Works_Progress_Administration WPA (Works Progress Administration) Files CJS February, 2015 Onondaga County Public Library, Local History/Genealogy Department CJSFebruary, 2015 English Overview of the Collection Works Progress Administration Onondaga County Public LibraryLocal History & Genealogy Department447 South Salina StreetSyracuse, New York, 13202(315) 435-1900 English WPA (Works Progress Administration) Files 1806-1938 98.9 linear ft. ## insert unique identifier here This index was done during the Great Depression by Works Progress Administration workers, who compiled a card index of newspaper items of general and historic value to Syracuse and Onondaga County. The material was obtained from newspaper files of the Syracuse Public Library and newspaper files from the Historical Scrap Books of the Onondaga Historical Association. The index covers the years 1806-1938. (52,882 records to date) Administrative History

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a Federal Agency created in 1935 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal to counter-act the Great Depression. The WPA collaborated with the Syracuse Public Library and Onondaga Historical Association to create the collection. The WPA provided the labor for the project, with the library and historical association providing the source material. The gathering of newspaper articles and creation of the card index were all done on-site.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The collection is a compiled card index of transcribed excerpts taken from newspaper files of the Syracuse Public Library and newspaper files from the Historical Scrap Books of the Onondaga Historical Association. The index covers the years 1806-1938. However, not all years are presented. The majority of the collection has been digitized into TIFF format and is available online.

The collection is divided into twelve main series. Most series are arranged in alphabetical order by name and/or subject, whenever possible.

Series 1: Attorneys - Judges - Justices of the Peace

This series contains newspaper items related to Attorneys, Judges, and Justices of the Peace for who resided in Syracuse and Onondaga County.

Series 2: Clergy

This series contains items related to Clergy who resided in Syracuse and Onondaga County. It includes clerical appointments, marriages and funeral officiation's performed by clergymen, as well as deaths of clergymen and their families.

Series 3: Common Council Proceedings - Work Sheets

The Syracuse Common Council is the legislative branch of city government. This series contains worksheets of Common Council proceedings that have been taken from newspaper clippings over the years. The proceedings cover a wide range of topics, including council meeting minutes, revenue statistics, audits, building proposals, and elections and appointments of the Council members. Worksheets are organized by date. The collection is arranged in chronological order, and covers the years 1806 - 1900. However, not all years are included.

Series 4: Deaths

This series contains items related to deaths of individuals associated with Syracuse and Onondaga County.

Series 5: Marriages

This series contains items related to marriages of individuals who resided in Syracuse, Onondaga County, and the surrounding areas.

Series 6: Persons Prominent

This series contains newspaper excerpts of births, marriages, deaths,and other miscellaneous facts related to prominent individuals associated with Syracuse and Onondaga County.

Series 7: Political Worksheets

This series contains newspaper items related to local, state, and national politics. Included is material related to elections and campaigns, political speeches and discourses, police reports, court proceedings, and miscellaneous items of political interest. The series is divided into four sections: General Political work sheets, Republican work sheets, Democrat work sheets, and Minor Parties work sheets. The series is arranged in chronological order, and covers the years 1806 - 1900. However, not all years are included.

Series 8: Onondaga County Board of Supervisors Worksheets

The Onondaga County Board of Supervisors was the governing entity for Onondaga County until 1961. This series contains newspaper excerpts related to the Board of Supervisors proceedings and includes board meeting minutes, elections and appointments, and excerpts related to the county penitentiary. The series is arranged in chronological order, and covers the years 1846-1898. However, not all years are included.

Series 9: Physicians

This series contains newspaper items for physicians who resided in Syracuse and Onondaga County. Included are biographical excerpts on local physicians, history of hospitals and medical schools, items related to local medical societies, and deaths of physicians and their spouses.

Series 10: Real Estate

This series is divide into two sections: Real estate subjects and real estate transfers. The subjects section contains biographical information related to individuals involved in Syracuse Real estate, as well information regarding prominent buildings, streets, and neighborhoods of the era. This section is organized in alphabetical order by subject. The transfers section contains information related to transfers of real estate between 1815 and 1900, and is organized in chronological order.

Series 11: Residents Early

This series contains biographical sketches, marriage and death information, and real estate assessment lists related to early residents of Syracuse and Onondaga County.

Series 12: Vital Statistics

This series contains birth information taken from newspapers for early residents of Onondaga county and Syracuse from the 1785 to 1860, Death information for residents of Onondaga County and Syracuse from 1814 to 1900, and vital statistics reports of births, marriages, and deaths recorded by the Syracuse City Registrar for the years 1889 and 1890.

Series 13: Subject Titles

This series contains information related to events, items, and entities of historical significance pertaining to Syracuse and Onondaga County, from 1806 to 1938. This series is organized in alphabetical order by subject.

Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is arranged into series, and is organized in alphabetical order. Each series is comprised of one to several boxes, and is organized in alphabetical order by name and subject, as well as chronological order, when possible.

Related Materials

This is the only archived collection of the WPA Files available in Local History and Genealogy Department. For online users much of the collection has been digitized and is available on [insert website name here] The Local History and Genealogy Department does have the original newspaper files on microfilm that are available to the public. Please check with OCPL staff to access the archival collection.

Access Restrictions

Patron must have a valid OCPL library card.

Use Restrictions

User must use materials in the Local History and Genealogy Department of OCPL.Permission must be obtained from staff for reproduction of any materials.

Alexander, Caleb, 1755-1828 Alvord, Thomas Gold, 1810-1897 DeWitt, Moses, 1766-1794 Didama, Henry D. (Henry Darwin), 1823-1905 Forman, Joshua, 1777-1849 Geddes, James, 1763-1838 Kirkpatrick, William, 1769-1832 Sanger, Jedediah, 1752-1829 Seymour, Horatio, 1810-1886 Torry, Alvin, 1797- Tyler, Comfort, 1764-1827 Van de Warker, Ely, 1841-1910 Waldo, Daniel, 1762-1864 Ward, Samuel Ringgold, 1817- Warren, O. H. Westcott, A. (Amos), 1815-1873 Westcott, Frank N. (Frank Nash), 1858-1915 Wilbur, H. B. (Hervey Backus), 1820-1883 Wilkinson, John, 1798-1862 Zimmerman, Jeremiah, 1848-1937 Politicians--New York (State)--Syracuse--History--19th century Clergy--New York (State)--Syracuse--History--19th century Transcripts. Digital images. Onondaga County (N.Y.)--History. Onondaga County (N.Y.)--History--Societies, etc. Onondaga County (N.Y.)--Politics and government. Syracuse (N.Y.)--Genealogy. Syracuse (N.Y.)--History. Syracuse (N.Y.)--Politics and government. Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Works Progress Administration FilesOnondaga County Public LibraryLocal History and Genealogy DepartmentShelf Location: WPA Files

Acquisition Information

Inventory Series 1: Attorneys - Judges - Justices of the Peace Attorneys - Judges - Justices of the Peace, A - D 1 Attorneys - Judges - Justices of the Peace, E - Hol 2 Attorneys - Judges - Justices of the Peace, Hop - R 3 Attorneys - Judges - Justices of the Peace, S - Y 4 Series 2: Clergy Clergy, A - Bo 1 Clergy, Br - C 2 Clergy, D - He 3 Clergy, Hi - L 4 Clergy, M - Ph 5 Clergy, Pi - S 6 Clergy, T - Z 7 Series 3: Common Council Proceedings - Work Sheets Common Council Proceedings - Work Sheets, 1826 - 1868 1 Common Council Proceedings - Work Sheets, 1869 - 1889 2 Common Council Proceedings - Work Sheets, 1890 - 1894 3 Common Council Proceedings - Work Sheets, 1895 - 1900 4 Series 4: Deaths Deaths, A - Bri 1 Deaths, Bro - Cr 2 Deaths, Cu - F 3 Deaths, G - He 4 Deaths, Hi - K 5 Deaths, L - Mi 6 Deaths, Mo - P 7 Deaths, Q - Sh 8 Deaths, Si - V 9 Deaths, W - Z 10 Series 5: Marriages Marriages, A - B 1 Marriages, C - D 2 Marriages, E - Ha 3 Marriages, He - K 4 Marriages, L - N 5 Marriages, O - Sc 6 Marriages, Se - T 7 Marriages, U - Z 8 Series 6: Persons Prominent Persons Prominent, A - Ar 1 Persons Prominent, As - Bark 2 Persons Prominent, Barl - Beld 3 Persons Prominent, Belk - Bre 4 Persons Prominent, Bri - By 5 Persons Prominent, C - Clap 6 Persons Prominent, Clar - Col 7 Persons Prominent, Com - Cros 8 Persons Prominent, Crou - Dar 9 Persons Prominent, Dav - Dr 10 Persons Prominent, Du - Em 11 Persons Prominent, En - Fl 12 Persons Prominent, Fo - Gar 13 Persons Prominent, Gas - Gras 14 Persons Prominent, Grav - Har 15 Persons Prominent, Has - Hin 16 Persons Prominent, His - Hung 17 Persons Prominent, Hunt - Jo 18 Persons Prominent, Ju- Ky 19 Persons Prominent, L - Lem 20 Persons Prominent, Leo - Ly 21 Persons Prominent, Mac - Mc - Max 22 Persons Prominent, May - Moo 23 Persons Prominent, Mor - Ne 24 Persons Prominent, Ni - O 25 Persons Prominent, P - Pi 26 Persons Prominent, Pl - Redd 27 Persons Prominent, Redf - Rog 28 Persons Prominent, Roh - Sc 29 Persons Prominent, Se - Smin 30 Persons Prominent, Smith - So 31 Persons Prominent, Sp - Su 32 Persons Prominent, Sw - Te 33 Persons Prominent, Th - Ty 34 Persons Prominent, U - Wat 35 Persons Prominent, Way - Whe 36 Persons Prominent, Whi - Wille 37 Persons Prominent, Williams - Z 38 Series 7: Political Work Sheets Political -- General Work Sheets, 1806 - 1895 1 Political -- General Work Sheets, 1896 - 1900 2 Political -- Democrat Work Sheets, 1846 - 1900 3 Political -- Republican Work Sheets, 1810 - 1900 4 Political - Elections -- Political - Minor Parties Work Sheets, 1846 - 1899 5 Series 8: Onondaga County Board of Supervisors - Work Sheets Onondaga County Board of Supervisors - Work Sheets, 1846 - 1898 1 Series 9: Physicians Physicians, A - G 1 Physicians, H - P 2 Physicians, Q - Z 3 Series 10: Real Estate Real Estate Subjects, A - Z 1 Real Estate Transfers, 1815 - 1890 2 Real Estate Transfers, 1891 - 1895 3 Real Estate Transfers, 1896 - 1899 4 Real Estate Transfers, 1900 5 Series 11: Residents Early Residents Early, A - Ay 1 Residents Early, B - Ben 2 Residents Early, Ber - Bro 3 Residents Early, Bru - Chap 4 Residents Early, Chas - Cos 5 Residents Early, Cot - Del 6 Residents Early, Dem - Ear 7 Residents Early, Eas - For 8 Residents Early, Fos - Gl 9 Residents Early, Go - Hal 10 Residents Early, Ham - Hi 11 Residents Early, Ho - Je 12 Residents Early, Jen - K 13 Residents Early, L - Lym 14 Residents Early, Lyn - Mea 15 Residents Early, Mec - Ni 16 Residents Early, No - Pec 17 Residents Early, Pee - Redd 18 Residents Early, Redf - Ry 19 Residents Early, Sa - Sl 20 Residents Early, Sm - Ste 21 Residents Early, Sti - Thom 22 Residents Early, Thor - Vr 23 Residents Early, Wa - Wel 24 Residents Early, Wen - Wi 25 Residents Early, Wo - Z 26 Series 12: Vital Statistics Births, A - Z 1 1 Deaths, A - Bo 1 2 Deaths, Br - Cop 2 Deaths, Cor - Fl 3 Deaths, Fo - Hen 4 Deaths, Her - K 5 Deaths, L - Mo 6 Deaths, Mu - Re 7 Deaths, Rh - Ste 8 Deaths, Sti - We 9 Deaths, Wh - Zs 10 Series 13: Subject Titles A - Agriculture (A - F) 1 Agriculture (G - Z) - Art (A - O) 2 Art (P - Z) - Associations (A - O) 3 Associations (O) 4 Associations (O - S) 5 Associations (S - Z) - Asylums (A - O) 6 Asylums (R - Z) - Automotive 7 B - Baseball 8 Bear - Buildings--Public 9 Buildings--Public - Business (A - B) 10 Business (C - E) 11 Business (F - H) 12 Business (I - M) 13 Business (N - R) 14 Business (S - Syracuse-F) 15 Business (Syracuse-G - Z) - Bystander 16 C - Canal--Erie (A - G) 17 Canal--Erie (H - Z) - Catholic (A - R) 18 Catholic (S - Z) - Celebrations--Centennial--1894 19 Celebrations--Centennial--1896 - Celebrations (A - R) 20 Celebrations (S - Z) - Census 21 Centennials - Charity-Asylums (A - R) 22 Charity-Asylums (S - Z) - Cholera 23 Christian Alliance - Churches--Protestant (A - B) 24 Churches--Protestant (C - Methodist-F) 25 Churches--Protestant (Methodist-G - Zions) 26 Cicero - Civil War (A - R) 27 Civil War (S - Z) - Constitutionalist 28 Conventions - Convents 29 Corinth - Cree 30 Cricket - Danby 31 Dances - Derne 32 DeWitt - Dutch 33 Eagle - Education--Schools (A - G) 34 Education--Schools (H - W) 35 Elbridge - Episcopal (A - R) 36 Episcopal (S - Z) - Explosions 37 Fabius - Finances-Banks (A - R) 38 Finances-Banks (S - Z) - Fires (A - F) 39 Fires (G - V) 40 Fires (W - Z) - Friendly Visitor 41 G - General Advertiser 42 Geology - Health--[Board Of] (A - G) 43 Health--[Board Of] (H - V) - Horticulture 44 Hospitals - Hotels (A - S) 45 Hotels (T - Y) - Indians--Lecture 46 Indians--Legend - Inventions 47 Ira - LaFayette (A - D) 48 Lafayette (E - W) - Lakes 49 Landmarks - Libraries (A - R) 50 Libraries (S - Y) - Lysander--Baldwinsville 51 Lysander--Belgium - Manlius (A - F) 52 Manlius (G - Y) - Manlius Weekly Monitor 53 Manufacturing (A - Soda) 54 Manufacturing (Spinning - Y) - Marcellus (A - P) 55 Marcellus (R - W) - Mayors (A - W) 56 Medical 57 Meetings - Methodist (A - L) 58 Methodist (M - Z) - Military (A - Company-F) 59 Military (Company-G - N) 60 Military (O - R) 61 Military (S - Z) - Minor Parties 62 Miscellaneous - News 63 Newspapers (A - Su) 64 Newspapers (Sy - W) - Onondaga--[Town of] (A - N) 65 Onondaga--[Town of] (O - W) - Onondaga County (A - B) 66 Onondaga County (Board of Supervisors - W) 67 Onondaga County Agricultural Society - Onondaga Lake 68 Onondaga Medical Society - Parks (A - L) 69 Parks (M - W) - Polo 70 Pompey (A - R) 71 Pompey (S - W) - Presbyterian 72 Press - Railroads (A - N) 73 Railroads (O - St) 74 Railroads (Su - W) - Register 75 Relics - Rivers 76 Roads - Salina (A - Lit) 77 Salina (Liverpool - Re) 78 Salina (Ro - Z) - Salt (A - Op) 79 Salt (Op - w) - Schools (A - Budget) 80 Schools--Buildings - Schools--High 81 Schools--History of - Schools--Public (A - M) 82 Schools--Public (N - W) - Schools--Teachers (A - R) 83 Schools--Teachers (S - Y) - Settlers--Early (A - G) 84 Settlers--Early (H - Y) 85 Seventh Day Adventists - Skaneateles (A - R) 86 Skaneateles (S - W) - Small Pox 87 Social Service - Societies (A - F) 88 Societies (G - N) 89 Societies (O - S) 90 Societies (T - Y) - Spanish War (A - N) 91 Spanish War (O - W) - State Fair 92 Statistics - Streets (A - G) 93 Streets (H - S) 94 Streets (T - W) - Syracuse Whig 95 Syracuse--[City of] (A - P) 96 Syracuse-[City oF] (R - W) - Syracuse University (A - N) 97 Syracuse University (O - Y) - Syracuse-[Village Of] (A - P) 98 Syracuse-[Village of] (R - W) - Temperance (A - I) 99 Temperance (L - Z) - Transcipt 100 Trees - Van Buren (A - Rel) 101 Van Buren (Res - Wo) - Visitors (A - O) 102 Visitors (P - Y) - Water (A - SU) 103 Water (Sy - W) -- World War 104 Yachting - Zoology 105