Collections

1964 Rochester Riot Photographs

This collection of images documents Rochester’s 1964 race riots, offering a vivid and revealing glimpse into Rochester’s, and the nation’s, past.

Serving food at the Broome County Urban League Festival

Images of African Americans in Broome County, including photographs of the activities of CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality.

Black and white photograph

The collection explores the role of African Americans in the General Electric workforce.

Beauchamp Branch Photodocumentation Project, 1994

Photographs of an African American community in Syracuse, New York that were collected as part of a photo-documentation project.

Photograph of three children sitting on a hill

Photographs and ephemera highlighting Black history in Columbia County.

Child sits on a pony

Materials curated by Black Legacy Association of Columbia County (BLACC) to showcase the contributions made by the Black community to Columbia County from slavery to the present time.

Charles Price

Captain Charles Price was a graduate of James Madison High School and a member of the 332nd Fighter Group (the Tuskegee Airmen) before becoming the first African-American police officer in Rochester. He served on the force for 38 years, from 1947 to 1985.

Street sign at the intersection of Atkinson Street and Clarissa Street

Photographs and ephemera taken from display boards used at the annual Clarissa Street Reunion.

Coretta Scott King Collection

These photographs and letters detail Coretta Scott King’s visit to Keuka College in June 1970.

Jonathan 'Theorious' Dinkle and his mother, Irene Bennet

The Dinkle family lived for multiple generations in the Third Ward, possibly best known for their deep involvement with the Boy Scouts.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Collection

These photographs and letters detail Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s visit to Keuka College in June 1963.

A History of the Black Community of Syracuse

Photographs and documents from the mid-1800s to early-1900s, relating to African American life and history in Central New York.

Joan and Alma Coles on Joan's wedding day

Joan Coles-Howard, daughter of pioneering newspaper editor Howard Coles, is an author, marketing expert, and was the owner of iconic Rochester retailers Uhuru and All Day Sunday.

Children with shopping carts

Bobby Johnson was the unofficial poet laureate of the Third Ward, and was a well-known figure in the community alongside his wife, Leslie Locketz.

Leonard Cooke

Photos and documents related to Nyack history, from the collection of Leonard Cooke, Nyack resident and activist.

a man throws potatoes onto a conveyor belt

Photographs of migrant workers from the 1940s and 1980s, some of which were taken by other workers for a photography exhibit.

New York Central College

One of the nation's first institutes of higher education to accept students with no consideration to race or gender was open from 1849 to 1860.

three young men Leaning Against a Wall

Photographs, postcards, and ephemera relating to the Bellamy Family and their friends in Norwich, NY.

Zion Hill dances with boom box

Sharon Turner is a professional photographer working in Rochester, N. Y.'s Third Ward who has extensively documented the Clarissa Street Reunion gatherings over time.

Collage of photos showing people at the New Skateland Arena roller skating rink in Buffalo, N.Y. Includes primarily children and teenagers alone and in groups. Date ranges from late 1970s to early 2000s. Collage displayed in the Main Rink and Locker area

In the summer of 2018, Daemen College gratefully accepted a large collection of photo collages from Kiddy Skateland, a roller rink owned and operated on Buffalo’s East Side.

Southside Community Center Photo Collection

A collection of photographs from the groundbreaking and early years of the Southside Community Center, some taken by photographers from the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program that supported the creation of the Center.

Vernon Jordan, President of the National Urban League, 1981-09

This collection contains photographs relating to the Urban League of Onondaga County, Inc. activities.