ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


The Hall of Records owes a debt of gratitude to its predecessor agencies 
under the City of Albany's Department of Human Resources who preserved 
archival records and began the process of making these available to the 
public.  Thanks are due to John L McEneny and Mel Wolgang, past 
Commissioners of that department.

The projects were carried out under the direction of Bob Arnold and 
Neil Hanson. We'd like to thank Norman Rice, former City Historian, 
as well as the State University at Albany students who compiled the 
file research and oral histories.  Credit is due to the individuals 
interviewed for sharing their life experiences with the future.  
Joe Anastasia, teacher at the Academy of the Holy Names,, gave 
us the videotape histories of the New Scotland Avenue area of Albany,
the result of a grant from the Greater Capital Region 
Teacher Center in 1986.

The publicizing of this work at this time is due to the efforts of 
the Hall of Records' staff --Mary Vines, Patricia Bryce, Tracy Grimm, 
Virginia Farinacci, and the entire Archives staff.  Thanks to Steve Lynch 
who processed the photographs contained in this publication, and to 
Charmain Marks, a volunteer from the Glenmont Job Corps, who was 
responsible for the word processing.  Greatest credit of all is due to 
Jeanenne L. Paquin of the archives staff, whose time and energy 
made this publication a reality.


Thomas G. Clingan
Albany County Clerk
1989

INTRODUCTION

The eclectic collection of records, which has come to be known as the 
County Historian's Research Files, has its origins with the Emergency 
Employment Act program of 1971.

In August of that year, the federal government began funding Albany 
City and County governments to administer the first federally subsidized 
public service jobs program since the Great Depression.  Three years 
later, the program continued under the Comprehensive Employment and 
Training Act (CETA) program, administered by the newly-created City 
Department of Human Resources.  While CETA was not discontinued 
by the federal government until September, 1983, its 
Public Service Jobs component was phased out by late 1981.

At its height, in the summer of 1977, the Department of Human 
Resources had city and county jurisdiction and a payroll of over 
3200 governmental and non-profit agencies throughout the county.  
As was the case with the WPA of the 1930's, many workers were 
assigned to arts and history programs which would not have been 
possible without the "windfall" of federal dollars.

The bulk of these f iles, now in the possession of the Albany County 
Hall of Records, were at one time the working files of the now-defunct 
Bureau of Cultural Affairs of the Department of Human Resources.  
BOCA, as it was known, carried out most of the direct city and county local 
history projects.  In its later years, the bureau changed its name to the 
Bureau for Historical Services (BFHS) in order to Avoid confusion with the 
City Arts office, which was also run by the Department of Human 
Resources to carry out fine arts, festival and theatre programs.

In these files, the researcher will find not only documents pertaining to 
projects undertaken by the Department of Human Resources and its 
BOCA/BFHS (e.g.,the founding of the City Records Library, saving of the 
Quackenbush House, the Van Zandt archaeological excavation, and 
innumerable historic structure reports), but also delightful biographical 
sketches, ethnic and neighborhood studies and a potpourri of pamphlets, 
clippings, photographs, unpublished papers, interns' reports and 
miscellaneous correspondence from the Mayor, DER Commissioner, 
and many academic, governmental, and private sources.  
Such records are to be used with care, since, as working files, 
they vary in accuracy.

Through a fortunate set of circumstances, this collection of records has 
survived intact and indeed continues to grow.  The demise of CETA 
coincided with the founding of the Hall of Records and establishment of 
the modern system of public record keeping.  This was begun with 
assistance from the State Archives and Records Administration in 1980 
by then County Clerk Guy Paquin, with encouragement and support of 
then County Executive James Coyne and the late Mayor Erastus Corning 
2nd.

Ironically, the evolution of programs and changing of individual careers 
of administrators responsible for the creation of this research collection 
served only to provide for its continuity.

Robert W. Arnold III, who served as the Director of the BOCA/BFHS 
for its entire lifespan, became the first Director of the Hall of Records 
in 1981 and, three years later, assumed the County Historian's position 
as well.

As Commissioner of Human Resources, John J. McEneny served as Director 
of Public Employment Programs and CETA from the inception to the end of the 
programs in late 1983.  He returned to local government as Assistant County 
Executive and County Historian, thus being reunited with a local history 
research collection begun during his stewardship eighteen years before.

Robert Arnold, who resigned both of his county positions in 1988 to become 
Chief of the Local Government Records Bureau of the NYS Archives, continues
 to use the records as a Director and faculty member of the Hudson Mohawk 
Institute of the College of St. Rose.

The idea of making the files more accessible to the public by publishing 
this index was the inspiration of County Clerk Thomas G. Clingan and Hall of 
Records Director Mary Vines, who were acting on an idea first proposed by 
County Archivist Tracy Grimm in 1988, when she began working on the 
collection as a College of St. Rose intern.


John J. McEneny
Albany County Historian
1989 - 1991

PREFACE


In the 350 years that Albany's County and City governments have been 
growing, so too has the quantity of records created in carrying out their 
functions.  All of these records are crucial to the orderly activity and 
continuity of the local government and contain an abundance of research 
information.  The records can tell the researcher anything from who owned 
a piece of property 200 years ago to the amount a local government agency 
paid for a new typewriter in 1930.

Usually, what these records cannot tell the researcher is why the person 
who owned that property bought it or how a secretary felt about using 
her new typewriter.  Nor can they tell the researcher what prompted a 
given county or city agency to perform whatever act is documented in 
its records.

The records indexed herein do more than just document the stoic facts 
of Albany's history.  They introduce the researcher to attitudes 
and experiences.  From the people who ran Albany's governments 
to those who elected them, these records give an insightful view 
of the historical, social, religious, ethnic, and cultural make-up of 
Albany' s people.

It is important to remember that, although the majority of information 
contained in local government records is assumed to be fact, 
the same cannot be assumed of the records indexed herein.  
The researcher must remember that information in collections of 
research and oral histories by nature contain personal opinions 
and biases.  Therefore, discrepancies may arise and facts should 
be confirmed by using primary sources.

Used with discretion, these files and oral histories can be an 
invaluable tool to gain insight into the rich history of Albany and the 
people who have lived it.

Jeanene L. Paquin
September . 1989