Historian Tricia A. Barbagallo has earned the distinction of Research Associate at the Colonial Albany Social History Project.

Tricia joined the project in 1987 as an intern from the University at Albany. After completing her internship, she graduated with a degree in English. She continued her education at the University at Albany with graduate studies leading to a master's degrees in history and public history. She has been employed in the fields of public relations, as an education consultant, as historian and educator with a leading archeological firm, and as an editor with the Encyclopedia of New York State.

For more than a decade, Tricia has been a mainstay of our research team. She has compiled and produced a number of useful documents in support of project research and programming activities. She presents Albany history-related papers at conferences and professional meetings. Her article entitled "James Caldwell, Immigrant Entrepreneur," was published in the September 2000 issue of The Hudson Valley Regional Review. She is the author of a chapter entitled "The City Evolves, 1800-1930," in Albany, New York: Historic Crossroads, State Capital. City of Neighborhoods, which we produced in 1996. She also is the author of articles on other historical topics.

Currently, she is a doctoral student in history at the University at Albany. She also held a dissertation research fellowship for 2003-06 at the New York State Museum.

Her dissertation, "Commoners of the Republic," focuses on public relief policies in Albany, 1750 to 1803. By combining social and family history with public policy analysis, she is examining the lives of people receiving state and local assistance. She is reconstructing the lives of recipients of public aid, including 100 paupers, slaves, veterans, and bankrupt merchants - or any person considered "moneyless" in the Early Republic. Her study analyzes the experiences of each person, giving a human voice to the concept of poverty. An earlier research initiative further describes her study.

Tricia also is working on an extensive biography of John Tayler (1742-1829), the State's Indian Agent, treaty broker, and land agent who served as acting governor of New York State. She is creating "Mapping Albany" - an on-line history of the city's physical environment.

Biography of John Tayler
Information page entitled "The Poor of Albany"

will of Hitchen Holland
will of Myndert Schuyler

Map of Black households in 1815