Derek Harrison, , 1979

The Urbanarium Records, 1970-1982, comprise reports, correspondence, charts, financial records, meeting minutes, scrapbooks, negatives and contact sheets documenting the organization’s planning phase, administrative and financial operations, and programs.

Planning phase documents composed of reports, meeting minutes, correspondence, and other papers outline the goals, objectives, strategies, and financial planning prior to the Urbanarium's first operational year in March 1974. Administrative and financial records include general files, such as mission statements and policies and procedures; personnel files containing hiring materials and recommendations letters; correspondence on an array of topics, including programs, marketing, and inquiries; and meeting minutes for the Board of Trustees, the Urbanarium Council, the Steering Committee, the Program Committee, and the Implementation Committee. Administrative and financial records also include documents concerning the operations of the Urbanarium councils, evaluations and reports assessing the success of the goals and objectives of the Urbanarium as a whole as well as individual programs; documents for the W. K. Kellogg Foundation prospectus concerning the Urbanarium's efforts to secure continued funding after the first three operational years; and financial records and sponsorship, which include budgets, fiscal reports, and funding received and denied by individuals and corporations.

Programs, projects, and workshops comprise various records documenting the proposals, formation, operations, and actions of numerous programs created or sponsored by the Urbanarium. Some of these programs include the Rochester Idea, modeled after the "Toronto Idea" of 1973, a campaign that gave all citizens an opportunity to express ideas that would improve their community. This program led to the conversion of the Platt Street Bridge to a pedestrian park and overlook. The Discovering Town Centers program was created to acquaint the community with present and future opportunities for downtown Rochester and surrounding town centers. Several projects grew out of this program, including a media festival; the Transit History Bus, a traveling exhibit on public transit; TRANS-ED, a simulation game designed by the University of Michigan concerning a mass-transit system; and Project MUSE, an exhibit intended to create awareness of the Discover Town Centers project and other Urbanarium programs. Educational projects took on many structures, including a conference called "Inventing Our Educational Future," and an Education Coalition, which was formed in 1980 to focus on issues concerning financing an education, racial/cultural isolation, and delivery of educational services. Youth education and employment issues were primarily tackled in youth forums and conferences during 1979 and 1980. These forums and conferences were designed to give youths a voice while determining and addressing needs and eventually led to the creation of Project RAISE.

Scrapbooks are composed of newspaper clippings and photostats on various Urbanarium projects, especially RAISE and the GRCA. Also documented is general information on the Urbanarium, such as sponsorship, elections, and the first and last awards dinner.

Negatives with corresponding contact sheets document various Urbanarium events and projects including RAISE conferences and banquets, tourism training sessions and bike tour meetings, youth forums and conferences, and Urbanarium members and board meetings.