New York Genealogical & Biographical Society entrusts entire library to NY Public Library

The venerable New York Genealogical & Biographical Society sold its building (2007) and has now given its entire library collection to the New York Public Library (NYPL).

I was alerted to this by Dick Hillenbrand’s article at Upstate New York Genealogy Blog.

The New York Times reported this morning that even though the NYG&B had sold their building for $24 Million that they would not undertake the effort to relocate and maintain the library but instead has given the 75,000 volumes, 30,000 manuscripts and 22,000 reels of microfilm to the NY Public Library. The NYG&B was founded on 27 February 1869.

In the mid 1960s I would train down to New York City to use both libraries. It made quite an impact to be in the NYG&B Library – with it’s impressive reading room and open stack collection – to walk the marbled halls of the NYPL, lined with paintings and be able to research my family history in both locations.

The NYPL’s genealogy collection – more formally called: The Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy has long been known for its strong collection of research materials gathered for over a century – from the founding of the NYPL in 1848.

When I first began using the NYPL in the 1960s it was administered by Gerald D. McDonald who served from 1945-1969 and then by Gunther Pohl (1969-1985) and John Miller (1985-1987). The Division is currently under the capable leadership of Ruth Carr long serving Chief of that Division.
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