The Albany Art Union was a commercial portrait photography studio, active from approximately 1897 to 1968, in Albany, New York. The studio changed ownership and locations several times over the years. Photographers took portrait photographs of individuals, families, business employees, and organization members. This collection contains documents, card files, negatives, and photographs.

In 1886, Albany marked its bicentennial, based on the 1686 Dongan charter. From July 18-23, the city celebrated in numerous ways such as parades, sporting events, and fireworks shows. Two large-format programs, medals were struck, and a history of Albany was published to commemorate the event as well. The Citizens’ Bi-Centennial Committee was charged with planning the proper celebration of the event. The collection contains programs, ephemera, clippings, correspondence, logbooks, and scrapbooks.

Abraham Lincoln Lewis worked as an architect in the Albany, New York area from 1934 until 1985. Lewis began his career in 1934 with the New York State Department of Public Works (NYSDPW). After leaving that position in 1966, he worked for himself, and eventually formed his own company, A.L. Lewis Associated Architects, in 1970. Following a brief retirement from 1974-1981, Lewis returned to work, this time an employee of Harris A. Sanders Associates, where he remained until retiring in 1986. This collection contains architectural plans for Albany, New York area buildings, dating from 1954 to 1975. Materials are arranged by building name.

The Ashley/Van Alstyne/Fitch/Hull Family Papers contain the records of more than twenty-seven members of seven families connected by marriage over six generations whose lives were centered in Schodack Landing, a village along the Hudson River in Rensselaer County, New York. This collection contains correspondence, personal papers, financial papers, photographs, and scrapbooks.

Bayard Urquhart Livingston, Jr. (1881-1962) was born to Bayard Urquhart and Margaret L. Morris Livingston in Albany, New York. Livingston was related to a number of prominent Albany families, including the Patterson, Morris, and Schuyler families, and collected genealogical material related to them. Livingston was buried in New Vernon Cemetery in Morris County, New Jersey. This collection contains correspondence, genealogical information, deeds, and wills. The bulk of the collection is from 1741-1800.

Clarence Hamilton Corning was born in 1834. A nephew of Erastus Corning, Clarence eventually became an iron merchant in Albany, New York. Corning fought for the Union during the Civil War, and was eventually wounded at Cold Harbor. Following the war’s end, he married Mary Catherine Libby in June 1866. They had one child, Howard. Clarence Corning died in Albany in July 1879. This collection contains military materials and ephemera.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 by women who had strong patriotic feelings, but were frustrated by their exclusion from organizations allowing only men to honor their patriotic ancestors. Eligibility in this organization is open to any woman age eighteen and older who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. The charter for the Mohawk Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was granted in April, 1895. Fifteen prominent women in Albany, New York began the organization. One of 126 chapters across New York State, the Mohawk Chapter NSDAR continues to be active in the Capital District and includes over seventy members. This collection contains historical information, membership lists and yearbooks, correspondence, printed materials, a few photographs, subject files, and scrapbooks.

Erastus Dow Palmer (1817-1904) was an American sculptor. Born in Pompey, New York, he and his family moved to Albany, New York, in 1849 when Palmer began working on large-scale sculptures. His sculpture, Angel at the Sepulchre (1865), remains in Albany. Palmer son’s Walter Launt Palmer (1854-1932), also became an artist, best known for his winter scenes. Following his death in 1904, Erastus Palmer was buried in the Albany Rural Cemetery. This collection contains correspondence, personal papers, and photographs.

In 1957, Arlen Westbrook and her husband rented their home in Delmar, New York, to Dr. James Cunningham, his wife Margaret, and their two daughters. This commonplace event became an extraordinary one, as the Westbrooks had invited the first Black family to live in the white community. Circumstances caused Arlen to need to remain in the home for several months, and over that time, she and Margaret became close friends, standing up to the racism they encountered from some community members. Unbeknownst to either woman, they each kept a journal of the experience, which eventually became the basis for their co-authored book, “Integrating Delmar: The Story of a Friendship.” This collection contains clippings, correspondence, writings, and digital photographs.

Irwin F. Cortelyou (1897-1997) was a writer and art historian who lived most of her life in Rumson, New Jersey. In 1949, she began to research the works of the painter, Ezra Ames, initially as a favor for a friend. Her research let her to Ames’ account book at the Albany Institute of History & Art. Cortelyou’s research and writings on Ames were later expanded and published in 1956 as Ezra Ames of Albany, a catalogue of over five hundred of his paintings. This collection contains correspondence, photographs, research materials, and card files.