The New York State Historical Association was founded in 1899 by New Yorkers who were interested in promoting greater knowledge of the early history of the state. They hoped to encourage original research, to educate general audiences by means of lectures and publications, to mark places of historic interest with tablets or signs, and to start a library and museum to hold ,manuscripts, paintings, and objects associated with the history of the state. Since its founding, the Research Library’s collections have grown to include more than 88,000 volumes specializing in Colonial American and New York State history and culture, 19th-century American art history, and Native American culture.
NYSHA INFORMATION
MISSION STATEMENT
New York State Historical Association: Preserving - Engaging - Educating
Welcoming and connecting people to our shared cultural heritage through exhibitions and programs that provoke, delight, and inspire.
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The online exhibition of “murder” pamphlets entitled “Was he a man or a monster? Merchandising murder in the nineteenth century popular press” displays the front cover of 124 of the approximately 400 pamphlets in the collection of “murder” pamphlets and monographs. The pamphlets range from publication dates in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century, with the bulk published in the 1800s. Many of the books and pamphlets in this collection are listed in The annals of murder: a bibliography of books and pamphlets on American murders from Colonial times to 1900, compiled by Thomas M. McDade.
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The online Smith/Telfer photographic collection shows 300 of 500 printed images from a collection of over 53,750 glass plate negatives. The photographic work of Washington G. Smith (1828-1893) and Arthur J. Telfer (1859-1954) documents life in Otsego County, New York, for almost a century.