Printed Resources on the People of Colonial Albany

An array of printed items from a bygone era!

Publications are the most utilitarian and traditional means of telling the story. Most of the items that follow represent first fruits of our long-term and comprehensive research program aimed at reconstructing the pre-industrial community by understanding the story and contributions of each of the 16,000 different people who lived in the city of Albany before the Industrial Revolution. These research-based expositions address important historical themes and community issues. The other items explain our approach as community historians and/or provide leads to additional historical resources. These works are recommended as starting points for the work of the Colonial Albany Project and can be ordered by contacting the project by any of the means listed below.

However, all of the works that follow have been eclipsed by historical expositions and resources featured on The People of Colonial Albany Live Here Website. In fact, by the year 2000, we no longer were committing new energy to the production of "paper based" publications and other offerings. Truly, history fans, you can do much better from us in every way via the website. That said, some of the works that follow have been transformed into web-based expositions as individually noted. Most of them have been "improved" in the process.


Albany, New York: Historic Crossroads, State Capital. City of Neighborhoods, by Tricia Barbagallo, Cynthia Sauer, and John Warren (1997), 24p., illus, apps., $3.00. A concise, illustrated social history of the city from its founding to the present.

Government by the People: The Story of the Dongan Charter and the Birth of Participatory Democracy in the City of Albany, by Stefan Bielinski (1986), 64p., illus, $5.00. A social history of the city charter and introduction to the people of colonial Albany and their world.

Abraham Yates, Jr. and the New Political Order in Revolutionary New York, by Stefan Bielinski (1975), 58p., illus, bib, $5.00. The case study that launched the Colonial Albany Project.

Sources on the People of Colonial Albany: Narrative Sources, edited by Tricia A. Barbagallo (1992), 12p, $1.00. A selected bibliography of books, articles, pamphlets, and unpublished works.

Sources on the People of Colonial Albany: Early Albany Families, compiled by Linda A. Keller and Anne LaFalce (1990), iv, 10p., $1.00.

The People of Colonial Albany: A Community History Project, (1994 edition), 165p., illus, app, $5.00. This comprehensive summary of Colonial Albany Project research, programming, and service activities has been revised periodically since 1984. In December 2003, we have begun to present sections of The Guide online!


Articles & Essays

"The People of Colonial Albany: The Profile of a Community, 1650-1800," by Stefan Bielinski, in Authority and Resistance in Early New York, edited by William Pencak and Conrad E. Wright (New York, 1988), 26p., notes, $1.00.

"The New Netherland Dutch: Settling In and Spreading Out in Colonial Albany," by Stefan Bielinski, in The American Family: Historical Perspectives, edited by Jean E. Hunter and Paul T. Mason (Pittsburgh, 1991), 23p., notes, $1.00.

"Transition and Change: Episodes in the Coming of Age of an Early American Community, Albany, New York, 1780-1793," by Stefan Bielinski, in World of the Founders: New York Communities in the Federal Period, edited by Stephen L. Schechter and Wendell Tripp (Albany, 1990), 29p., notes, map, $1.00. Online for the most part.

"Coming and Going in Early America: The People of Colonial Albany and Outmigration," by Stefan Bielinski, De Halve Maen, 60:2 (1987), $1.00.

"How a City Worked: Occupations in Colonial Albany," by Stefan Bielinski, in A Beautiful and Fruitful Place.- Selected Rensselaerswijck Seminar Papers, edited by Nancy Zeller (1991), 18p., notes, illus., $1.00. A comprehensive sketch of the community economy.

"Building Blocks of the Past: The Community Biography Approach to Local History," by Stefan Bielinski, The Bookmark 49:3 (Spring 1991), $1.00, free with order.

"A Middling Sort: Artisans and Tradesmen in Colonial Albany," by Stefan Bielinski, New York History 73:3 (July 1992), 29p., notes, maps, illus, $1.00. Winner of the "Kerr History Prize" for best article published in 1992.

"Bricks and Mortar of the Community Mosaic: From the Bottom-Up and Inside-Out Perspectives on Life in Colonial Albany," by Stefan Bielinski (1992), 25p., notes, $1.00. English language version of article published as "La societe coloniale a Albany. Les briques et le mortier de la mosaique communautaire," in Memoire privee memoire collective dans lamerique pre-industrielle (Paris, 1994).

"From Outpost to Entrepot: The Birth of Urban Albany, 1686-1776," by Stefan Bielinski, in Visions of New York State: The Historical Paintings of L.F. Tantillo (Wappinger's Falls, NY, 1996), 9p., notes, illus. Free with order and available here on this website.

"The Jacksons, the Lattimores, and the Schuylers: First African American families of Early Albany (1779-1815)," by Stefan Bielinski, New York History 77:4 (October 1996), 21p., notes, map, illus, $1.50.

"Backbone of the Community: New Netherland Families and the Colonial Albany Social History Project," by Stefan Bielinski, in Dutch Settlers Society of Albany - Yearbook, 1994-1997 (1997), 3p. Free with order.

"I Know It's Only Rock 'n' Roll - but they like it! Community History, Popular Music, and Public Audiences," by Stefan Bielinski, Northeast Historical Archaeology (journal of the Council for Northeast Historical Archeology) volume 27 (1998).

"Welcome to the Gallows Hill Training Facility! Basic Training for Social History Recruits," by Stefan Bielinski, expanded from an article published in the Encyclopedia of Local History, (Alta Mira Press, 2000).

"Captain Samuel Schuyler," by Stefan Bielinski, Dutch Settlers Society of Albany - Yearbook, 1998-2001 (2001) 53:23-25, free with order!

"The Edge of the Frontier on the Eve of the Revolution: The Last Days of Colonial Albany," by Stefan Bielinski published in Proceedings of the International Conference on Cities under Siege (presented: Montalcino, Italy, 1999; published spearately as Cities Under Seige: 2002), pp. 273-282.
       A shorter online successor to this work is also a bridge to the introductory chapter of The Other Revolutionaries,. The full online version is in progress and renders all other forms of this manuuscript obsolete.

"Albany County," by Stefan Bielinski online and published in The Other New York: The American Revolution Beyond New York City, 1763-1787 (Albany, 2006), published by State University of New York Press, 246 pages, illustrations, index.

An overview of the larger county during the war years. Probably the last "paper" publication by this author. But see: Albany County.




Working Manuscripts
Works in progress are available for information only and may not be duplicated or cited without permission.

"Scottish-Dutch Intermarriage in Colonial New York: Albany Merchants and the Brides of New Netherland," by Stefan Bielinski (1996), 20p., notes, $1.00.

Marriage patterns of Albany's Livingston, Glen, and Sanders families.

Broken Homes: Widows, Abandoned Wives, and Single Women in Wartime Albany, 1775-83, by Stefan Bielinski (1996), 28p., notes, map.
    This one-time conference paper has become a chapter in The Other Revolutionaries.

"Picturing the Past: A Visual Dimension for Community History," by Stefan Bielinski, (2000).


Collectors Items and no longer very available

Women of Colonial Albany: A Community History Calendar for 1986, by Shirley Rice (1985). Illustrated stories of twelve Albany women in calendar format, $1.00 or free with order. For more infomation abou this work see an article posted via Friends of Albany History (last encountered June 2018).

Women of Colonial Albany: A Community History Calendar for 1987, by Shirley Rice (1986). Illustrated stories of twelve more Albany women, $1.00 or free with order.

People of Colonial Albany Survival Kit (1996). Selected copies of historic maps, illustrations, and data on early Albany and its people, 12p., $1.00.


Colonial Albany Social History Project
3093 Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
(518) 474-6917


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last revised 6/15/18