The Rye Historical Society serves as the official archivist for the City of Rye in all its past forms. We have a collection of over 25,000 documents including police reports, maps, photos, books, manuscripts, census data, real estate deals, government reports and other historical documentation. The collection also includes the Parsons Family Papers, an important collection of papers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries from John E. Parsons (patriarch and prominent NY lawyer), Herbert Parsons (a U.S. Congressman), his wife Elsie Clews Parsons (a prominent anthropologist) and John Parsons (prominent role in intelligence during WWII).