MISSION
Special Collections is committed to stewarding and preserving historical research materials that represent diverse histories and cultural heritages, including distinctive collections that document Long Island, New York. Through inclusive collection management practices and the strategic use of technology, it expands access, discoverability and long-term preservation, ensuring that these resources remain open and available for future generations.
HISTORY
Special Collections was founded in 1969, when Roger H. Guedalla and George Quasha of the Stony Brook University’s Department of English purchased a modern literature collection that was comprised of books and manuscripts by the extraordinary group of authors and poets involved with the Black Mountain College in North Carolina. The manuscripts are now housed within the Historical and Literary Manuscripts Collection (SC 100) and include original materials by Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, and Fielding Dawson.
ABOUT
Special Collections are library and archival materials in any format (e.g., rare books, manuscripts, photographs, institutional archives) that are characterized by their artifactual or monetary value, physical format, uniqueness or rarity, and/or an institutional commitment to long-term preservation and access.
Stony Brook University Libraries is the largest academic research library system on Long Island and it is a member of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), a non-profit consortium of distinguished libraries and archives in North America. The collections and services provided by the libraries are central to the academic success of students and facilitate the scholarship produced by world-renowned faculty and visiting scholars.
Special Collections comprises rare books, manuscripts, maps, artifacts, and artwork. The depth of primary sources in the collections offers diverse opportunities for scholarship and supports a wide range of disciplines. The division’s Long Island collections are premier sources for the study and research of regional history. The rare book collection includes more than 30,000 titles dating from 1493 to the present. The Senator Jacob K. Javits Collection contains nearly two million items on modern United States history and the career of New York’s longest serving state senator. The W.B. Yeats Collection is the most extensive collection of the famed Irish poet and author’s manuscripts housed outside of Ireland. In 2002, Special Collections became the official repository for Environmental Defense Fund, whose efforts in 1967 led to the nationwide ban on DDT and the birth of modern environmental law. In 2006 and 2009, the division acquired two rare American Revolutionary War-era letters authored by George Washington that document activities of the Culper Spy Ring.
Special Collections has been recognized and honored for its curatorial and outreach activities. The New York Board of Regents and New York State Archives awarded the department with the “Annual Archives Award for Program Excellence in a Historical Records Repository.” In August 2012, a research guide for the department’s Long Island documents and books was lauded by The Scout Report, a division of the National Science Foundation’s National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Project. In 2020, Special Collections and University Archives received the Three Village Historical Society’s Kate Wheeler Strong Memorial Award in recognition of the division’s significant contributions toward the fostering of interest in local history and a fuller appreciation of the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Three Village community.
FACULTY & STAFF
We are here to help! Please contact us if we can be of any assistance.
Kristen J. Nyitray
Associate Librarian
Director, Special Collections and University Archives
University Archivist
E-mail: kristen.nyitray@stonybrook.edu
Kristen J. Nyitray is Director of Special Collections and University Archives, and University Archivist at Stony Brook University. A recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award and Stony Brook’s President’s Award for excellence in librarianship, she is a Certified Archivist (C.A.) accredited through the Academy of Certified Archivists and maintains a Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) certificate from the Society of American Archivists.
Among Kristen’s publications are the books Long Island Beaches (2019) and Stony Brook: State University of New York (2002) and book chapters in Archives and Emotions: International Dialogues Across Past, Present, and Future (Bloomsbury, 2024); Innovative Library Workplaces: Transformative Human Resource Strategies (ACRL, 2024); and Toxic Dynamics: Disrupting, Dismantling, and Transforming Academic Library Culture (ACRL, 2024). Her chapter “Transliteracy in Archives: Engaging Students with Primary Sources” was published in 2025 in Libraries Empowering Society Through Digital Literacy (IFLA Publication 188, De Gruyter Saur, 2025).
Her articles and essays have been published in leading academic journals including Cataloging & Classification Quarterly; Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals; College & Research Libraries; IEEE Annals of the History of Computing; Journal of Library Administration; Provenance; RBM: A Journal of Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Cultural Heritage; Reference & User Services Quarterly and Journal of Archival Organization. Kristen has also provided commentary about Long Island history in film, television, and podcast projects. Her research interests include U.S. social and cultural history; memory; history of libraries and archives; and public history. She earned a BA in Sociology from Stony Brook University, MLS in Library and Information Science from CUNY Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, MA in History from Stony Brook University, and is a PhD candidate.
Gianna N. Fraccalvieri
PRODIG+ Fellow, Curator/Archivist
E-mail: gianna.fraccalvieri@stonybrook.edu
Gianna N. Fraccalvieri is an early career archivist, librarian, and historian committed to enhancing archival access and public engagement within university communities and beyond. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in History and Psychology from the Macaulay Honors College at CUNY Queens College. Since 2021, Gianna has pursued dynamic professional experiences in libraries and archives. She has held circulation, technical services, and adult reference roles in public libraries, served as a 2023-2024 Citi Center for Culture + Queens Public Library Fellow, and supported multiple large-scale archival survey and processing projects at CUNY campuses across the five boroughs. In 2025, Gianna earned a Dual Degree (MLS/MA) in Library Science and History with an Advanced Certificate in Archives from the CUNY Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. Through research and practice, Gianna seeks to underscore the responsibility of archivists to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion when fostering public access to campus collections. She is interested in studying the intersections between archival outreach and social activism at public institutions, focusing on how environmental justice initiatives and other forms of local climate action are documented in contemporary New York history.