The Pioneer was the annual yearbook of first the Potsdam Normal School and then of SUNY Potsdam after the SUNY school system was established in 1948.

Angelo Solimino was born in Orange, NJ. His family moved to Queens when he was only one. He stayed in Queens until he was drafted into the Army. Mr. Solimino attended St. Joseph's Parochial Elementary School and later went to Bryant High School. Upon graduation he began work at a steel plant in the area.
Mr. Solimino was then drafted into the US Army at the age of twenty-one. Upon his discharge from the military, he obtained work at Astoria Federal Bank as a teller. Over Mr. Solimino's career at the bank, he was able to work himself up to VP of Mortgage Department. He worked for Astoria Federal Bank for over 36 years.
Mr. Solimino married his first wife, Lorretta, when he was in his twenties. They had five children together, one girl and four boys. His wife died Sept. 21, 1974.
Five years latter he met Rita at the bank; they fell in love and were married not long after. Mr. and Mrs. Solimino currently live in Syosset.
While in service to the Army, Mr. Solimino was sent with the 805 Tank Destroyers Co. C to North Africa. General Rommel only had four known places to supply in the desert. As the Allies tried to push Rommel up from the south, the 805th was put in Rommel's way to try to slow him down. They were capture by Rommel's troops in North Algeria on February 17th 1943. The 805th was sent to a transit camp via Italy and the Brennan Pass. After being capture one of Mr. Solimino's officers changed his pay book to make it appear that Mr. Solimino was an officer. This allowed him to go to a POW for officers opposed to a work camp for the enlisted men. While in the POW camp for 2 years, 2 month and five days, Mr. Solimino created this log to help keep his sanity. Upon being liberated by the Russians, on April 22, 1945; Mr. Solimino left the log behind. Someone picked it up and later returned it to Mr. Solimino.

The images in this collection depict Sonnenberg, the summer residence of Frederick Ferris Thompson and Mary Clark Thompson in Canandaigua, New York. Compiled in Mary Clark Thompson's 1907 scrapbook, the photographs capture Sonnenberg's gardens, walkways, ponds, and architecture. At the time these photographs were taken, the historic property was at the height of its grandeur. Mary Clark Thompson continued to renovate and maintain the gardens as tribute to her late husband until her death in 1923.

Mary Flagler Cary (1901–1967) was the daughter of Harry Harkness Flagler, and granddaughter of Henry Morrison Flagler, one of the founders of Standard Oil. She married Melbert Cary in 1923, and they lived in New York City and Millbrook, NY. Melbert Cary died in 1941, and after his death Mary continued to divide her time between New York City and Millbrook. Mary built a collection of trees on her large estate in Millbrook, and using her Polaroid camera, documented her landscaping efforts and tree plantings. Upon her death in 1967, Mary left her 2,000 acre Millbrook estate to a charitable organization “engaged in the conservation, maintenance, and preservation of natural resources”. In 1971, the Mary Flagler Charitable Trust accepted a proposal from the New York Botanical Garden to establish an arboretum devoted to research and educational activities. The arboretum is now part of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

Bob Wyer started his photography career in the late 1930s when a local newspaper asked him to start taking photographs. He quickly discovered his love for photography and over the next 40 years took over 150,000 photographs. With his wife, Billie Wyer, his successful photo studio took many portraits and photographed a wide range of community activities, including parades, crime and accident scenes and the everyday minutiae of life in the Catskills.. In the 1960s, Mrs. Wyer founded Bob Wyer Poscards. The Wyer’s spent much of that decade traveling around the country photographing college campuses. The Wyers retired in 1978.

Phillip Winchester was a division engineer for the New York Central Railroad based in Syracuse. His job required inspections and design work for the NYC throughout Central New York State. This often meant photographing new construction, repairs, rolling stock, locomotives, and derailments as documentation in his territory. His father, Robert H. Winchester, was apparently employed by the NYC subsidiary Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg (RW&O) Railroad, and took extensive photos of winter snow clearing operations in Northern New York.

Phillip Trypuc was a resident of Center Moriches and photographer who took many pictures of local community businesses, events and people during the 1950s.