History, Natural History & the Arts
At the National Archives there are nearly 3,000 reports containing information on escape and evasion activities and training of U.S. soldiers serving in the European theater during the Second World War.
These records contain dramatic and gripping firsthand accounts of survival, including these three: [Read more…] about World War II Escape and Evasion Firsthand Accounts
Houghton Library, Harvard University’s largest rare books and manuscripts repository, is home to hundreds of thousands of materials relating to history across the world. Houghton’s collections related to Black history range from the 18th century through today, but have been difficult to find among all the other material.
During the 2020‒21 academic year however, library staff paused their other digital projects to focus on building the collection related to Black American history. The effort has made more primary sources by and about African Americans available digitally, along with a considerable amount of context. [Read more…] about Harvard Library Focuses On Improving Access To Black History Collections
When COVID-19 shut down New York, the courts stayed open. How the work of the courts continued is a central theme of a new digital archive of oral histories from the Historical Society of the New York Courts and the Unified Court System.
[Read more…] about Justice from a Distance: NYS Courts Pandemic Oral History
The Archives and Reading Room at the St. Lawrence County Historical Association (SLCHA) in Canton, NY, offers resources to help the public learn about aspects of history and genealogy.
The Archives and Reading Room features: [Read more…] about Featured Collection: St Lawrence Co Genealogy Resources
The Tredwell Costume Collection at Merchant’s House Museum comprises more than 400 articles of clothing, including a remarkable 39 dresses documented to have been owned and worn by the women of the family. Many are outstanding examples of the 19th century dressmaker’s art, composed of fine and delicate fabrics and ornamentation. [Read more…] about Featured Collection: Merchant’s House Costumes
Fort Ticonderoga holds one of North America’s largest collections of military material culture, covering the colonization of North America and the ensuing colonial conflicts, the Seven Years’ War (a.k.a. French & Indian War), the American Revolution, and the War of 1812. [Read more…] about Featured Collections: Fort Ti’s Early American History Materials
This collection of applications to the Commissioners of the New York State Land Office, later the Division of Land Utilization, for grants to lands under water is located at the New York State Archives. [Read more…] about Featured Collection: NYS Underwater Land Records
The Van Rensselaer library collection at Historic Cherry Hill includes books inherited and collected by the Van Rensselaers who lived at the house from 1787 to 1963.
Books span the 16th through the 20th century and demonstrate the changing patterns and tastes in literature consumption, production, and marketing. [Read more…] about Featured Collection: Van Rensselaer Library Collection
Harold Toles took a lot of pictures. If anything big happened in Schoharie County from 1948 to 1984, Toles was probably there with his camera.
The Old Stone Fort Museum Research Library has more than 150,000 of his negatives in its collection, as well as 13 notebooks recording a description of each shot. [Read more…] about Featured Collection: Harold Toles’ Schoharie County Photos
The Jeanne Robert Foster papers are available at The Adirondack Research Library of Union College. Jeanne Robert Foster (1879-1970), born Julia Elizabeth Oliver in the Adirondacks, had numerous vocations during her lifetime: fashion model, literary editor, poet, and social worker. During the 1920s, she became immersed in European literary and artistic circles, including a friendship with Irish poet William Butler Yeats. [Read more…] about Featured Records: The Jeanne Robert Foster Papers