The Fixman collection (MC 2) contains materials which date from 1667-1969. The bulk of the material dates from 1800-1860. The collection is organized in three series. Series I, Correspondence and Miscellany, is arranged alphabetically by correspondent and subject containing letters and legal documents, primarily written by residents of New York State. The correspondence is of various types: personal, professional, and business. This series contains family correspondence of members of the Van Rensselaer, Copeland, and Bleeker families. Additional, notable correspondents include scientists and inventors such as Joseph Henry and Robert Fulton; political figures DeWitt Clinton, Erastus Corning, General John E. Wool, Hamilton Fish, and Alexander Hamilton; educator Emma Willard; and naturalist James Hall. Series II, Photographs and Albums contains photographs of nineteenth-century portraiture of members of the Van Rensselaer family from the album of Elizabeth Van Rensselaer and black and white photographs taken in the mid-1950s and 1960s of Van Rensselaer homes. Series III, Newspapers, arranged alphabetically by title, contains newpapers with articles relating to Van Rensselaer family members and other prominent New York and national events including the War of 1812 and the construction of the Erie Canal.