Rensselaer County Historical Society facts for kids

The Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) is a special place that helps people learn about the history of Rensselaer County, NY. It is a non-profit group and a museum. RCHS started in 1927. At first, it was just one room in the Troy Public Library. They collected old papers and books about the county's past. Today, you can find RCHS in the Central Troy Historic District in Troy, NY. They have a museum and offer fun programs for everyone at 57 Second Street.

What RCHS Does

The Rensselaer County Historical Society was created to do many important things:

• To help people study and learn about history.
• To share more knowledge about the early history of Rensselaer County, New York.
• To collect and keep safe books, old papers, and historical items from Rensselaer County and nearby areas.
• To mark important historical places.
• To get and take care of historic spots and places, and to receive gifts to help with their goals.

The Hart-Cluett Mansion: A New Home

Hart Cluett Mansion Entrance, Historic American Buildings Survey, 1934, RCHS

In 1952, the beautiful Hart-Cluett Mansion was given to the RCHS. This mansion was built in 1827. It became a historic house museum and a safe place for all the county's old items and records.

In the mid-1950s, the people in charge of RCHS decided to get professional help to make it a real museum. In 1957, H. Maxson Holloway became the first director. He used to be a curator at the New-York Historical Society. Mr. Holloway wanted to carefully collect beautiful art, decorations, and furniture to fill the fourteen rooms of the Hart-Cluett Mansion.

For the next ten years, RCHS worked hard to raise money and get more historical objects. Some of the most important items came from the Hart and Cluett families themselves.

Growing Bigger: The Joseph B. Carr House

By the mid-1970s, the Rensselaer County Historical Society had grown a lot! The Hart-Cluett Mansion and its Carriage House were not big enough anymore. They had so many new items and more people wanted to join their programs.

So, in 1976, RCHS bought the Carr House. This building, built in 1838, is right next to the museum. RCHS started a big fundraising effort to turn it into a center for education and offices. The first part of this project was finished in 1982. It added a meeting room, a gift shop, and a temporary art gallery on the first floor of the Carr House.

Making the Carr House Even Better

In 1995, the New York State Council of the Arts helped RCHS look at how they managed their collections. They started putting all their collection information onto computers for the first time. They also looked at how much storage space they needed. The goal was to make it easier for people to see and use the collections. They also decided what kinds of items they wanted to collect in the future.

In October 2001, RCHS opened the newly renovated Carr Building. They raised $2.7 million from people, companies, and state grants for this big project. The renovations created new galleries and better storage for the collections. They also put in new systems to control the environment, moved staff offices together, and completely updated the Carriage House.

What You Can See: Collections and Museum

RCHS is the main place in Rensselaer County that collects historical items. Their museum has about 60,000 objects! These items include fine art and everyday household things. They show the history of Troy, which is the biggest city in the county, and all of Rensselaer County. You can learn about the city's families and buildings.

Troy and Rensselaer County were very important in the growth of the United States in the 1800s. It was one of the main places for the American Industrial Revolution. The iron, steel, and textile industries made the area famous. Factories made important products that helped the United States grow and expand westward.

In the 1800s and 1900s, Troy's clothing factories made over 90% of America's detachable collars and many of its best shirts.

The museum's collections are also connected to the RCHS research library. This library has personal letters, business records, photos, maps, and other historical papers. It also has the largest collection of books and materials about the county's history.

Amazing Collections

The RCHS has more than 60,000 historical items. These include artifacts, documents, and photographs. RCHS also keeps old records for groups like the local YMCA and Troy Chromatics. These collections are used in programs like "Historians in Training" for schools in Rensselaer County. The collections have even been used by famous people like Charles Osgood for CBS Sunday Morning. They have also been used by Ken Burns, The History Channel, and other media groups.

Special Items in the Collection

• Uncle Sam Collection: This includes old items found during a dig at Samuel Wilson's home. There is also a mural by George Gray (from 1937) and other materials about Uncle Sam.
• American Civil War Collection: You can find the Rice Cook Bull Diary, military uniforms and items from the county, photos, and personal stories. There is also a collection about the New York Draft Riots in 1863.
• Rensselaer County Surrogate Court Records: These are records for over 30,000 people who lived in the county between 1791 and 1915. They are used for finding family history and other research.
• Burden Iron Works Archives: These documents show how this 1800s manufacturing company impacted the world.
• Photographic Collection: There are 10,000 pictures of people, places, and events from the early 1840s to the early 2000s.
• Hart and Cluett Family Records: These records and items tell a lot about the Hart-Cluett Mansion. They include the Howard-Hart Coach and the Cluett Sleigh.
• View of Glass Lake: This is a painting by Joseph Henry Hidley (1830–1872), a folk artist.
• Historical Clothing and Textiles: The collection also has furniture, decorative art, tools, stoves, and cast iron items. These date from the late 1700s to today.
• Maps and Records: You can find maps, city and county directories, cemetery records, church records, and old newspapers.

How the Collection is Used

The RCHS collection is used a lot for education, by artists, and as original information for many projects.

Some ways the collection has been used include:

• Education Programs: RCHS has programs for schools and adults about topics like the Underground Railroad, Women's Suffrage, and local history.
• Research: It is used for school research, family history projects, and studies about old buildings and saving history.
• Art Inspiration: Artists like Len Tantillo and Wren Panzella have used the collection for their art.
• Books and Films: The collection has been used for children's books, school textbooks, historical novels, and plays. It was also used for the New York State Encyclopedia and information about the Blizzard of 1888.
• TV and Movies: Items from the collection have appeared in movies like Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence. They were also used in Ken Burns' Civil War and Baseball shows, C-SPAN's Underground Railroad and Uncle Sam programs, and CBS Sunday Morning's Uncle Sam program.

How RCHS Works

RCHS uses its amazing collections to get many people interested in the history of Rensselaer County. The museum's exhibits and public programs often focus on items from the collection. RCHS uses these historical objects to show how they were made, how they were used, what they meant to people, and how they influenced society and individual lives.

See Also

• List of historical societies in New York (state)