Special Collections Display | Special Collections and University Archives

Poster Print Display: Melville Library, Level 2, East Mezzanine

Explore a curated selection of our diverse collections. This poster print display reflects an ongoing commitment to connecting the university, community, and visitors to our research collections through cultural heritage, shared stories, and scholarship.

Access a PDF with descriptions and images from the Special Collections display.

Below are a few examples of the poster prints.

Robert M. Emery Long Island Rail Road Collection
Stony Brook Station, Stony Brook, New York
Photograph; circa 1905.
Sepia-toned photograph attributed to Arthur S. Greene showing the arrival of the 2:37pm train at the Stony Brook depot.

Sepia-toned photograph attributed to Arthur S. Greene showing the arrival of the 2:37pm train at the Stony Brook depot. The Stony Brook station is part of the Port Jefferson Branch of the Long Island Rail Road.

Nova Belgica et Anglia Nova
Map; Willem Janszoon Blaeu [Amsterdam: Blaeu, 1640?].
This map of New Netherland and New England reflects the Dutch perspective on early explorations. Long Island has been given the place name “Matowacs.” Several other important place names make their first cartographical appearances: Manhates (Manhattan), Hellegat (Hell Gate), and Adrian Blocks eylandt (Block Island).

Hand-colored 17th-century map of New England and the Mid-Atlantic, from Penobscot Bay to Chesapeake Bay, oriented with north to the right. Created by Willem and Joan Blaeu, it features Latin, Dutch, and vernacular place names, along with illustrated animals like deer, beavers, and turkeys. Based on Adriaen Block’s 1614 chart, the map reflects early Dutch exploration and territorial claims, as well as the natural resources and Native American presence in the region.

Main floor of Coe Hall at Planting Fields, Oyster Bay, New York.
Photograph; circa 1959.
Coe Hall, the main building at Stony Brook University’s first campus in Oyster Bay consisted of a dining hall, a coffee shop, a lounge, a library, and the “great hall.”

Main floor of Coe Hall at Planting Fields, Oyster Bay, c.1959, showing a grand interior used by Stony Brook University during its early years.

The Emory Payson and Jean Wilcox Tuttle Estate Collection
Old Field Point, New York.
Photograph; February 4, 1902.
Schooner "John Crockford” abandoned in ice on the Long Island Sound three miles off of Old Field Point, New York.
Photograph by Byron W. Hallock.
Gift of the Tuttle Family.

The Schooner “John Crockford” is abandoned in ice on the Long Island Sound by Old Field Point, New York, February 2, 1902. Photograph by Byron W. Hallock.

Tintypes and Portraits Collection
This collection offers a glimpse into the lives of African Americans during the post-Civil War era, a period often underrepresented in historical documentation. Tintypes, popular from the mid-19th century, were affordable and accessible, making them a common medium for personal portraits.

African American man wearing a hat pictured in a 19th-century tintype portrait.