Neighborhood and Community Associations

For reference queries contact Grenander Department Reference staff or (518) 437–3931

AFFORDABLE HOUSING PARTNERSHIP AND CAPITAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUNDING CORPORATION
Records, 1983–2001, 1.7 cubic ft. (APAP–109)
The records of the Affordable Housing Partnership (AHP) and its affiliated financial branch, the Capital Affordable Housing Funding Corporation (CAHFC) document the founding of the AHP and CAHFC and their activities as providers of affordable loans for low to middle income families and business owners from their creation in 1986 to 2001. The bulk of the records of the AHP and CAHFC is made up of a group of alphabetically organized subject files comprised of topics important to this organization. Most of these files concern the United Tenants of Albany's bank protests that cover the years from 1984–1995. These documents discuss the prejudicial loan practices of Chase/Chemical Bank, Fleet Bank, Key Bank and NORSTAR Bank and the United Tenants of Albany's attempts to amend the Community Reinvestment Act responsible for regulating the loan practices of banks. They are especially important as they mark the conditions that necessitated such organizations. Along with these files, the AHP and CAHFC collection also include administrative records, financial records and loan policies.

BETHLEHEM WORK ON WASTE
Records, 1989–1996 (APAP–148)
Bethlehem Work on Waste was a grassroots organization active from 1989–1995. Citizens came together to fight Browning Ferris Industries' (BFI) attempts to open an incinerator in the community. The group also helped to defeat the Energy Answers Corporation plant. Other issues included the Formaldehyde Project, recycling, and BFI in Green Island. Actions included educational forums, demonstration projects, and promoting ideas for alternatives. At one time had a mailing list of just under 2,000 people. Records include: BFI Bethlehem proposal information and news clippings, Answers landfill proposal (Bethlehem and Coeymans), information on solid waste and solid waste laws, correspondence, Energy Answers public relations and news clippings, meeting notes, information on paint recycling, "scoping" folder of DEC documents, and the school informational packet the group developed. There are also two small notebooks of meeting notes, VHS tapes of town meetings and news clips, and a printout with bibliographies, correspondence, and other documents.

THE BROTHERS
Records, 1966–1990, 1.4 cubic ft. (APAP–081)
Includes the following records of this African–American organization: copies of the Albany Liberator, an occasional newspaper edited by Gordon Van Ness for The Brothers, 1967–1971; newspaper clippings and ephemera, 1967–71; retained records of the Northside Advisory Council for the Northside Community Health Center, 1970–1972; materials concerning their 1990 reunion; speeches and poetry by Gordon Van Ness, undated. Organized in July 1966 with twenty–four members, The Brothers were an African–American organization focused on equal employment opportunity, welfare and work reform, programs for youth, stopping drug addiction, better education, against military conscription, and other issues of concern to the black communities in Albany, New York's Arbor Hill, North Side, and South End.

CAPITAL AREA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
Records, 1941–2002, 9 cubic ft. (APAP–129)
The Capital Area Council of Churches (CACC) was founded in 1941. The federation was intended to encompass, absorb, coordinate and extend the community service and ministry functions of several existing organizations. The majority of records in this collection are board minutes (with organizational constitutions, Director's Reports, and some committee minutes) reports, newsletters, administrative files, subject files, and some correspondence. There is also a collection of clippings from local newspapers. Well structured documentation, in the form of meeting minutes, of the formative period of the organization allow for a determination of the principle factors, both human and situational, for the genesis of the CACC. There are numerous sources (minutes, newsletters, annual reports) of the names of individuals and the roles they played in the organization; names, locations, size, relative prosperity and denomination of member congregations; and information pertaining to the other groups, individuals, and organizations which provided services in the Capital District. Many of the records show the degree to which the organization was concerned and involved with issues and events of local, national and international concern including World War II, the anti-Communist fervor, the Civil Rights Movement, the Abortion debate, the evolution of the State University of New York system, urban blight, and fair housing.

CASATELLI, JEANNE
Papers, 1966-2002, 2.6 cubic ft. (APAP-150)
Jeanne Casatelli is a native of East Greenbush, New York, who has fought sprawl in her hometown for more than twenty years. She is a founding member of East Greenbush's Community Action Network (CAN). The papers document Casatelli's interest in issue-based grassroots organizations in the late 1990s and early 2000s through her involvement in Community Action Network. CAN opposed the widening of U.S. Route 9 and 20 in East Greenbush through a vigorous campaign of public education and political action. The papers provide near-complete documentation of this campaign, including letters, e-mail, press releases, position papers, contact lists, and notes. Information on another organization of which Casatelli was a member, Citizens for Riverfront Action (CRA), is limited to CRA's involvement in coordinating Scenic Hudson's Great River Sweep in the community of Rensselaer.

CITY CLUB OF ALBANY
Records, 1945, 1947–1950, 1957–1961, .2 cubic ft. (APAP–082)
The collection documents the City Club of Albany and contains organizational records from 1957–1959 mainly concerned with issues of the Citizen's Platform. The collection is composed chiefly of files retained by Harriet D. Adams as vice president of the club when it was particularly interested in urban planning. The Citizen's Platform of 1957 consisted of the City Club's position on issues such as city planning, housing, health, education, child welfare, recreation, safety and law enforcement, local government finances, and "a cleaner Albany." Organizational records also include the City Club's mission, membership, monthly reports, a budget report, reports from the Nominating Committee and the Civic Affairs Committee, newsletters, and correspondence of the Civic Affairs Committee.

COMMUNITY STUDIES, CENTER FOR
Records, 1825-1976, 14.2 cubic ft. (UA–652.4)
Th collection documents the organization, evolution, scope, thinking, activities, and programs of the Center for Community Studies. The Center was created in 1950 to in part study education in school districts.The earliest items contained in this collection are street maps of Albany, New York which date from 1825 and were part of the Census Classification Project for Albany, but continuous records for the CCS itself start at its inception in 1950 and continue through its discontinuation. There are also some records, mostly memos and letters, that postdate the apparent discontinuation of CCS that continue to 1976. Topics which are documented in this collection include action research projects, extensive course materials, the Three Wishes Project, the development of educational television, the New York State Citizens’ Council, the Poliomyelitis Project of 1956 (Polio Study Project), in-school testing materials, student and faculty questionnaires, student papers, the Study of Opinions on Medicine and Child Health of 1956, the University-Community Cooperation Project, a 1951 survey of the ethnic composition of local school districtsand materials pertaining to workshops given by the Center for Community Studies.

CONCERNED CITIZENS AGAINST CROSSGATES
Records, 1979–1983, 5.25 cubic ft. (APAP–057)
Correspondence of CCAC leaders with local and state officials and politicians, briefs, counter briefs, and exhibits submitted to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), 1979–1980, prior to DEC granting approval for the construction of the Crossgates Regional Shopping Mall in the Albany Pine Bush, Guilderland, New York; submissions to DEC, 1980–1933; legal papers relating to the suits of CCAC vs. Robert Flacke (Commissioner of DEC), 1980–1982, vs. the Town of Guilderland Zoning Board of Appeals, 1980–1983, and vs. the Town of Guilderland concerning the water merger vote, 1980–1983; and impact studies on the economy and environment relating to air quality, wildlife, society and traffic. The records also include records of meetings, reports, press releases, newspaper clippings, and other records of a citizens' group founded to prevent the construction of the shopping mall.

CROSSGATES REGIONAL SHOPPING MALL COLLECTION
Records, 1979–1984, 6 cubic ft. (APAP–067)
Reports, legal briefs, transcriptions of hearings, environmental impact statements, photographs, news clippings, and other materials pertaining to the application of the Pyramid Crossgates Company to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Transportation to build the Crossgates Regional Shopping Mall in the Albany Pine Bush, Guilderland, New York.

MADEJ, HENRY
Papers, 1985–2006, 3.5 cubic ft. (APAP–140)
Henry Madej, an alumnus of the University at Albany, has been an active alum and a long-term leader in the Pine Hills Neighborhood Association. The Pine Hills Neighborhood Association covers the neighborhood adjacent to the University at Albany's Downtown Campus and is a mix of student housing, long-term residents, and commercial areas. The collection includes newsletters, banners, and related material about the neighborhood association and the City of Albany. Madej has also donated a number of items related to the University at Albany to the University Archives.

RUBIN, HAROLD
Papers, 1964–1990, 6 cubic ft. (APAP–032)
Subject file largely consisting of retained records of local organizations dedicated to preserving the Albany, New York historic neighborhoods and architecture. Includes minutes of meetings, correspondence, legal documents, press releases, news clippings, and other records of the Capital Hill Architectural Review Commission, 1972–1988; Center Square Neighborhood Association, 1957–1988; Coalition for Effective Code Enforcement, 1974–1976; Council of Albany Neighborhood Associations, 1976–1988; Neighborhood Resource Center, 1970's; and other local groups. Kept by Rubin as chair of several of the associations and as an Albany urban preservationist.

SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF WATER RESOURCES
Records, 1918-1999, 12.46 cubic ft. (APAP–061)
The bulk of the records of the Society for the Preservation of Water Resources consist of files on the major projects the society undertook, such as the Wilmorite project, the Bonded Concrete project, and the water supply applications of the city of Schenectady and the town of Rotterdam (1982-1985). As most of these projects concerned legal questions, the files consist primarily of legal papers not produced by SPWR, but many include notes by SPWR. The records for each of these projects form a complete record of the legal proceedings for each project including testimony by expert witnesses for SPWR. However, little information about the SPWR's strategies can be gleaned from this material. For instance, the records provide little evidence that the society was interested in the Broadway Mall project (1960, 1980-1981) because they thought the site for the Broadway Mall might be a possible alternate site for Wilmorite's Rotterdam Square Mall.

TENANTS AND NEIGHBORS
Records, 1972–2000, 59 cubic ft. (APAP–198)
Tenants and Neighbors is a statewide coalition of New York's tenants and tenant associations that fight for tenants' rights and affordable housing for all people. The origins of Tenants and Neighbors dates to a meeting of tenant and housing activists from across the state in August 1972 at St. Rose College in Albany, N.Y. By December 1974, a formal organization was developed by housing and tenant activists across the state that drew up by-laws and created the original name as the New York Tenants Coalition. The first statewide membership meeting was held in February 1975. In 1995, the organization changed its name to New York State Tenants and Neighbors. T he collection includes: minutes, annual reports, newsletter and other publications, legislative and organizational memoranda, press releases, clippings, video and press coverage.

UNITED TENANTS OF ALBANY
Records, 1972–2001, 3.12 cubic ft. (APAP–118)
The records of the United Tenants of Albany (UTA) document its founding and record its daily activities as a non-profit organization campaigning for the rights of tenants in Albany from 1972 to 2001. Topics included in this collection are affordable housing, effective housing and health code enforcement, the UTA's protests against the loan policies of several banks and rent control. This collection also contains the UTA's administrative records, including its minutes, organizational structure, financial records, mission statement and by-laws. The subject file concerning the UTA's campaign for the effective enforcement of Albany's building code is especially comprehensive. The rent control subject file is also strong.

VAN PATTEN, GRANT
Records, 1962, .17 cubic ft., 1 film, and 1 video (APAP–167)
Grant Van Patten worked in television production beginning in the mid-twentieth century in New York's Capital Region, including affiliate WRGB in Schenectady. Van Patten produced the documentary The South Mall in Albany: Hoax or Hope? for WRGB in 1962. The collection includes Van Patten's documentary The South Mall in Albany: Hoax or Hope? and material related to its production. The film is a production original composed of sound film, silent footage, and blank short pieces. During the blank sections there were shots taken by live studio cameras most often of the news reporter on the studio set. An access copy of the production is available for viewing in the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives Marcia Brown Research Room. It is best to have a copy of the script in hand when viewing the documentary.

WILLISON, MALCOLM
Papers, 1958–1997, 14.9 cubic ft. (APAP–055)
This collection details the social activism of Malcolm Willison in New York State's Capital Region. As an active board member of several local groups, his papers contain minutes, financial statements and budgets, programming ideas, brochures, planning notes, articles and reports, and clippings that detail the evolution of the various organizations contained in the collection. Organizational newsletters and event flyers, course and conference information planned by Willison in his capacity on executive boards, and vast amounts of correspondence about any number of events and issues are also part of the scope of the collection.

YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ALBANY, NEW YORK
Records, 1863–1996, 20.21 cubic ft. (APAP–137)
The collection documents the history of the YWCA of Albany, which was founded in 1888 by a group of women led by Mrs. Acors Rathbun in order to provide housing and recreational activities for young women searching for work. Through the years, the organization expanded to include classes, childcare, athletics, essay contests, teen issue programs, and an annual awards dinner honoring women. Strengths include the extensive photographic material and meeting minutes from the board of trustees and directors. The collection is weakest at the beginning and end of the YWCA of Albany's existence.