The University of Rochester Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, & Preservation holds numerous collections related to the history of Rochester-area religions, from the Burned-over era (1800–1850) onward. Manuscript collections, rare books, oral history collections, and periodicals with significant religious content include:
- About … Time [Magazine].
- Anti-Masonic Collection, filed under “Subject Guides to Rare Book and Manuscript Collections.”
- The anti-Mason fervor of the 1830s–40s began in Rochester.
- Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein Papers.
- First edition of The Book of Mormon (1830). Call Number: BX8623 1830.
- Chicago Style Citation: Smith, Joseph. The Book of Mormon; an Account Written by the Hand of Mormon Upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi… Palmyra, N.Y: Printed by E.B. Grandin for the author, 1830.
- Bragdon Family Papers.
- Broadsides Collection.
- Dr. Walter Cooper Papers.
- Crapsey Family Papers.
- Rev. Algernon Crapsey lost his position as rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church due to his liberal theological views in 1906.
- Ecumenical and Interfaith Archives of Rochester (EIAR).
- Edith Willis Linn Forbes Papers.
- Edith Willis Linn Forbes Papers Addition.
- Archives of The Empty Closet.
- P. David Finks Collection.
- Papers of the First Unitarian Church, Rochester, New York.
- Franklin Florence Papers.
- William Channing Gannett Papers.
- Individual Manuscript Volumes Collection.
- Contains Quaker, Episcopal, Universalist, etc., items.
- Local History Holdings:
- Peter Barry and Rochester Local History Prints.
- Karl S. Kabelac, “Basic Sources for Rochester History,” 12th ed., 2016.
- Rochester Local History Indexes.
- National Council of Jewish Women (Rochester Division) Records.
- 19th Ward Community Association of Rochester Papers.
- Isaac and Amy Post Family Papers.
- See the Post Family Papers Project, a digital archive, for scanned and transcribed versions of many of the collection’s letters.
- Nathaniel Rochester Family Papers.
- Diaries in this collection address religious topics.
- Rochester (N.Y.) Jewish Community Oral History Project.
- Rochester, New York Voices of LGBT History Collection.
- Rochester Race Riot Papers.
- Rochester Socialist Scrapbook Collection.
- This collection contains letters from Social Gospel theologian Walter Rauschenbusch.
- Ruth Scott Papers.
- William Henry Seward Papers.
- William Henry Seward Papers Addition.
- See the Seward Family Digital Archive for more information.
- Thurlow Weed Papers.
- This collection contains additional Anti-Masonic material.
- David Rhys Williams Papers.
- Young Women’s Christian Association of Rochester and Monroe County Collection.
- Zeigler, Michael. Three Families: Struggling for a Piece of the Dream. Rochester Democrat & Chronicle Upstate Magazine, July 1, 1984: 8–135. Call Number: F130.3 .Z45 1984.
Although Rush Rhees Library does not have a copy, an essential source for the geographic history of Western New York is:
- Creek, Alma Burner. Maps of the Genesee Valley & Finger Lakes Region 1776–1950. Rochester, N.Y.: Rochester Regional Research Library Council, 1977.