Tours
Tours of the Archives and Record Center are free of charge and given by appointment only. The tour educates participants about what an archives does, the materials kept at the Westchester County Archives, and how those records are accessed and preserved. Groups can be taken on a general tour of the facilities or have the tour tailored to its particular interests, whether it is records management, scanning, archival preservation, or the history of a particular part of Westchester County or a particular period in the County’s history.
Tours are available to classrooms, community groups, professional groups, students pursuing graduate degrees in archives and library science, and all others with an interest in the operations of the County Archives and Records Center. They are conducted on Mondays, Thursdays or Fridays (except on County holidays) and typically last between 45 minutes and 1 hour. Maximum of 20 people per group please.
Special note for teachers: With enough advanced notice, tours can be adapted to include a hands-on history lesson for K-12 students. Also, when planning your tour, please make certain that you have adequate adult supervision for children in your group.
If you'd like to schedule a tour of the Archives and/or Records Center for your group or classroom, please contact us to request a tour reservation. Please request the tour at least two weeks ahead of when you plan to visit (one month for classroom groups), and give us at least 24 hours cancellation notice.
Research Groups
Those planning to use the collections of the Westchester County Archives and/or Westchester County Historical Society for a group research project must contact the Archives Reading Room staff before your visit. When informed ahead of time of the group’s research topic, the Archives’ staff will be able to pull appropriate materials. The staff can also be ready to address the group regarding research methods and the types of materials in both collections relevant to the group’s topic.
Staffing constraints on Reading Room days (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) may limit the amount of assistance that can be provided to research groups that arrive without prior notification to the Reading Room staff.