About Dutchess County Historical Society
A Society Founded with Franklin D. Roosevelt's Help
The Dutchess County Historical Society was established on May 26, 1914, at a meeting in Pleasant Valley, New York, and received its charter from the Regents of the University of the State of New York in 1918. Among the figures instrumental in its founding was Franklin D. Roosevelt, the future president and a lifelong Dutchess County resident, who laid out his vision for the new society in a December 10, 1914 letter calling for an annual yearbook, occasional publications, and transcriptions of the county's cemetery headstones. Sara Delano Roosevelt and Vincent Astor were also among the society's early supporters.
Roosevelt's yearbook idea became the society's signature achievement. First issued for 1914-1915, the DCHS Yearbook has been published ever since and is recognized as New York State's oldest continuing historical publication, with back issues available online. Historian Helen Wilkinson Reynolds edited the yearbook from 1921 until her death in 1943, and the society has published fourteen additional books on local history. Today DCHS continues that documentary mission through exhibits, lectures, awards, oral histories, and special programs, including Rev250 programming marking the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution with support from Dutchess County government.
The society's collections span archival items, photographs, postcards, manuscripts, maps, rare documents, textiles, diaries, wills, deeds, needlework, clothing, genealogical files, and correspondence documenting three centuries of Hudson Valley life. Notable holdings include a portrait by the itinerant folk painter Ammi Phillips and materials from the 19th-century historian and illustrator Benson Lossing. Researchers can explore the collections through online finding aids, a searchable photograph catalog, and the society's research request service at dchsny.org/ask.
Plan Your Visit
The Dutchess County Historical Society is headquartered at 6282 Route 9 in Rhinebeck, New York 12572, in the northern part of the county it has documented since 1914. The facility is staffed Wednesday through Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM, and visitors are encouraged to email ahead to schedule research appointments. For current programs and exhibits, visit dchsny.org.
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