In the early morning hours of March 29, 1911, a fire broke out in the New York State Capitol at Albany. By sunset, the collection of the New York State Library, then housed in the Capitol, had been reduced to ashes.
Much of the New York State Library's collections were lost in the 1911 fire. Many items that did survive the fire emerged from the destruction with lasting marks of disaster. The Van Rensselaer Manor papers, painstakingly preserved by the family for 250 years, were severely damaged. Even cards in the card catalog were affected! You can find images of the damaged items on our Capitol Fire LibGuide.
Fall River and its industries
Other surviving materials show telltale signs of the fire but remain legible.
Fall river and its industries, pictured below, also survived the Capitol Fire. This 280-page volume was published in 1877, and includes illustrations, a folded map, and genealogical tables, to name a few exciting features. In the photos, the book is undergoing assessment and care in the NYS Library’s Preservation unit. Click on either photo to enlarge it.
Item Details for Further Exploration
Fall River and its industries: an historical and statistical record of village, town, and city, from the date of the original charter of the freemen's purchase in 1656 to the present time. With valuable statistical tables, family genealogies, etc., illustrated by views and portraits on steel. NYS Library call number 974.48 qF191.
In addition, the NYS Library’s Manuscripts and Special Collections (MSC) unit maintains the New York State Library Fire Collection, comprising materials from 1899-1942 that document the 1911 fire and the Library's efforts to rebuild its collections. Are you interested in digging deeper into these items? Ask the MSC librarians!
Today we’re taking another trip into the NYS Library collections to explore patents! We’re looking at the 1849 patent for the safety pin, invented right here in New York State. Read on for a good story about a deceptively humble invention and why you might need one this spring!
Keeping it Safe
Anyone who has a safety pin knows that it has hundreds of uses. From its roots as a tool for fastening diapers and repairing clothing, the safety pin has become a symbol for protection, good luck, and solidarity. In the 1970s, the punk rock subculture adopted the safety pin as part of its iconic anti-establishment fashions.
For many long-distance runners in the northeast, the warmer months mean it's time to hit the streets for road races, and no road race is complete without safety pins to hold runners’ bibs in place. While there is some (small) controversy in the running community around alternative types of bib pins, the iconic metal safety pin remains the constant companion of choice for many athletes hitting the trails. While Walter Hunt was certainly tuned in to the importance of good design, it’s unlikely that he could have foreseen the popularity of his invention and its many uses!
Walter Hunt: Inventor and New Yorker
Walter Hunt was born in the 1790s and lived and worked in New York. During his life, he invented or refined several household items and tools, including a fountain pen, a knife sharpener, and an ice plough. Hunt is also credited with building one of the world’s first eye-pointed-needle sewing machines, though he did not pursue commercialization.
In the 1840s, faced with paying a debt of $15, Hunt began work on a new invention to help him earn the money. He worked on twisting a piece of metal wire into a device with a spring at one end and a protective clasp for the pin’s point at the other.
A Story in Patents
The concept of a garment pin was not new, and Hunt’s design was not the first contemporary version of the safety pin, either. An 1842 version did not include Hunt’s spring mechanism, the feature that exists in safety pins we're accustomed to using today.
Hunt patented his safety pin on April 10, 1849, and sold the rights for $400. A century later, Hunt’s name would make an appearance in an intellectual property suit brought by Isaac Merritt Singer against Elias Howe, who had patented a similar machine in 1846. Singer attempted to invalidate Howe’s patent by pointing out Hunt’s earlier work, which occurred decades before Howe’s patent was granted. However, since Hunt had abandoned the work without patenting it, Howe’s patent was ultimately upheld.
Patents at the NYS Library
The NYS Library has been a United States Patent and Trademark Resource Center since 1871. A Patent and Trademark Resource Center (or PTRC) is part of a nationwide network of academic, public, and state libraries designated to support the public with trademark and patent assistance.
The NYS Library's patent collection includes nearly everything the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has published and distributed, from early material on paper, through microforms and CD/DVDs, up to their current online databases.
Most of the U.S. patent collection is housed on the 7th floor of the NYS Library. The public is welcome to visit and use the U.S. Patent collection. Patrons can use the patent collection for both patentability searches and historical inquiries.
The NYS Library has trained staff who can assist you in learning to use these tools. Appointments are not required to use the patent collection but are recommended if you would like assistance. You can make an appointment on our website.