The collection is composed of material pertaining to the McWilliam, Parkhill, and Simpson families.

The Meadows collection is comprised of documents, papers, and photographs collected by the families that owned The Meadows mansion in Cazenovia, NY. These families include The Ledyards, The Hubbards, and The Oakmans, providing a snapshot of the personal life of an upper class family during the mid 1800s to the 1950s. Please see the scope and content note for a more in depth description of the collection.

When Stephen van Rensselaer inherited the rights to the Manor of Rensselaerswyck in 1785, a survey of the holdings was made. The holdings were divided into two parts: the East Manor and the West Manor. The East Manor consisted of the areas known as Elizabethtown (Brunswick), Phillipstown (Nassau), Roxborough (Grafton), Greenbush, Schodack, Stephentown, Middletown, and Little Hoosick. This collection contains correspondence, financial records, reports, advertisements, troop rosters, property records, inventories, and other related materials.

The Hun family were descendants of 17th century Dutch settlers who became prominent and acquired property in and around the Albany area. This collection includes family papers.

Walter Launt Palmer (1854-1932) was born in Albany, New York, and became a prominent landscape painter. This collection includes diaries, correspondence, personal papers, studio books, and photographs.

This collection contains material regarding the Fort Orange Garden Club such as minutes and reports from meetings, genealogies, general histories, personal histories, membership lists, projects, flower shows, public works, newspaper articles, awards, magazines, scrapbooks, maps, memorabilia, photographs, and slides.

Thomas Worth Olcott (1795-1880) was born in Hudson, Columbia County, New York, to Josiah and Carolina Worth Olcott. Olcott eventually became president of the Mechanics and Farmer Bank in Albany, New York, and served on the boards of the Albany Law School and the Dudley Observatory, among others. This collection contains estate records, correspondence, newspaper clippings, bills, account books, photographs, scrapbooks, and genealogical information.

The collection includes an extensive genealogical study of the Falk, Herschowitz and Rosenfeld families done by Louise Marwill. The study follows the family from Germany to Albany and is comprised of families stories and photographs. There is an extensive section on the family escaping Germany during the Holocaust which includes Kathe Mueller Slonim’s first hand account of what she witnessed in Germany and letters written by Gottlieb Rosenfeld about what he witnessed in Frankfurt and his desperation to get his family safely to the United States. There is a small collection of post cards sent by Henry Perle during World War II. There are several pieces of school material for Louise Marwill including school programs, certificates and photographs. There is also material from Louise’s marriage to Lawrence Marwill on June 19, 1960.

Leonard Gansevoort, Jr. (1754-1834) was a lawyer, served the American cause during the Revolutionary War, was a member and later secretary of the Albany Commissioners for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies, and served on Albany Council Committees for many years.

The collection consists primarily of family photographs and notes on Livingston genealogy.