History

The postcard publishing industry created an instrument for communication primarily during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  The New York State Museum’s postcard collections provide a visual record of life throughout New York State.  Over 22,000 images depict people and places that no longer exist or that have drastically changed.

The Audio Visual Collection at the New York State Museum contains various formats of recordings that were produced by State Agencies, and commercial TV and radio for public broadcast and consumption. While this does not consist of a comprehensive repository of all possible video and audio formats, the collection offers a peak into the technology and how it was used by government agencies and commercial entities to communicate to the public. 

The people of the State of New York have been documenting their every-day lives, their work, and play and everything in between since the development of the recorded image.  The photography collections at the New York State Museum include examples of nearly every format: tintypes, lantern slides, stereocards, 35mm slides, glass and film negatives, and prints.  

Highlights include a group of prints by Berenice Abbott given by her to the museum from her “Changing New York” series.