Ms. Murphy:

 Try the library at the Girls Academy. About 30 years ago I did some research
there for a library school paper on reading tastes in Albany in the early
19th c. and found some material there. There may be other archival material
as well. You should also attempt to find a list of graduates of the Academy
in the 19th-20th c. Certainly, some of the girls who graduated became
prominent Albany women later in life and their papers (diaries, letters,
etc.) may be found at repositories such as the Albany Institute's McKinney
Library and the NY State Library.

Good luck.

Jim Corsaro