Research Library: Research books, city directories, family files, and newspaper indexes are available during the Geneva History Museum’s regular business hours without an appointment.
Archives: Research using our archival collections is by appointment only, Tuesday through Friday. Click here to make an appointment or call 315-789-5151.
All completed Finding Aids can be found at the Empire Archival Discovery Cooperative.
Historic Geneva Supporters: Free
General Public: $5 per day
Students (Geneva public and parochial schools, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, and Finger Lakes Community College): Free.
Before sending any research requests, please contact the Archivist at the information below. In your request provide as much detail as possible on your subject or family. A free, initial 15-minute search will be done to assess if there is any material on your subject. After the initial 15 minutes, the Archivist can pursue research for you for a fee of $20 per hour.
Please direct inquiries to
Attn: Archivist, Historic Geneva, 543 South Main Street, Geneva, New York 14456.
Telephone: 315-789-5151
Email: archivist@historicgeneva.org
Please do not send unsolicited donations to the Archives. See How to Add to our Collection to find out what material we are interested in adding to our collection.
Historic Geneva supports and encourages access to our collections. Digital files on our website are watermarked and available for use by educational institutions if Historic Geneva is credited (Courtesy of Historic Geneva).
Historic Geneva requires permission and may charge a fee for any digital files to be published or exhibited in any print, photographic, electronic, or other media format.
For more information on the use of our images, please contact Becky Chapin at archivist@historicgeneva.org.
Entrusted in our care are 1,300 cubic feet of archival materials, 50,000 photographs and 7,000 objects. However, we only have enough space to display roughly 3% of our collections at any given time. The rest of our artifacts are kept in storage, but even there they need protection and care to preserve them for the future. To help us care for our collections, consider participating in our adopt an artifact program. The adoption fee will contribute to the purchase of archival supplies and materials like folders, document boxes, and protective sleeves.