Archival & Research Services, Fees and General Info are listed below as individual pop-up pages, sized for printing:

Did You Know ...

The International Technology Archives at the Schenectady Museum & Planetarium includes more than 15,000 patents, millions of advertising documents and business records, 1,000 motion picture films, and 5,000 books, in addition to its internationally-known photograph collection of 1.5 million photographs. Click here for more [PDF]


Chris Hunter, Schenectady Museum Director of Archives & Collections, & Robert Smith, Schenectady Museum Archives Volunteer, recently published an article about the Hall of Electrical History in IEEE Industry & Applications Magazine. Read the article, click here [PDF]


The Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium is a dynamic destination just a short drive from Albany, Saratoga, and Troy which celebrates science, invention, and imagination. The Museum explores the area’s rich technological heritage, with some of the region’s finest interactive exhibits; a must-see for families, tourists, area residents, and other visitors.

The Museum’s Planetarium features the GOTO Star Projector. One of only 12 in the country, the GOTO offers a real-life view of the night sky not available anywhere else in the northeast.

The Museum’s Archives include 1.6 million images from the General Electric Photograph Collection, and attracts researchers from across the county and the world. Tours are available. Plus, the Museum Gift Shop offers high-quality, unusual items gifts including hard-to-find science educational toys.


About the Archives

The Schenectady Museum Archives contains manuscript collections, photographs, trade literature, and other materials relating to the history of General Electric and Schenectady. The Archives was formed in 1997 through the merger of the Schenectady Museum and the Hall of Electrical History and is open to the public Monday through Friday. A highlight of the collection is the General Electric Photograph Collection, a collection of nearly 1.5 million images that depicts the development of the electrical industry and 20th century American life.

The Archives is more than just photographs. There are manuscript collections highlighting the founding and early history of GE. Papers from Gerard Swope and Owen D. Young, President and Chairman of GE from 1922-1939 and 1942-1944 highlight the welfare capitalism of the 1920s. Other collections highlight the GE Research Lab, the first industrial research laboratory in the world, and its researchers. There are also books and periodicals, including a complete run of the GE Schenectady Works News, the employee newsletter for GE's Schenectady Works.

The Archives also has a growing collection of materials relating to Schenectady, from records of old Schenectady businesses such as the American Locomotive Company to Schenectady High School newspapers and ephemera of the 1920s. We are actively working to document the ethnic groups and immigrants of Schenectady. From the Irish and Germans of the 19th century and the Poles and Italians of the early 20th century to the recent immigrants of the last twenty years, all have combined to help make Schenectady "The City that Lights and Hauls the World."


Visiting the Archives

The Schenectady Museum Archives is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9-5. Appointments for research are strongly recommended to ensure that a staff member will be here to work with you and to make your visit as efficient and productive as possible.

Please call (518) 382-7890, ext. 241 or email: archives@schenectadymuseum.org to set up a time. Directions to the Museum can be found by clicking here. If you are planning a trip to Schenectady for research, visit the Schenectady County Chamber of Commerce for lists of hotels/motels and restaurants.