This is one of the country’s largest collections of television political coverage. Edwin Diamond, former professor at New York University and one of the nation’s foremost authorities on political advertising, donated his extensive collection of thousands of political advertisements, most of which are television commercials. The collection also contains coverage of Republican and Democratic Party Conventions as well as televised political debates.

This collection comprises more than 1,000 audio interviews conducted by Arthur Unger, a Christian Science Monitor television critic for 17 years and special correspondent for Television Quarterly. Included are interviews with Isaac Azimov, Kurt Vonnegut, Buzz Aldrin, and Theodore White.

This is a rare and complete set of scripts and videotapes of all six seasons of the popular NBC television series “St. Elsewhere.” The collection was donated by Mark Tinker who was a writer, director and producer for the show.

This is a collection of interviews with important television functionaries which originally appeared on the television series “Day at Night.” The collection was donated by the show’s host James Day.

The Omnibus Collection

When the Fund for Adult Education dissolved in 1961, they donated to Syracuse University nearly every “OMNIBUS” program that aired during the 1952-1954 broadcast seasons. The collection of 245 films, ranging in length from two minutes to 75 minutes, contains everything from ballet to Benny Goodman, from Jack Benny to Orson Wells, from quips by Frank Lloyd Wright to an X-ray film of a man swallowing a candy bar, plus performances by John Steinbeck, Helen Hayes, James Thurber, Edward Everett Horton, William Saroyan, Leopold Stakowski, Alistair Cooke, James Agee and Burgess Meredith.

INSIDE ALBANY

"Inside Albany" is New York's leading weekly television news magazine covering events in the state Legislature. Inside Albany, Inc. and WMHT-TV (Schenectady) have donated to Syracuse University Library the collection of weekly program from 1975 to 1995 to aid those researching the history of New York State government.

"Inside Albany" has covered issues before the New York State Legislature for the New York PBS stations for over 25 years. The first program aired January 2, 1975. It started as a one-hour weekly program, produced at WMHT-TV, and in the past several years has been condensed to a half-hour program. The program covers all of the Carey-Cuomo-Pataki years and issues like Love Canal and the fiscal crisis of 1975.

David Hepp is founding producer/reporter of "Inside Albany" and Lise Bang-Jensen has been with the program since 1987 as reporter-producer and co-host. Mr. Hepp is a graduate of Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications. "Inside Albany" has won numerous broadcasting awards including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for excellence in television journalism. It is one of the longest running TV news programs in the country. It airs regularly on nine public broadcasting stations across New York State.

“NYPD Blue” is a police drama from producer Steven Bocho (Hill Street Blues, LA Law) that mixes action with cops’ personal lives. Premiering in September 1993, NYPD Blue weathered early criticism from Christian watchdog groups and ABC station affiliates for its adult language and partial nudity to become one of network television’s most critically acclaimed programs. The show is widely recognized for its realism, brilliant writing, exceptional acting, and treatment of controversial subject matter. It has received more than 80 Emmy nominations, winning 19.

Donated by Mark Tinker, the NYPD Blue collection includes scripts and videotapes for episodes from the Pilot thru Season 8. The Television History Archive expects to receive episode scripts and videotapes from subsequent seasons as they become available.

Oral History Project

The Oral History Project coordinates a series of interviews with key personalities responsible for the creation and development of American television. The project was funded with grants from the Steven H. & Alida Brill Scheuer Foundation and the Lilly Foundation.

At present, more than 150 network executives, religious broadcasters, broadcast journalists and producers, directors and stars from the entertainment world have participated in the project by offering their own special perspectives on the birth of the medium.

The collection includes both videotaped and/or audio interviews with Steve Allen, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Joan Ganz Cooney, Dick Clark, Susan Harris, Don Knotts, Bob Newhart, Carl Reiner, Sherwood Schwartz, Howard K. Smith, Gore Vidal and Betty White, among many others.