The Robert Joki Stereoview collection at the Saratoga Springs Public Library illustrates the rich upbringing of Saratoga Springs, NY, from the tapping of the natural spring system, the development of Broadway in the 19th century, and the ravaging fires that shaped Saratoga's cityscape.

Through a simple trick of the mind, stereoview presents two offset photographs with use of a stereogram to create 3D depth from 2D images. Stereoviews were increasingly popular in the mid-1800s and captured anything from mundane life to beautiful environments lost with time.

With 1,435 stereoscopic images in the collection, the Saratoga Springs Public Library holds the largest public collection of stereoviews of Saratoga Springs in the world and was acquired by the Friends of the Library in 2013 from the late Robert Joki.

Dr. Robert E. Hager (1916 - 2005) was an artist who created works of art about the Erie Canal. He had a passion for studying boats and the canals and was also known drawing diagrams of canal boats for the canal.

"The 1849 wreck of the Ship Richmond led to a court case over the ownership of her salvaged cargo that reached the United States Supreme Court. The decision, that a salvor is entitled to a reasonable fee according to circumstance rather than a fixed proportion, is still in place today.
Captain Philander Winters took the Richmond on her second whaling voyage for the Cold Spring Whaling Company with a crew of 32 men on July 21, 1846. The ship made various ports between 1846 and 1848, including Bahia, Brazil, Lahaina, Hawai’i. The Richmond left her final port, Honolulu, in the company of the Sag Harbor whaler Elizabeth Frith, captained by Philander’s brother, Jonas Winters. The two ships spent the season together in the Japan Sea and then separated.
On July 29th, 1849 the Richmond was sailing up the Bering Strait and Captain Winters needed one final whale to fill the ship. On August 2nd in heavy fog the ship struck a reef, disabling the rudder, and ran aground about a mile later. The crew was forced to leave the ship and took what provisions they had a few miles north to a beach accessible by whaleboat. They were stranded in Siberia, on the tip of Chukchi Peninsula roughly 1,000 miles away from the nearest town, less than a month before the Bering Strait typically iced over for the season.
The situation could have been worse; the entire crew evacuated safely and the area was well known among whalers so that it was very likely that another ship would come along once the fog lifted. On August 5th the crew set off in several whaleboats to search for nearby ships. Captain Winters and the first mate of the Richmond spotted the Elizabeth Frith and made contact, while the first mate encountered the New Bedford whaler Junior, captained by Silas Tinkham, that was also nearby. A third whaler, the Panama of Sag Harbor captained by Frederick Hallock, arrived on August 6th and the four captains agreed that the Richmond and its cargo would be put up for auction on August 8, 1849.
When she was wrecked, the Richmond was carrying approximately 3,600 barrels of oil and 24,000 pounds of whalebone. On shore, a barrel of oil could be expected to sell for $12.60, but during the auction, the Richmond’s barrels went for between $1 and 75¢. The hull was sold for $5 and the ship’s furniture and equipment were also auctioned off. After filling their holds, the Elizabeth Frith, the Junior, and the Panama divided the crew members between them, and set off for Honolulu.
Captain Philander Winters became very ill during the voyage to Hawai’i and died on September 13th from what appears to have been a stroke. The Richmond’s remaining officers: first mate, Charles Reeves; second mate, William Sayre; and third mate William Cherry all returned to the United States between March and April, 1850. John H Jones, the agent of the Cold Spring Whaling Company, listened to each mate’s version of the wreck and ultimately decided to sue to recover the Richmond’s goods. The original suit asserted that the sale of the cargo by Captain Philander Winters was invalid and that instead the three ships had acted as salvors and were entitled only to the standard salvage rates.
The case reached the United States Supreme Court in 1856. On January 28, 1857 the Court affirmed a captain’s right to sell both his ship and cargo in cases of absolute necessity but stated that this rule did not apply to the wreck of the Richmond because “the contrivance of an auction sale under such circumstances … where there is no market, no money, no competition… is a transaction which had no characteristic of a valid contract.”
The Richmond collection was purchased by the Whaling Museum in 2012.

This collection documents Richard T. Gilmartin’s contributions as an avid historian, and a popular sports fisherman, a spokesperson for the handicapped, and an engaged civic leader. He served as East Hampton Town Clerk from 1931 to 1940; Commissioner of Welfare, Suffolk County from 1941 to 1949 and Supervisor East Hampton Town from 1958 to 1959.
Born in 1904 in East Hampton, New York to Thomas Daly Gilmartin and Emma Julia Maran, Richard Timothy Gilmartin grew up on a 20-acre farm on Acabonac Road, not far from Holy Trinity Church Cemetery where he is buried.
Upon graduation from Fordham University in 1925, he became Secretary of the Pierson Construction Co. in Montauk. In 1927, he married Winifred O’Brien. In 1930 he opened the Richard Gilmartin Insurance Agency, specializing in Commercial Real Estate, which he maintained until his death. It was located in an annex of the “office tower” built by Carl Fisher.
When an auto accident left him crippled in 1944, Mr. Gilmartin spent two years rehabilitating himself at New York Institute for Crippled and Disabled. He went on to become a founding trustee of President Eisenhower’s Commission on the Handicapped and lead the way for Skills Unlimited, which opened in Islip in 1955. He worked hard to support employment for the disabled.
Richard T. Gilmartin had a great passion for history. During his tenure as East Hampton Town Clerk he implemented preservation, indexing and cataloging of leather-bound East Hampton Trustees journals from 1648-1955 that remain a popular resource for researchers. In his role as the first President of the newly formed Montauk Historical Society in 1963, Mr. Gilmartin initiated house tours of architecturally important buildings in Montauk, and mentored a History Group for young people. Some of those History Group members are still alive today, and have been as actively involved in preserving Montauk’s history as Gilmartin was in own his lifetime. Their dedication is Mr. Gilmartin’s legacy.

This collection is a result of a project commissioned by the Adirondack Museum to have Richard Linke photograph historic and significant sites in the Adirondack Park from 1973 to 1974. These sites include both man-made and natural areas that played significant roles in the exploration of the park from 1820 to 1900. Richard Linke is a photographer and was Professor of Photography at Skidmore College for 35 years.

Richard Hockman Handley (1848-1914) was a wealthy businessman who lived with his family in neighboring Hauppauge. Mr. Handley dedicated much of his time and money to one of his greatest interests-- the collection of rare materials related to the local history of Long Island and the surrounding regions. With the help of various associates and dealers, Mr. Handley amassed a truly remarkable collection of books, documents, manuscripts, maps, atlases and ephemera.

North Collins, founded in 1852, is a rural town located south of Buffalo, New York. "Reminiscent History of North Collins (Erie County, New York)" is a handwritten diary written by a Mrs. Emily Stewart in 1914 and contains many names and events from the early history of North Collins, including businesses, organizations, doctors, churches, and schools. It is 40 pages long, and this copy was created in 1914. Dates in the diary range from 1809 to 1889.