Collections

Books and Pamphlets

Over 5000 titles of published books and pamphlets on every aspect of Westchester County, its cities, towns and villages, as well as biographical materials on Westchester people. The Richard Maass Collection on Arnold/Andre is comprised of published works on Benedict Arnold, John Andre and their plot to betray the American cause in the Revolutionary War. (A list of the titles in this special collection is available on request.)

Genealogy Collection

Published family histories, as well as over 80 volumes of cemetery listings (a card-surname index to these is available in the reading room), church records (about 30 churches-a list is available on request), census information, and miscellaneous family files (representing over 2,750 families). Also part of this collection is the unpublished typescript of Grenville Mackenzie, "The Families of the Colonial Manor of Philipsburg," a compilation of data on over 200 families who were tenants on the Philipsburg Manor prior to the Revolution. Genealogical periodicals in the collection include the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society's Record , Connecticut Ancestry, and The American Genealogist.

Hufeland Collection

The Otto Hufeland collection is the largest collection of books, pamphlets and other materials on Westchester County amassed by an individual. Since Mr. Hufeland's death in 1940 the collection has belonged to the Huguenot and Historical Association of New Rochelle. In 1997 the collection was placed on long-term loan in the WCHS Library, so that it can be more accessible to the public. The collection includes many rare titles on Westchester, its towns and the surrounding area, with special collections on topics like the Revolution and New York City's water supply, among other things. There are also scrapbooks on each Westchester town and a large collection of glass plate negatives.

Manuscripts

This collection includes the papers of several families in Westchester, including the Mead family of Waccabuc, the Wood family of Bedford, the Brown family of Rye, the Hays family of Pleasantville (the earliest Jewish family in Westchester), and others. Among the other primary sources are diaries, account books, autograph books, church records, public records (especially Yonkers), school records and the records of organizations and associations (examples of these are the Pelham Manor Protective Club, 1881-1892; Westchester County Temperance Society, 1829-1848; Palisades Boat Club, Yonkers, 1866-1936; and Village Park Association, White Plains, 1898-1927).

Maps and Atlases

A large collection of maps and all of the Westchester County atlases published between1867 and 1929/30. We also have microfilm of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. maps for Westchester County cities and villages.

Newspapers

We have 140 catalogued titles of Westchester newspapers. For many of these we have only single issues, but for others there are substantial runs. Largest holdings are for The Westchester Spy (White Plains), 1830-1841; The Hudson River Chronicle (Ossining), 1839-1850; Eastern State Journal (White Plains), 1845-1916; Westchester News (White Plains), 1871-1913; Mount Kisco Recorder, 1874-1940; New Rochelle Pioneer, 1882-1919; Yonkers Daily Statesman, 1884-1900; and Williamsbridge Courier, 1893-1894.

Periodicals

Over 150 catalogued periodical titles, with 30 titles received currently. A card index to subjects in many of these is available in the reading room. Included among the titles held are New York History, the New York Historical Society's Quarterly Bulletin, and the Magazine of American History.

Picture Collection

We have pictures, prints, post cards and engravings that cover the whole of Westchester County and its towns. In addition we have several special picture collections, including Sanchis (Westchester architecture), Travis (White Plains), Drimmer (Jewish history), Social Services, and Gannett (photographs covering 1975-1995 from Gannett Suburban Newspapers). Samples from the Picture Collection - Photo Gallery. Photographic reproductions may be made for a fee; see statement of policy.

Scrapbooks

Most significant in this collection are the 42 volumes compiled by Alvah French of newspaper clippings. Alvah French was a newspaperman and historian who lived in Mount Vernon, N.Y. He wrote a three-volume history of Westchester County that was published in 1925. As part of his work, he maintained a clipping service, and he compiled 42 volumes of scrapbooks filled with clippings from Mount Vernon and other Westchester newspapers. The clippings, which cover the period from about 1880 until about 1920, include obituaries, marriage notices, biographical sketches and other articles about people from all of Westchester. There are many marriage notices and obituaries in these volumes, as well as historical articles and ephemera. There is a name and subject index to the French Scrapbooks available in the reading room and now online.

Social Service Archive

In 1993 WCHS embarked on a project to locate the history and records of social service institutions in Westchester County, especially those serving the needs of children. We discovered approximately 180 charitable institutions which have been in the county; the earliest was the Bedford Charitable Society, founded in 1816. Fifty-five of the institutions were created to help children, and 12 of these are in existence today. The records of several of these institutions are available for research in the WCHS Library. They include the Westchester County Alms House, the Westchester County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Children's Village in Dobbs Ferry, Graham-Windham in Hastings, the Wartburg Home in Mount Vernon, Lincoln Hall in Somers, the Yonkers Woman's Institute, Family Service of Yonkers, and the New York School for the Deaf in Greenburgh. The types of records include (there are variations of what is available for each institution) registers of children at the institutions, board of trustees and committee minutes, photographs, scrapbooks and correspondence. In some cases these records are on microfilm, and in others we have the actual records.