Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on our website.
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Adirondack and Catskills Vertical Files
Vertical files on both Adirondack and Catskill subjects held by the ARL.
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Adirondack Research Library Map Collection, 1829-2009
Historic, contemporary and topographic maps held by the ARL.
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Almy D. Coggeshall Papers, 1962-2009
The Almy D. Coggeshall papers measure 2.52 cubic feet and were created during the years 1962-2009. The collection consists of writings, correspondence, photographs, and subject files relating to Coggeshall's environmental advocacy in the Adirondacks. His work was especially focused on promoting cross-country skiing and a strong opposition to snowmobile use.
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Arthur Crocker Collection, 1950-1993
Born in New York City in 1909, Arthur Crocker earned a bachelor’s degree in History and Politics from Princeton and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He went on to become a security analyst and account executive for the United States Trust Company of New York, a lieutenant in the US Navy, and independent investor. He was President of the ...Read More
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Arthur E. Newkirk Papers, 1903-2004
The Arthur E. Newkirk papers consist of 3.3 cubic feet of records and date from 1903 to 2004. The collection contains Dome Island Memorial Sanctuary records, research files, correspondence, writings, publications, photographs and other materials which document Newkirk's environmental conservation activities within New York's Forest Preserve with a special emphasis on Lake George.
Arthur E. Newkirk (1914-2006) was an environmental ...Read More
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Citizen’s Northway Committee Records, 1956-1960
Correspondence, publications, and reports relating to the campaign against the Adirondack Northway.
The Citizens’ Northway Committee (CNC) was a non-partisan group of business and professional men – and women – who united with some forty conservation organizations, in an attempt to insure the choice of the better, safer, ‘Champlain Route’ for the Northway, and to save the Adirondacks from grave ...Read More
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Constitutional Council for the Forest Preserve Records, 1966-1976
Correspondence, minutes, reports, and publications documenting the activities of the Constitutional Council for the Forest Preserve.
The Constitutional Council for the Forest Preserve formed in January 1966 as a coalition to be prepared challenges to Article XIV at the New York State Constitutional Convention. It was designed to serve as a liaison at the time of the Convention and in ...Read More
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Couch-Sa-Chra-Ga Association, Inc. Records, 1964-1991
The records of Couch-Sa-Chra-Ga Association, Inc. measure 2.75 cubic feet and date from 1964-1991. The collection includes correspondence, finances, audio-visual materials, and other records of the Association relating to its production of films about the Adirondacks.
The Couch-Sa-Chra-Ga Association, Inc. evolved in 1974 from the Adirondack Hudson River Association, the group that led the state-wide battle to ban the Gooley ...Read More
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David Gibson Papers, 1965-2000
Correspondence, reports, notes, publications, and other material from David Gibson's work with the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks (AfPA) and other environmental advocacy organizations. The primary focus of the collection is land use and development within both the public and privately owned lands of the Adirondack Park. The collection includes special published reports printed by the AfPA and ...Read More
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Dome Island Memorial Sanctuary Records, 1916-1995
In 1939 John S. Apperson purchased Dome Island on Lake George to protect it from development and preserve it. He agreed to donate the Island to the Nature Conservancy provided an endowment fund could be raised. The idea was initiated by Dr. Alvin G. Whitney, retired from the New York State Museum and founder of the New York Chapter of ...Read More
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Edith Pilcher Papers, 1790-2007
The Edith Pilcher Papers measure 5.13 cubic feet and date from 1790-2007, with the bulk of the collection falling between 1980-2004. The papers reflect her work as a freelance writer outside duties as collection development chair of the Adirondack Research Library. The collection consists of research materials, correspondence, notes, photographs, and drafts of each of her four books on Adirondack History.
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Erwin Miller Papers, 1970-1990
After public concerns mounted regarding the Adirondack Park agency procedure used in developing Unit Management Plans for the Adirondacks, the Adirondack Mountain Club created a subcommittee to investigate the processes and make recommendations to the Department of Environmental Conservation. An ADK commission study conducted between 1977 and 1988 found that the APA was making good progress but recognized room for ...Read More
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Four-Track News, 1904-1905
The Four-Track News, an Illustrated Magazine of Travel and Education, “The Four-Track News consists of over one hundred and fifty pages printed on fine paper of the quality used in this number, and profusely illustrated with half-tones made expressly for this publication.” And, “These small books are filled with information regarding the best modes of travel, and the education that ...Read More
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Gary Randorf Papers, 1951-1994
Gary Randorf began his career in 1972 as ecologist with the APA working with Clarence Petty to document the Park’s Wild, Scenic, and Recreational Rivers. His papers include journals, correspondence, notes, writings, and research files on the Adirondacks.
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George Davis Postcard Collection, 1905-1940
George Davis was a highly respected judge in Northwestern New York. He combined his appreciation of the Adirondack Mountains with an interest in history, and his collections reflect this. His home was in Lowville and he had a seasonal camp near Beaver Lake. Judge Davis passed away in 2010 at the age of 91.
The initial gift of a collection ...Read More
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George D. Davis Papers, 1968-1994
The George D. Davis papers consist of Adirondack Study Commission reports, Adirondack Park Agency records, materials related to the Commission on the Adirondacks in the 21st Century, correspondence and special reports by the Adirondack Land Trust, USDA Forest Service records and correspondence, Davis Associates project files, correspondence with the Department of Environmental Conservation and other records relating to land use management.
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George Youngs Collection, 1928-1971
After graduating SUNY-ESF Ranger School in 1932, George Youngs was hired by the New York State Conservation Department as a Forest General Foreman. He served in this position from 1944 to 1948. From 1949 to 1971 he served as a District Ranger for the New York State Conservation Department for District #9 (now Region #5).
Most folders have retained their ...Read More
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Grant Richard Thatcher Papers, 1961-1993
The Grant Richard Thatcher Papers consist of forest ranger manuals, promotional materials, and maps.
Grant Richard “Dick” Thatcher (1930-2015) was a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served during the Korean War. He was employed as a Forest Ranger by the Department of Environmental Conservation in Ray Brook, New York for 30 years, prior to his retirement in 1992. Grant ...Read More
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Guide to the Archival Collections at the Adirondack Research Library
This guide is a list of ARL archival collections that are available for researchers. However, it does not include every single archival collection. Likewise, many of the collections on the list may not yet be arranged and described (processed) and readily accessible. The staff at the ARL will work with researchers to help make collections available as needed.
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Harold A. Jerry, Jr. Papers, 1952-1995
The Harold A. Jerry, Jr. papers consist of 11.09 cubic feet and date from 1952-1995. The collection contains correspondence, articles, press releases, environmental studies and field reports, legislation, meeting minutes, summaries, agendas, clippings, writings, report drafts and miscellaneous publications on the Adirondacks created and compiled during service with various New York State agencies, commissions, and environmental organizations. Jerry's involvement with ...Read More
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Index to the Archives of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, 1901-1984
The Archives of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks include reports, letters, maps, conference proceedings and other records pertaining to every substantial issue which has confronted the Adirondack Park and the Forest Preserve since 1901, when this Association was formed.
For some 50 years after this Association was established, it maintained an office in New York City at ...Read More
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James Glover Collection, 1928-1986
Robert Marshall was born into a wealthy and prominent family in New York City. He spent the summers of his youth with his family at Knollwood on Lower Saranac Lake and in the mountains of the Adirondacks. Together with his brother George and guide Herb Clark, Bob Marshall would become the first Forty Sixers. Educated in forestry at Syracuse, Harvard, ...Read More
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Jeanne Robert Foster Papers, 1854-2003
The Jeanne Robert Foster papers measure 12.11 cubic feet and date from 1854-2003, with the bulk of materials from 1930-1970. The collection documents the career and life of American poet and social worker, Jeanne Robert Foster (1879-1970) through her correspondence with publishers, academics, friends and family. The papers also contain extensive unpublished poems and writings. Her life and work is ...Read More
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John S. Apperson, Jr. Papers, 1899-1963
The John S. Apperson Jr. papers contain 44 cu ft of correspondence, maps, charts, litigation, pamphlets and published materials, photographs, photographic negatives, slides, lantern slides, and audio recordings within 48 boxes and one Map Drawer. Digital surrogates of selected items have been created. Apperson battled lumber and logging companies, paper mills, campers, New York State, and many others in the ...Read More
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Kay Flickinger Dockstader Papers, 1910-1995
The papers of Kay Flickinger Dockstader measure 4.62 cubic feet and date from 1910-1995. The collection consists of photographs (prints and negatives), journal entries, trail notes, Otyokwa Club yearbooks, maps, and ephemera from her travels, predominantly in the Adirondacks.
Kay was born in Schenectady in 1910 to Maude Hodgon and John Tressler Flickinger, an engineer at General Electric. Along with ...Read More