Local and SUNY Geneseo History: Primary Sources
Accessing Unique/Archival Local History Materials While SUNY Geneseo's Library Collections Are Inaccessible
Researchers will have to rely on digitized materials and collections, or visit other libraries and historical agencies, to view unique, manuscript, and/or archival items. Explore the tabs above to discover local history resources, including primary sources, available outside SUNY Geneseo's Library. Please contact the Special Collections Librarian for research assistance.
County, Town, and Village Historians and Historical Societies
This guide includes resources available at historical agencies most relevant to Geneseo, but 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 HistorianWebsite provides name, contact information, location and hours for the Livingston County historian. Also listed are resources available at the historian's office, including census records, newspapers, family files, cemetery files, photographs, postcards, maps and more. Links provide online access to veteran's files and naturalization lists.
Regional and New York State Resources
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New York Heritage Digital CollectionsNewYorkHeritage.org is a research portal to hundreds of digital collections about New York State's people, places, and institutions. It brings together freely accessible digital collections from libraries, museums and archives from all over the state.
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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 InventoryThe 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 History(Also available at the University of Rochester's Rush Rhees Library, and other libraries in the region.) Contains ”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.” The documents are contained on 50 microfilm reels, arranged chronologically, and located in the Genesee Valley Historical Collection microfilm cabinet . The accompanying print index (call no.E99 .I7 I68 1984) is shelved nearby.
Other Resources
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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 AmericaDigital Public Library of America has over 7 million items that include image, text, moving images and sound. To locate items, conduct a general search and then use the filters to identify moving images for streaming items. Rights information is listed in the item's record.
For a broader, more complete list of primary source digital collections, go to the History LibGuide page Finding Primary Sources Online.
Special Collections Librarian
Maps
While not an exhaustive list, the resources below provide thousands of digital maps, including many of local historical interest.
See also the Library's Maps Research Guide for more information and links.