Frederick Douglass Project Dept/Division Dept. of Rare Books, Special Collections, & Preservation Description Approximately 100 letters written by or sent to abolitionist leader Douglass; images of Douglass, his friends, and the Rochester statue erected in his honor; and capsule biographies of Douglass and his associates.

Westchester County
Title Virtual Archives: Westchester County and the Civil War Era Dept/Division Westchester County Archives Description Through government and private records, by images and text, we present a snapshot of Civil War era in Westchester from the early 1860's through the post-war period that includes politics, the history of the county's soldiers both black and white, the lives of African Americans, the lives of women, the relationship of Abraham Lincoln to the county, and the veteran experience following the war.

Women's Rights National Historical Park
Title The First Women's Rights Convention Description Contains photographs, scanned documents, transcriptions, and text relating to the Women's Right Movement including the Convention, the participants, related events, and the Convention and the Underground Railroad.