New York State Library

United States New York  New York Archives and LibrariesNew York State Library

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Contact Information
E-mail: Use the form at the Contact link to email reference requests to the library. Read their instructions about making requests.

Address: 


 * New York State Library Cultural Education Center 222 Madison Avenue Albany, NY 12230

Telephone: ((518) 474-5355 - General information. Local History/Genealogy Desk - (518) 474-5161

Hours and holidays: The library's reference desk can be reached from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, except holidays. Material is retrieved for research at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. daily. Some collections, however, are stored off-site and may require several business days to retrieve. Arrangements should be made prior to visiting the Library.

Directions, maps, and public transportation: {Optional}

Internet sites and databases:


 * Repository Internet site: http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/
 * Repository catalog online:
 * Repository database. The Digital Collections of the New York State Library include a large array of 18th and 19th century historical materials from many subject areas, including the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, Native American materials, New York State laws and natural history. While books make up the core collection, Digital Collections also include primary source materials such as letters, diaries and rare manuscripts as well as historic photographs, illustrations, maps, broadsides, drawings and music scores.
 * Other(s).

Collection Description
The New York State Library has several areas of interest to family history researchers.

The Local History and Genealogy Section which includes:


 * family genealogies
 * local histories include periodicals and genealogical journals; published county, town and municipal histories.
 * DAR records. The New York State Library is a depository for several record series compiled by New York State Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution
 * church records. The Library has an extensive collection of New York State church (Protestant denominations only).
 * state census records for various counties. Censuses include 1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, 1865, 1875. 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925
 * early newspapers on film including the New York State Newspaper Project GIS database
 * city directories and telephone books on microfilm and microfiche. For an alphabetical list of towns and years covered Click here
 * other materials such as cemetery records, periodicals, published records of towns and municipalities.
 * card file indexes include:
 * city directory index
 * surname index: 60 drawers that index genealogies and local histories in the State Library taken from books, articles, pamphlets, manuscripts, Bible records (including the 264 vol. compiled by the DAR), family genealogies cataloged through 1980
 * vital records index: eight drawers that index New York State church, cemetery and local government records owned by the State Library. The vital records card index is arranged alphabetically by county, and then by community within county. It includes: wills, censuses, tax lists, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) records, and obituaries.
 * city directory index
 * local history index
 * Military records incuding recores pre-Civil War, Civil War and after for New York State, and Loyalist records
 * Will abstracts and microfilms for many parts of New York, though it is not the official repository for such items.

The Manuscripts and Special Collections The Manuscripts and Special Collections Unit of the NYSL, established in 1881, contains manuscripts, rare books, maps and atlases, prints and photographs, broadsodes and posters. For Finding Aids to Special Collections, Click Here.

Tips

 * Volunteers from the Capital District Genealogical Society are also available to provide assistance. The volunteers can explain the resources of the Library (including the online catalog) and help users get started doing research.

Guides
{''Optional: Internet or guide books describing this collection for genealogists. ''}

Alternate Repositories

 * New York State Archives
 * New Netherland Research Center: The New Netherland Research Center (NNRC) operates under the leadership of the New York State Library providing scholarship and knowledge about the seventeenth-century Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America. It fosters partnerships with institutions and organizations supporting research and collections pertaining to the Dutch influence on American history. The NNRC is a partnership between the Office of Cultural Education, which includes the New York State Library, the State Archives, the State Museum and the Office of Educational Television/Public Broadcasting, and the New Netherland Institute(NNI), an independent non-profit dedicated to fund raising for supporting the activities and programs of the New Netherland Project.  The New Netherland Project's primary objective is to complete the transcription, translation, and publication of all Dutch documents in New York repositories relating to the seventeenth-century colony of New Netherland. Located since its inception in the New York State Library, Address: New Netherland Project New York State Library Cultural Education Center, 10th floor Albany, NY 12230-0001

If you cannot visit or find a source at the , a similar source may be available at one of the following. Overlapping Collections



Similar Collections



Neighboring Collections


 * New York State Archives