Virtual Exhibit: The Firefighters Collection

Black-and-white photo of seven firemen in old-fashioned uniforms.
Photos from the "Albany Fire Protectives," a collection of photos and other historic documents dating from the 1880's through 1930's. The Albany Fire Protectives worked for the Albany Board of Underwriters, salvaging buildings and their contents following a fire.
Black-and-white photo of a large group of firefighters standing on the street, with several buildings in the background. drawing of an old-fashioned, wooden fire carriage.
A rendering of the first fire engine manufactured in the U.S. - 18th century, from "Ye Olde Fire Laddies" by Herbert Asbury, 1930.
A drawing of firemen helping women and children who were victims of a fire.
"Giving Succor to the Victims of a Fire. A Scene in Engine 5's House." An illustration from "Reminischences of the Old Fire laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New York and Brooklyn," 1885, by J. Frank Kernan.

The Collection

Firefighting Heroes and History on Record

ALBANY, N.Y. -The New York State Library in Albany has one of the most extensive collections anywhere of historic resources on the individual fires, firefighters and firefighting equipment of New York State, and the collection played a pivotal role in completing a memorial to fallen firefighters unveiled at the Empire State Plaza on October 5, 1998.

It's no surprise that the New York State Library has such a focus on firefighting, since the Library was itself saved by firefighters from the devastation of a fire that swept through the Capitol Building in March 1911. Albany City firefighters worked through that long, grueling night and into the next day to save the building that was home to the library. Many of the historic documents and other items in the Library's collection still bear burnt and singed edges from that night.

Among the Library's firefighting resources, the single largest collection, and one of the largest in the entire state, is the Dr. Thomas S. Walsh, Jr. Firefighting Collection. A prominent Albany surgeon, Dr. Walsh pursued the study and collection of material on the history of firefighting as a hobby for more than half a century. Books, periodicals, manuscripts, photographs, equipment catalogues and ephemera represent in detail the history of firefighting technology in the United States and Great Britain, including a full record of the development of firefighting equipment and hardware from the 19th century to the present.

You can learn just about anything you want to know about firefighters and firefighting companies in New York State from the Library's collection. There are books -the oldest dating back to the 1600s - historic documents, and more including:

  • 19th century magazines like Harper's Weekly and Leslie's Illustrated Weekly featuring stories and pictures of famous fires.
  • Constitutions and by-laws of some 18th and 19th century volunteer fire companies, including the original 1793 copy of the constitution of the New York City Fire Department, complete with blackened edges from the 1911 fire,
  • Broadsides and musical scores about particular fires and fire departments,
  • An old scrapbook with 100 year-old photos of firemen, equipment and fires,
  • Catalogs of the beautiful engines produced by Seagraves, American LaFrance and other manufacturers,
  • Minute books and other records of companies from Buffalo to Albany.

The Dr. Thomas S. Walsh, Jr. Firefighting Collection is available for research and study on the eleventh floor of the Cultural Education Center at the Empire State Plaza. For information call (518) 474-6282.

Click here to see the books in the New York State Library donated by Dr. Walsh.

More Photos: The Capitol Fire of 1911

Drawing of a fireman pulling a hose carriage.
"Rolling the Hose Carriage" from The Story of the Volunteer Fire Department of the City of New York, by George W. Sheldon. New York, Harper & Bros, 1882.
Last Updated: April 29, 2009