$10,000 Grant Received for the
Tool Lending Library!

We are pleased to announce that the Tool Lending Library has received a $10,000 grant from the Bender Family Foundation.  These generous funds are to assist with the start-up and operating costs for the Tool Library including inventory and technology purchases, marketing and promotion, and educational programming.  We are grateful to the Bender Family for their ongoing support of Historic Albany Foundation!

Watch this newsletter and our social media for news on our upcoming ribbon cutting and grand opening.

Join the Tool Library Volunteer Team

Be part of something awesome

Want to become a Tool Librarian? We are going to start training during the first week of August, so why not get involved and make a difference?

Tool Librarians will receive a complimentary membership, all we ask for is a commitment of 20 hours per year.   

Join our team here

What's New in the Warehouse?

Walking in Their Shoes….

While historic buildings are our real business at H.A.F., artifacts like this antique baby buggy help flesh out our understanding of the past.

Through these objects, we have a remarkable opportunity to see and even feel—as our hands grasp the wood of this buggy’s push bar and we walk with it—at least a small part of the day-to-day lives of long-gone people.

We believe this buggy dates to around 1860 and perhaps hails from Ireland. Other examples we’ve found online suggest that there would have been either a wicker or velvet-sided basket fixed to the top of the iron-strap sprung wood-plank platform.

The buggy is mostly wood with bronze decorative finials on the push bar, patinated—likely plated—steel hubs, and wrought-iron shod wood-spoked wheels.

Constructed to the more diminutive dimensions of mid-nineteenth century people (5 feet tall was considered the average height for a woman), this buggy measures just 29 inches to the push bar and is 46 ½ inches long and 21 ½ inches wide.

If you like the look of rustic carriages but don’t have the space for a full-size one, or you just want to know what it felt like to take a baby out for a walk in the Victorian age, this antique buggy is waiting for you in the Warehouse!

For Every Season….

There was a time when even school doorknobs were made to look beautiful. Do you think the countless students that gave them a turn noticed them? Are we just being jaded romantics in thinking that they used to but wouldn’t anymore?

Oh, well. Regardless, giving our headline an extra twist, unfortunately, you missed your “turn” to own this rare brass 19th-century New York City Public School doorknob.

Alas, we’re telling you about it now because, yes, the knob was really cool but mainly because it’s a reminder that a.) You never know what you’re going to find in the Warehouse, and B.) Turnover of really special items can happen even before we have the chance to share them with you here or on our social media channels.

But you know… as we think about it… we have an answer to the question we started out with. The person who purchased it was a very young lady indeed. So there is hope for the world after all.

Stay tuned on our social media for more...

Instagram: @architectural_parts_warehouse

Facebook: HistoricAlbanyPartsWarehouse

News

Landlord/tenant relationships and housing issues Survey 

The City of Albany is conducting surveys (with UTA) in an effort to gain perspectives on landlord/tenant relationships and housing issues. We would really appreciate your taking the time to share with your networks if you have the chance.

Survey for TENANTS: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwKzkmq2NsondeDj7Cbm08CLcdskflmDk3Zo-KjrefYl7Ccg/viewform

Survey for LANDLORDS: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17RI8V5B4X2cgsq2P0IY_74xImvkJGPQSJBs1RGqkU0E/viewform

Survey for HOUSING ORGS / ADVOCATES: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfuC8x133lGynwtwY2RN0AC-ibr_1LQMus-CnY3d8uf79BB2g/viewform.

Affordable Housing Partnership, Albany Community Land Trust & Community Realty Upcoming Programs

-Homebuyer 101
-Secrets of Successful Landlords
-Credit Scores Matter  
-Addressing climate change
-The Albany Community Land Trust Home For Sale.

Find out more

National Trust Awards $3 Million in Grants to 33 Sites to Help Preserve Black History

Since its inception in 2017, the Action Fund has supported 160 places through its National Grant Program for a total investment of $12.4 million. This year’s list further demonstrates the beauty and complexity of African American life, and includes historic sites tied to Black arts, culture, civic engagement, entrepreneurship, sports, medicine, education, religion, and social justice.
Find out more

Sacred Sites Open House
July 23 and 24, 2022

Our theme, Open Doors, celebrates SSOH's return to in-person programming and highlights the broad spectrum of historical periods, faith traditions, and styles of religious architecture found in communities throughout the Empire State. This weekend, participating congregations will showcase their buildings and histories via lectures, musical performances, and special guided tours as well as highlight other cultural and social service programs offered throughout the year
Find out more