Collections
Fenimore Farm’s founders set out to preserve the tools, technology and history of agriculture in upstate New York at a time when many farms were vanishing and the survivors were modernizing their farming methods. The strength of the collection lies in its documentation of changing agricultural technology through the 19th century.
Fenimore Farm also has a large collection of the tools of rural trades and crafts. In 1942, the Farm acquired the collection of William B. Sprague, a founder of the Early American Industries Association, who had been collecting and preserving craft tools throughout the Northeast since the 1920s. Sprague’s materials form the core of an extensive collection of 19th and early-20th century tools.
Agricultural and craft tools are currently exhibited on the second floor of the Main Barn.
Research Library
LIBRARY IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
The Research Library supplements the diverse and world-renowned collections at Fenimore Art Museum and Fenimore Farm. Our broad focus includes New York State with an emphasis on Otsego and nearby counties, American, and Native American history, art, and material culture. The Library’s Special Collections include rare books, manuscripts and archival collections, trade catalogs, pamphlets, broadsides, and ephemera.
Reading Room Hours
LIBRARY IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
We recommend calling or emailing our Reference Desk in advance to discuss your research with a Librarian.
PHONE: 607.547.1470
Plowline Photograph Collection
Plowline: Images of Rural New York is a collecting initiative. Fenimore Farm, with the generous support of the Gipson Family, is actively assembling original photography that documents changes in agricultural practice, rural life and farming families in New York State from the 19th century through the present. Plowline chronicles the lives of farm families and changing agricultural practice in a broad sense even while the museum continues to selectively collect 20th and 21st century objects of agricultural history.
Fenimore Farm’s photography collection will not be available online until mid-2024.
Rights & Reproductions
COPYRIGHT AND REPRODUCTION
Whenever possible, Fenimore Farm provides factual information about copyright owners and related matters in the catalog records, finding aids and other texts that accompany collections. Fenimore Farm generally does not own rights in its collections. It is the researcher’s obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in Fenimore Farm collections. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Researchers must make their own assessments of rights in light of their intended use.
CONTACT US
If you have any more information about an item you’ve seen on our website, if you are the copyright owner, or to inquire about a high-resolution image for publication, please fill out our Rights & Reproductions contact form.
