Fenimore Art Museum

Department: Research Library
5798 NY-80
Cooperstown, New York 13326
Phone: 607-547-1470
Fax: 607-547-1405
Geolocation:

Fenimore Art Museum

About

The Fenimore Art Museum, located in Cooperstown, New York, has several collections in New York Heritage, including electronic finding aids for its noteworthy manuscript collections. Formerly the New York State Historical Association, NYSHA was founded in 1899 by New Yorkers who were interested in promoting greater knowledge of the early history of the state. They hoped to encourage original research, to educate general audiences by means of lectures and publications, to mark places of historic interest with tablets or signs, and to start a library and museum to hold manuscripts, paintings, and objects associated with the history of the state. Since its founding, the Research Library’s collections have grown to include more than 95,000 volumes specializing in 19th century American and New York State history and culture, American art history, and Native American art.

Fenimore Art Museum is a member of the South Central Regional Library Council.

Collections

Belva Lockwood Manuscript Collection

Roughly 500 manuscript pages of Lockwood’s various lectures, including some from the time of her campaign for president.

Hamilton-Burr Duel Collection

Correspondence between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr and their seconds before the historic duel. The exchange of letters by the four participants -- Burr, Hamilton, Van Ness, and Pendleton -- preceding the duel took place from June 18 - July 9, 1804. Further correspondence and statements made after the duel, from July 11, 1804 Mar. 5, 1805, by Burr, Van Ness, and Pendleton are also included in the collection. Included among them are eye-witness accounts of the duel by Van Ness and Pendleton, the only living witnesses of the duel besides Burr himself.

a boy near a lake with plants

The 137 silver gelatin Irene Fay prints in this collection relate to the family farm in New Kingston, New York. They include family, neighbors, and the surrounding Catskill landscape. Of special interest are the everyday objects which her eye and camera transform into unique images.

John J. Burger Railroad Collection

The John J. Burger Railroad Collection consists of extensive research material related to the Southern New York Electric Railway and other New York State railroads.

Murder Pamphlet Collection

These pamphlets range from publication dates in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century, with the bulk published in the 1800s. Many of the books and pamphlets in this collection are listed in The Annals of Murder: a bibliography of books and pamphlets on American murders from Colonial times to 1900, compiled by Thomas M. McDade. The nineteenth-century pamphlets in this collection were drawn from the holdings of the Research Library of the New York State Historical Association (NYSHA) in Cooperstown, New York. NYSHA's collection of murder pamphlets contains 400 items published primarily in the 18th-19th centuries. These pamphlets document the changing perception of the murderer from a repentant sinner to a monstrous deviant.

Murder Pamphlet Collection Full Text

These pamphlets range from publication dates in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century, with the bulk published in the 1800s. Many of the books and pamphlets in this collection are listed in The Annals of Murder: a bibliography of books and pamphlets on American murders from Colonial times to 1900, compiled by Thomas M. McDade. The nineteenth-century pamphlets in this collection were drawn from the holdings of the Research Library of the New York State Historical Association (NYSHA) in Cooperstown, New York. NYSHA's collection of murder pamphlets contains 400 items published primarily in the 18th-19th centuries. These pamphlets document the changing perception of the murderer from a repentant sinner to a monstrous deviant.

Octagon Houses Collection

Contains selected images of photographs in the Octagon Houses Collection. The New York State octagon house files were gathered for use in "Octagon Buildings in New York State," compiled by Ruby M. Rounds of the New York State Historical Association. The information and photographs for the compilation were supplied by Stephen R. Leonard, Sr. Additional photographs and research came from Mrs. K.R.J. Edholm and Bertha Guptill. The original publication of this compilation was in "New York History," Vol. 33, nos. 2 and 3, April and July 1952, edited by Janet R. MacFarlane, Curator, New York State Historical Association.

Otsego Lake Historical Collection

Primary sources relating to the historical significance of Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, NY.

Three women and a man pose in a field during the bean harvesting at Hanson Farms, 1943

The photographic work of Washington G. Smith (1828-1893) and Arthur J. Telfer (1859-1954) documents life in Otsego County, New York, for almost a century.