The bulk of the Thomas Phelan papers (MC 76) collection consists of student research papers written for Phelan’s undergraduate courses from the mid 1970s until 1994. Paper topics reflect the nature of the courses taught, such as Medieval art and American architecture and artifacts. However, a large percentage of the papers pertain to local history, reflecting the popularity of Phelan’s course “Troy: A 19th Century Industrial City.” These papers illustrate the wide ranging interests of both the professor and his students, with subjects such as transportation (canals, bridges, railroads, steamboats, street cars), industry and industrial archeology (iron and steel manufacturing, paper and textile industries, collar making), local figures (Henry Burden, Sanford Cluett, Erastus Corning, Uri Gilbert, John Griswold, Kate Mullany, Russell Sage, Canvass White, etc.), workers’ living conditions, 19th century entertainment, religious and ethnic groups, and a variety of other topics. There is also a small amount of miscellaneous research material compiled by or for Phelan, including research notes, photocopied articles, photographs, negatives, and slides. Topics are similar to those listed above. In addition, the collection contains typed transcripts of documents pertaining to Stephen van Rensselaer which were originally transcribed for William Bertrand Fink's 1950 dissertation "Stephen van Rensselaer: The Last Patroon."