Research and Collections

From its beginning in 1836, the New York State Museum has been home to some of the nation’s leading scientists, including pioneers in archaeology, paleontology, ethnology, and botany. Its collections now rank among the finest in many fields and total more than sixteen million specimens, objects, and artifacts.

  • Three Sisters Diorama

    Archaeology

  • moth

    Biology

  • close up layers of rock

    Geology

  • Cultural History

    History

  • White basket

    Native American Ethnography

  • Cohoes Mastodon

    Paleontology

Research at the New York State Museum today is as exciting as it is varied, with scientists and historians actively directing projects in biology, anthropology, geology, paleontology, and history. Research by staff represents one tangible way in which information about the natural and cultural histories of New York, and the world, is made available to the public. Research findings are presented in scholarly and popular publications, at professional meetings, in exhibitions, and in public programs.

Researchers throughout the world use the collections of the New York State Museum to address questions about New York's natural and human heritage. The Museum’s collections are made available to researchers and scholars and are also used in exhibitions and public programs. Participation in Museum collections curation and research projects is possible through internships and volunteer opportunities.

To explore the Museum’s Research and Collections Division, hover your mouse over the Research and Collections block at the top navigation bar. 

News Articles

Erie Canal, double locks in Rexford, NY
Published October 25, 2022 | Economic History

On October 26, 1825, the Erie Canal officially opened from Albany to Buffalo. The canal was an immediate success: shipping costs plummeted, and new services and goods became widely available. Cheap, reliable transportation opened new markets to farmers and businessmen, creating a commercial...

Singer industrial sewing machine, ca. 1972, collection of the NYSM.
Published September 14, 2022 | Social History

One sewing machine, two stories:

Some artifacts in our collection hold the stories of multiple individuals. This ca. 1972 Singer industrial sewing machine, recently donated to the NYSM, belonged to Tsui Ping Chu, an immigrant from Hong Kong. Chu used it in her home to sew clothing for her...

Commeraw Stoneware
Published August 2, 2022 | Historical Archaeology

New York stoneware vessels bearing the name “Commeraw” have been included in collections for years, but more recently they have become recognized for their historical importance. Thomas Commeraw was an African American potter who worked in the Corlear’s Hook area of Manhattan from 1793 until the...

Late Stone Age Crowfield Flute Point
Published July 25, 2022 | Native American Archaeology

Located in the middle reach of the Hudson River, Magdalene Island (Dutchess County, NY) has long been known to archaeologists as a location visited by ancient indigenous peoples. Until now, stone tools and other artifacts curated at the NYSM suggested the site was first occupied about 6,000...

Play Furniture, 1960
Published July 25, 2022 | Cultural History

This set of child-sized furniture was a birthday gift to the donor, Mary Alice Cole, from her parents, in the 1960s. She recalled many families in Watervliet, NY, having play houses in the back yard, where “playing house” was a popular activity for girls. 

Through much of the 20th century...

DeGraff Archaeological Site (credit: Andrea Becker, NYSDOT)
Published July 5, 2022 | CRSP

Staff from the Museum’s Cultural Resource Survey Program (CRSP) recently hosted staff and six student interns from the NYS Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) at the historic period DeGraff archaeological site in the Mohawk Valley of Central New York. The CRSP performs surveys and site...

Stoneware detail
Published May 18, 2022 | Cultural History

This impressive stoneware water cooler is incised and impressed with decorations that depict the celebration of the Great National Jubilee of the Order of the Sons of Temperance, an organization founded in New York City in 1842.

Temperance iconography is portrayed throughout the design....

Handkerchief by Marion Weeber, 1937
Published March 14, 2022 | Cultural History

This screen-printed linen handkerchief was designed by Marion Weeber (1905-2000) in honor of King George VI’s coronation in England on March 8, 1937. It was manufactured by Burmel and sold at finer department stores. The handkerchief was framed and given as a gift to one of Weeber’s friends who...

Clufffalo: Art Omi, 2017 by Charles Cough
Published January 10, 2022 | Cultural History

A gift to the NYSM last year, Charles Clough's monumental paintingan awe-inspiring 9 x 16 feethas just been installed in New York Hall. To create it, Clough invited visitors to Art Omi, a contemporary art gallery and sculpture park in Ghent,...

Fluted Point from West Athens Hill
Published September 21, 2021 | Native American Archaeology

How old are the oldest archaeological sites in New York? Put another way, when did Native Americans first people the region that we now call New York? These questions are difficult to answer because there are no radiocarbon-dated sites of these early peoples that archaeologist call Paleoindians...

Lead Balls from Fort Franklin
Published September 7, 2021 | Historical Archaeology

In August 2021, the New York State Museum acquired 200 artifacts from the LAMAR Institute in Savannah, Georgia. These artifacts are the result of the only systematic archaeological study of three Revolutionary War battlefield sites on the north shore of Long Island. 

Fort Franklin...

Divers Collecting Tagged Mussels
Published July 27, 2021 | Malacology

Zebra and quagga mussels can be aggressive invaders of waterbodies and, when they reach high densities, can be devastating to native mussel populations (among other impacts).  Many lakes and rivers that once supported abundant and diverse communities of native mussels have seen declines after...

Decorative Stoneware
Published July 1, 2021 | Cultural History

Since 1996, Adam Weitsman has donated over 500 pieces of decorated stoneware to the New York State Museum.  While only a portion of these are on view in the galleries, this collection receives lots of attention from researchers and other museums requesting loans.  Here are two new pieces...

Ball Clay Pipes
Published May 11, 2021 | Historical Archaeology

Ball clay tobacco pipe fragments are one of the most common artifacts found on archaeological sites from the 17th through the 19th centuries. There are many reasons for this including the fact that most people smoked, tobacco pipes were relatively cheap and broke easily, and they survive well in...

Albee Square Collection
Published May 6, 2021 | Historical Archaeology

In March of 2015, archaeologists excavated 3 wells, 3 cisterns, and one possible privy at 420 Albee Square in Brooklyn, New York. The New York State Museum acquired the resulting collection in 2020. The artifacts recovered from the excavations illustrate the changing demographics in Brooklyn at...

Tim McCabe, Cicada
Published April 19, 2021 | Entomology

Get the official buzz about the emergence of periodical cicadas this summer! In a recent interview with WAMC’s Lucas Willard, Dr. Timothy McCabe, New York’s State Entomologist, discusses the impending appearance of Brood X (10) cicadas after 17 years underground and where New Yorkers might be...

Nevin’s Street, 1974  Oil on linen  23 ¾ x 19 ¼ in.  H-2020.22.3
Published April 8, 2021 | Cultural History

The NYSM History Collection recently acquired a collection of paintings by Ken Rush (b.1948). Rush divides his time between Vermont and Brooklyn producing rural and urban subjects that move between the realistic and the abstract.  In this group of quiet, almost haunting subway paintings, he...

Finger Lakes Terrain
Published March 11, 2021 | Quarternary Landscape Materials (QLM)

The layers of rock and sediment on the Earth's surface represent both a time capsule and vessel of stored resources. Geologist at the New York State Museum recently completed deep drilling exploration investigations near Ithaca, New York, to investigate Ice Age history. Over the last 2.8 Million...

Artifacts from the Pierce House Collection
Published March 8, 2021 | Historical Archaeology

The NYSM Historical Archaeology Collection recently acquired the Pierce House Collection containing a wide variety of mid-nineteenth century household artifacts from a farmstead located in the town of Lewis, Essex County, New York. Documenting the transition from a tenant to owner occupied...

Small Footed Crucible
Published February 11, 2021 | Historical Archaeology

Many of the Historical Archaeology Collections at the New York State Museum were recovered during compliance work prior to the construction of roads, buildings, and other structures. Larger compliance projects can result in the recovery of 100,000 artifacts or more. Time and budget constraints...

Pages