ARCHIVES AND COLLECTIONS
Over decades, Friends of Lorenzo has played a key role in the preservation and promotion of Lorenzo's treasures. Its archives and collections, covering 160 years of history as seen through one family, consists of more than 200,000 documents and 50,000 objects. The documents and objects at Lorenzo comprise the most extensive collection held within the NY State Historic Site System.
For those interested in genealogical, historical, and other types of research, Friends of Lorenzo helped create an online aid for finding items in Lorenzo's archives of documents, photos, and records.
Friends of Lorenzo supported the digitization of six cookbooks in the Lorenzo Collection. Click below and try some recipes. Pictured above is the recipe for Marie's curry sauce from Helen Fairchild's cookbook.
Lorenzo boasts an impressive
collection of fine art. The richness and variety of Lorenzo’s paintings reflect the family’s pride in
its Dutch heritage, the distinctive American character of a young nation and typical trends in
art collection by the upper class of the 1800s.
FOL has helped with ongoing efforts to tell the whole story of the life and times of Lorenzo, including the story of those lives often lived in the shadows. Life at homes like Lorenzo
would not have been possible without the support of servants and slaves. Pictured above, the servants quarters at Lorenzo.
Lorenzo survives as a story of life and 19-century development in Central New York, in part through its extensive collection of art, household objects, carriages, and furnishings...all promoted, restored, and preserved with the help of the Friends of Lorenzo.
The carriage house at Lorenzo features permanent exhibits and a unique collection of carriages and sleighs that expand on the story of life in the area as told by the mansion and its contents. Exhibits and renovations of the carriage house have a long history of support from the Friends of Lorenzo.
The finding aid is designed to help users learn what is in Lorenzo's extensive collection of documents, photos, and records, and to help them access those items. The finding aid is electronic and accessible via your computer. It allows you to search collections of documents by name, topic, and type of item (photo, map, letter, etc.).
Using the finding aid to search through the collections provides users with descriptions of what is in different sections of each collection.
Each description is accompanied by a box and folder number indicating the physical location of documents. Currently, Lorenzo has only descriptions of material in its online service, not electronic copies of the items themselves. With the information on location provided with your search results, users can contact the Lorenzo Historic Site and request copies of items or arrange for a visit to use actual documents.
The aid is housed and accessible at Empire Archival Discovery Cooperative. The creation of the finding tool was made possible by generous funding from Parks and Trails New York.
