(1787-1996)
(1830-1970 bulk)
Approx. 45 cubic feet
 

Processed Summer 1999

     The materials in this collection were collected by Anita Pohndorff Yates (1914-1991), with later additions contributed by her husband, Harry Yates (1903-1996).  Mrs. Yates developed the collection from Saratoga Springs memorabilia that she inherited from her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Federico Guillermo Pohndorff.  Many of the documents originally came from the Milligan family, who were friends and neighbors of the Pohndorffs.  After the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. (Georgianna) Robert Milligan, their daughters gave Mrs. Pohndorff many of their parents’ papers.  Skidmore College acquired the collection through a series of donations by the Yates’ between 1974 and 1982. 
 

     Anita Pohndorff was born in 1914 to Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Pohndorff.  She grew up in the family home at 717 North Broadway in Saratoga Springs.  Anita’s mother and her mother’s friend, Georgianna Milligan, had attended Temple Grove Seminary, a school which later became the Young Women’s Industrial Club, a precursor to Skidmore College.

     In 1944, Anita Pohndorff married Harry D. Yates, a Lieutenant in the United States Army.  After his discharge from the Army as Captain, Mr. Yates, whose trade was banking, undertook the management of Dutch Village Apartments in Menands, where he and Mrs. Yates subsequently made their home for many years.  Mr. Yates later became president of Home Savings Bank in Albany.

     The Yates’ were active in the Saratoga social scene, spending much of their summers at the track.  The Yates’ were also generous supporters of education and the arts.  Mrs. Yates, who was voted an honorary Skidmore College alumna in 1983, passed away in September of 1991.
 

     The Pohndorff Yates Collection was originally housed by the College’s Permanent Art Collection, but was later transferred to the Department of Special Collections.  The collection was cataloged item-by-item by staff of the Permanent Art Collection, and the index cards produced during cataloging are available by request in Special Collections.  A printed catalog to a portion of the collection was prepared in 1975 by two Skidmore students, Carole Cunningham and John G. Danzer.  The catalog is available in Special Collections.

     Upon its receipt by Special Collections, the Pohndorff Yates Collection was organized by subject.  Series in the collection include Documents and Ephemera, Newspapers, Magazines and Maps, Photographs and Scrapbooks, Prints and Artwork, and Objects.

     Series I, Documents and Ephemera, contains a variety of business and personal papers from Saratoga Springs businesses, organizations, and individuals.  Subjects represented include the performing arts, racing, schools, Skidmore College, and Yaddo.  Also included in this series are papers about the acquisition, exhibiting and cataloging of the Yates Collection, and personal papers and mementos of the Yates’. 

     Series II, Newspapers, Magazines and Maps, contains voluminous files of newspaper clippings maintained by Mrs. Yates, as well as a number of Albany, Saratoga, and other newspapers.  Also included are magazines collected by Mrs. Yates, and several miscellaneous maps.

     Series III, Photographs and Scrapbooks, consists of a variety of photographs, mostly of the Yates’ and of visitors to the racetrack.  Also included are miscellaneous snapshots of Saratoga and Skidmore College.

     Series IV, Prints and Artwork, mainly consists of prints from Harper’s Weekly and Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, as well as various other nineteenth-century papers.

     Series V, Objects, includes numerous items collected by Mrs. Yates and her mother, such as racetrack memorabilia, ceramics and glassware, paperweights, and Saratoga Springs mementos. 

     The Yates’ also donated to Skidmore a number of books from their collection.  These books are cataloged in the library’s online catalog, and are available in Special Collections.