Accessing Local & SUNY Geneseo Archival Materials
The Library's Special Collections are rich in primary sources, including manuscript items and other unique materials. To preserve their condition, many items are housed in our temperature and humidity controlled archive room. These materials can still be requested for in-library use within the Special Collections Reading Room (Milne 100A). To request access to items housed within the archive room, please complete this form to Schedule An Appointment to View Special Collections Materials.
Local Historical Societies & Historians
This guide includes resources available at historical agencies most relevant to Geneseo, though all New York State counties have official historians, and most have historical societies as well. The Association of Public Historians of NYS list of county, town and village historians will lead you to the historian/collection you need. The list is arranged numerically by region -- local counties are in Regions 11 and 12.
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Livingston County HistorianThe Historian's Office maintains an vast and well-organized collection of photographs, some of which are available online.
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Livingston County Historical SocietyThe Livingston County Historical Society Museum has several displays and exhibits pertaining to local history. Admission to the museum is free.
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Livingston County Town HistoriansThis directory provides contact information for the Town Historians of Livingston County.
Regional & New York State Resources
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New York Heritage Digital CollectionsDigital Collections about New York State History including letters, diaries, photographs, and maps from over 160 museums, libraries and archives.
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Rochester Public Library Digital CollectionsIncludes digitized manuscripts, civil records, scrapbooks, newspapers, and much more.
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University of Rochester Digital CollectionsSee also the collections listed under "Digital Projects" at the UR Libraries' Exhibitions, Projects, and Publications page (https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/175).
See also the collections listed under "Digital Projects" at the UR Libraries' Exhibitions, Projects, and Publications page (https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/175).
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The Digital Collections: A Gateway to the Collections Held by the NYS Archives, Museum, and LibraryAccess photographs, textual materials, artifacts, government documents, manuscripts, and other materials relating to New York State's rich history.
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Historical Documents Inventory This link opens in a new windowThe Historical Documents Inventory (HDI) contains more than 23,000 catalog records for archives and manuscripts collections housed locally at repositories throughout New York State (libraries, historical societies, and other organizations with established archives), excluding the holdings of the State Library and the State Archives.
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Guide to Local History and Archives Collections in the Genesee ValleyProfiles of local history collections held by libraries, historical societies, churches and other archives in the Rochester region, produced by the Rochester Regional Library Council (RRLC). Last updated in June 2006, some information (e.g., urls) may be outdated, but overall still a useful resource.
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Iroquois Indians: A Documentary HistoryContains 8812 reproductions of records from the 1600s to the 1920s, compiled by the D’Arcy McNickle Center for the History of the American Indian at the Newberry Library.
Additional Resources
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New York Public Library Digital CollectionsDatabase featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.
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American MemoryProvides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
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Digital Public Library of AmericaDPLA includes millions of materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions across the country available to all in a one-stop discovery experience.
Visit the History LibGuide page Finding Primary Sources Online for a more complete list of primary source digital collections.
Special Collections Librarian
Maps
While not an exhaustive list, the resources below provide thousands of digitized maps, many of local and historical interest.
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Manuscript Maps of Genesee RegionCollection of manuscript maps of the Genesee region from the Wadsworth Family Papers Collection.
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NYH Digital Collection-Geography & MapsContains several collections of digitized maps, atlases, and more across New York State.
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David Rumsey Map CollectionSearchable database with over 141,000 maps available online. Physical collection is housed at Stanford University Libraries.
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Library of Congress Digital Map CollectionCollection of historical maps from many different regions and time periods.
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University at Buffalo Map CollectionUB's map collection is the largest in Western New York and located within Lockwood Library on UB campus.
Also see the Library's Maps Research Guide for additional resources.
