A Charter for New Amsterdam: February 2, 1653

This week, For the Record recognizes a little-known, but significant anniversary in the history of the City of New York: February 2, 1653.

In 1977, City Council President Paul O’Dwyer successfully campaigned to have the date on the flag of New York City changed from 1664 (the year of the English takeover) to 1625, the year that the Dutch West India Company (the Company) directed a fort and settlement to be built in lower Manhattan. However, although the settlement in lower Manhattan was called New Amsterdam, it would be many years before it became a place that the Dutch would recognize with a separate municipal government.

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View of New Amsterdam ca. 1653, copy of a 17th Century painting for I.N. Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan Island, vol. IV plate 9, NYC Municipal Library.

When General Petrus Stuyvesant arrived on the shores of Manhattan in 1647, the Dutch colony of New Netherland was in crisis. The prior Governor, Willem Kieft, was reviled and had been recalled to Holland after starting a brutal and disastrous war with the native peoples. Stuyvesant had been sent to restore order to the colony and reassure the colonists.

Stuyvesant asked the people of New Netherland to select eighteen representatives from whom he created an assembly of Nine Men.[1] The lawyer Adriaen van der Donck would later join the assembly and take a presiding role. Van der Donck soon set about gathering complaints from colonists to send to Holland. Stuyvesant forbade this and when the members continued to meet in secret, he had van der Donck arrested. Eventually van der Donck was released and he drafted a remonstrance, which he and two other members took to Amsterdam to present to the Dutch legislative body the States General. Amongst their demands was a call for a municipal government for New Amsterdam. They had little success at first but van der Donck’s 1650 publication, Vertoogh Van Nicuw Nederlandt, attracted public interest in the colony and raised concern that it was being mismanaged. Fearful that they might lose control over the colony, the Company eventually relented. On April 4, 1652, the Directors informed Stuyvesant via letter that he could form a municipal government with a schout, two burgomasters, and five schepens. Roughly analogous to a sheriff, two mayors and five city councilmen, but the burgomasters and schepens served as the lower court of justice as well as city administrators.[2]

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The first page of a letter written by Jacobus Kip, first secretary of New Amsterdam, recounting Stuyvesant’s establishment of New Amsterdam’s government on February 2nd, 1653 as instructed by the Dutch West India Company on April 2, 1652. Kip probably sent this document in 1656 to the Company, where Hans Blumenthal, a director in Amsterdam, made his own copy. Both documents ended up in the Blumenthal papers at the New York Public Library. Reproduction from I.N. Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan Island, vol. IV plate 9. NYC Municipal Library.

Stuyvesant had received word by June 1652 that he could establish a city government, but waited until February 2nd, 1653, Candlemas Day. In Amsterdam, this was the day the Burgomasters and Schepens traditionally took their oaths of office. On this day he issued a lengthy document (a copy of this document is in the New York Public Library) that related how the Directors in Holland would “favor this new and growing city of New Amsterdam and the inhabitants thereof with a court of justice, to be constituted as far as possible… according to the laudable custom of the city of Amsterdam, name-giver to this newly developing city.”[3]

The new court was given legislative authority “between the two rivers to the Fresh Water [the pond at around Worth Street]” but in matters of criminal justice their authority extended the whole of the island and included “the inhabitants of Amersfoort, Breuckelen and Midtwout,” Dutch towns in present-day Brooklyn. The burgomasters were also charged with “alignment of houses, streets and fences… in an orderly fashion,” and developing any needed public buildings “such as churches, schools, a court house, weigh house, charitable institutions, dock, pier, bridges and other similar works….” And also, the ability to designate public officers such as “orphan masters, church masters, surveyors, fire wardens” as the need would arise. It was not quite the representative government that we think of today, but it was the start of the municipal government of what would become New York City.

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The court minutes of New Amsterdam start with a prayer on the left page, and then on the right page the clerk recorded the first day of court on February 6th, 1653. Records of New Amsterdam, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Records of New Amsterdam in the Municipal Archives [minus some earlier ordinances issued by Stuyvesant] start a few days after the charter was issued, with a prayer for divine guidance. Some of the sentiments do not age as well as others, but this passage seems timeless: “Let us remember that we hold Court, not of men, but of God, who sees and hears everything. Let respect of person be far from us, so that we may judge the poor and the rich, friends and enemies, inhabitants and stranger according to the same rules of truth and never deviate from them as a favor to anybody, and whereas gifts blind the eyes of the wise, keep our hearts from greed, grant also, that we condemn nobody lightly or unheard, but listen patiently to the litigants, give them time to defend themselves.”

The prayer is undated but was probably written on the 2nd or on the first day of court, the 6th, because the next page starts with this:

“Thursday, February 6, 1653… Their Honors, the Burgomasters and Schepens of this City of New Amsterdam, herewith inform everybody, that they shall hold their regular meetings in the house hitherto called the City tavern, henceforth the City Hall, on Monday mornings from 9 o. c, to hear there all questions of difference between litigants and decide them as best as they can. Let everybody take notice hereof. Done this 6th of February, 1653, at N. Amsterdam.”

The most important feature of this lower court was that any person, male or female, could petition the court, citizen, and non-citizen alike. These court records form the backbone of the Dutch records held by the Municipal Archives and are part of a record of municipal government that extends until today.

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The city tavern was renamed the City Hall, the Stadt Huys in 1653. It stood at the corner of what is now Broad Street and Pearl. George Hayward for I.N. Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan Island. NYC Municipal Library.

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The government of New Amsterdam was formed when the Dutch were at war with the English. In March 1653, concerned over tensions with the English to the north, the court ordered a wall built to protect the colony. To learn more about the history of the wall that became Wall Street go to New Amsterdam Stories.

What did it mean to be a citizen of New Amsterdam? In 1657 the question was answered with the establishment of the burgher right – essentially city citizenship. To learn more, go to New Amsterdam Stories.

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[1] Historical Society of the New York Courts, “The Nine Men and the 1649 Remonstrance of the Commonality of New Netherland” https://history.nycourts.gov/about_period/nine-men/

[2] See also, Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World.

[3] Seymann, Colonial Charters, Patents and Grants to the Communities Comprising the City of New York. P. 177-189.

The Alien Squad

The Municipal Archives collection of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s papers includes a series, titled Public Meetings. It contains reports from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) on public meetings between 1940 and 1945. The bulk of the reports date from 1941 and 1942. Like the records in the NYPD Special Investigations Unit (a.k.a.) Handschu Collection in the Municipal Archives, these reports offer a glimpse into the activities of New Yorkers across the political spectrum.  

Memorandum, December 12, 1940, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The reports were created by precinct-based officers and those in the so-called “Alien Squad” within the Bureau of Operations. Reports of upcoming events were also sent to Mayor LaGuardia’s secretaries, indicating that City Hall was keeping a keen eye on political gatherings. A summary of meetings reported that there were 866 meetings resulting in 23 arrests between January and September 30, 1941, in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.  

Some years ago, the Municipal Archives offered an exhibit, Unlikely Historians, that provided access to materials gathered in the 1960s and 1970s by undercover NYPD officers. The Alien Squad monitored people and events perceived to be left or right of the center. Based on the LaGuardia records, that appears to have been the case in the 1940s. There are reports about a broad array of organizations: several different Communist Party groups; labor unions; the America First party opposing any intervention in World War II; the American Appeals Forum with the opposite viewpoint which supported “Americanism vs. All other Isms;” the Committee to Defend America supporting the Allies; organizations supporting President Roosevelt; one group of Italians supporting the war effort and another opposing Italian soldiers in the Allied army killing Italian soldiers under Mussolini’s command; the American West Indian Association opposing racism; and more.

German American Bund rally, Madison Square Garden, February 20, 1939. NYPD Photo Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

German American Bund rally, Madison Square Garden, February 20, 1939. NYPD Photo Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mostly, the reports record the date, name of the officer making the report, the name and address of the organization, location of the meeting, the speakers, number of attendees, topic discussed and whether there was disorder or arrests. One exception seems to be reports of meetings of the German Bund, which go into more detail, all of which seems mundane. Consider this from November, 1940: “A dance ensued for which a four man band furnished the music, all members of that local. It lasted until 12:45 a.m. the following morning. There was no disturbance at any time.” Another exception is a thirteen-page memo to the Police Commissioner from October 1941 that summarized the development of the nativist Christian Front between 1938 and 1941. It differs from all other reports in its format, analysis and length.

The earliest item in the files, dated September 13, 1940, summarizes an interview that Detective Stanley Gwazdo from the Alien Squad conducted with Joseph Loeb, resident of 85th Street. The report concerned the activities of Joseph E. McWilliams and his group. McWilliams was a notorious anti-Semite who held nightly street-corner rallies filled with hateful tropes. An August, 1940 New Yorker article described him as the “handsomest and meanest-talking man ever to run for a public office.” As the leader of the American Destiny Party and a failed Congressional candidate, this former follower of nativist Father Coughlin intended “to do in the United States what Hitler has done in Germany,” according to the New York Times. 

Speaker at the meeting of Christian Mobilizers taken at Innesfield Park for the Alien Squad, September 20, 1939. NYPD Photo Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

In the report, the detective relates his advice to Mr. Loeb: freedom of speech was protected by the Constitution. “The police department, he was told, had no power to prevent any one from exercising his right of free speech and that it was up to the courts of law to decide whether that privilege was being used or misused.” The detective offered Loeb several suggestions for objecting in court to McWilliams nightly sidewalk meetings, including organizing the property owners to ask for an injunction, applying for the courts to issue a summons for violating the Public Nuisance Law, and business owners petitioning the magistrate to consider the impact of McWilliams speeches in front of their establishments. He further noted that McWilliams had been convicted of disorderly conduct and awaited sentencing for his second disorderly conduct conviction.

The New York Times reported that Magistrate Edgar Bromberger committed McWilliams “to Bellevue Hospital for ten days’ examination as to his sanity.” But McWilliams returned to the streets and public stage. In September, 1941, he was a featured speaker at a meeting at the Astoria Casino where the topic was “Praising Lindbergs (sic) speech and criticizing the New Deal and the Jews.”

America First rally at Madison Square Garden showing speaker and other persons in audience, May 23, 1941. NYPD Photo Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

September 14, 1940, was a big night for meetings and generated seven separate reports of events including a Communist Party meeting against conscription, the Socialist Labor Party discussion of Capital and Labor, the American Destiny Party meeting that included McWilliams as a speaker on “Anti Roosevelt – Anti Conscription – Protesting the delivery of U. S. destroyers to England,” the American Communist Party on “Keep America Out of War,” another Socialist Labor Party Meeting at Union Square whose topic was “No Peace Without Socialism,” as well as a pro-communist independent group at the same location that discussed “Keep America Out of War” and the Young Communist League that met at Steinway St and 31 Avenue in Queens where speakers were “against conscription.”  The Remarks section of the report noted “this meeting was becoming disorderly at 9.30 PM. and Capt. Zimms in command of the police detail broke up the meeting and dispersed the crowd at that time.” 

1941 began slowly with a January 9, 1941 report on a New Masses Forum at Webster Hall, with the chief topic being Russia’s part in the World. Initially a lefty magazine it eventually because closely tied to the Communist Party. In its heyday acclaimed writers and artists contributed work. New Masses author Joseph North who edited the magazine, chaired the meeting which also dealt with increasing the periodical’s subscriptions. There was neither disorder nor arrests.

Communist meeting at Madison Square Garden for Alien Squad, Earl Browder at podium, May 26, 1938. NYPD Photo Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Things picked up. By September 1941, police officers documented ten or more meetings some nights. Held at Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, the Hotel Diplomat, Manhattan Center, Town Hall, as well as on street corners and in parks, many of the events attracted hundreds of attendees. A September 1941 meeting of the Citizens Committee to Free Earl Browder held in Madison Square Garden feature attracted 21,000 people to hear Congressman Marcantonio and labor activist Elizabeth Flynn among others demand the immediate release from federal prison of Browder, the head of the Communist Party-USA. 

As late as December 4, 1941, the America First Committee was attracting thousands of people advocating to “Keep America Out of War.” After December 7, the tenor of meetings changed. Reports more likely concerned meetings “Supporting America in the Present War,” backing President Franklin D. Roosevelt and “Giving all out aid to our allies to defeat the Nazi, Japs and Fascists.”

Detective Gwazdo and a colleague reported on the March-On-Washington Movement which met at Madison Square Garden in June,1942, with 15,000 in attendance to rally “Against Negro Discrimination.” Speakers included Dr. Mary Bethune, the Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. as well as the President of the Baptist Ministers Alliance and the associate editor of the Jesuit magazine, America.  

Even a meeting at which Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia promoted the sale of war bonds is recorded as a meeting “protesting the atrocities against the Jews in the conquered nations by Hitler in July, 1942, attended by the Mayor, Governor Lehman and Rabbi Steven Wise.”

Report of Meeting, July 21, 1942, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The number of reports dwindled in 1942. None are filed for 1943 and only a few in 1944 and 1945. Many record meetings of the Communist Party advocating for a second front and continuing to rally around Earl Browder. Other meetings are labor rallies and events opposing racism. 

Detective Gwazdo filed the final report in the series on December 10, 1945, months after the end of the war. By this time, he had moved to the Public Relations Squad from the Alien Squad. The Seaman’s Club of the Communist Party NM and the Chelsea Club of the Communist Party held a “Memorial to Pearl Harbor and Merchant Seamen who died there” on December 10, 1945. No disorder: No arrests.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in New York City

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The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mayor Wagner, City Hall, December 17, 1964. Official Mayoral Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on December 11, 1964. Upon his return from Europe the following week, Mayor Robert Wagner presented Dr. King with the Medallion of Honor, the city’s highest award.   

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Mrs. Alberta Williams King, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mrs. Coretta Scott King, and Mayor Robert Wagner, City Hall, December 17, 1964. Official Mayoral Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“This city has officially welcomed many world‐renowned figures,” Mayor Wagner said at the City Hall ceremony on December 17. “I can think of none who has won a more lasting place in the moral epic of America. New York is proud of you, Dr. King.” 

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mrs. Coretta Scott King, and Mayor Wagner, City Hall, December 17, 1964. Official Mayoral Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

New York City has a long history of honoring special guests—athletes, aviators, astronauts, royalty, world leaders, even a virtuoso piano player—all celebrated with memorable receptions. Since the early years of the twentieth century, bureaus within the Mayor’s Office have been responsible for these welcoming events. During the Wagner Administration, the Department of Public Events had this responsibility.   

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Program for Presentation of the City of New York Medallion of Honor, to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., December 17, 1964. Mayor Robert Wagner Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Examining files in the Public Events series within the Mayor Wagner papers, reveals extensive documentation regarding Dr. King’s reception. On December 1, 1964, Department of Public Events Commissioner Emma Rothblatt convened a meeting of twenty-six people to discuss arrangements for the day’s activities. The resulting multi-page minutes of the “Planning Meeting” detailed the necessary preparations. The press release subsequently issued on December 15, provided the finalized schedule for the day’s ceremonies: “Dr. King will be driven in an official limousine heading a five-car motorcade, with police escort from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.” Proceeding down the East River Drive, the motorcade will arrive at City Hall where Mayor Wagner will present the Medallion of Honor. Later in the evening, at 6 p.m. “Mayor Wagner will tender an official City reception to Dr. King in the Empire Room of the Waldorf Astoria and present a desk set, bearing the seal of the City of New York.”

Program for Presentation of the City of New York Medallion of Honor to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., December 17, 1964. Mayor Robert Wagner Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Correspondence in the files demonstrates the thoroughness of the preparations. The December 15 memo to Public Events staff member Colonel Paul Armus is typical:  “Subject: Lincoln Cars. To: Colonal Armus. Please make the necessary arrangements for the release of the three Lincoln cars for Thursday, December 17th, from approximately 9:30 A.M. until midnight.” Other memos discussed gifts to be presented to Dr. King’s father, mother, and wife. On December 4, Commissioner Rothblatt notified Armus that “The Mayor has decided that the Silver Letter Opener for Dr. King’s father and the charm key for Dr. King’s wife and mother will be presented at the reception on December 17. Just to be certain however, I will have the awards ready at City Hall should the Mayor call for them.” 

Seating Arrangement for Dr. King’s Motorcade, December 17, 1964. Mayor Robert Wagner Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Other folders contain documents concerning the evening reception at the Waldorf Astoria. Labeled “Very Special Attention,” a checklist specified the beverages to be served (Scotch, Rye, Bourbon “on-the-Rocks” and Highballs, Gin and Tonic, Old Fashioned, and Dry Martini Cocktails to be freshly made as needed”), gratuities (“No Tipping” signs to be displayed”), decorations, flags, music (“Provide one well-tuned Baby Grand Piano…”), as well as the extensive menu. It also included a list of the 400 invited guests—Vice President‐elect Hubert Humphrey and Mr. and Mrs. Count Basie, among the acceptances. 

Invitation to Reception for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at the Waldorf-Astoria, December 17, 1964. Mayor Robert Wagner Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The next day’s New York Times reported on Dr. King’s visit: “Addressing a crowd that packed every corner of the City Council Chamber and overflowed into the corridors of City Hall, Dr. King, in a deep voice and measured tones, said: ‘I am returning with a deeper conviction that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time—the need for men to end the oppression and violence of racial persecution, destructive poverty and war without resorting to violence and oppression’.” 

Memorandum regarding City Hall reception for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., December 2, 1964. Mayor Robert Wagner Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Times also noted that “Dr. King slipped the medal into the right flap pocket of his dark‐blue suit. In the left inside pocket of his jacket was the small, yellow check of the Nobel Prize Committee, made out for 273,000 Swedish kroner ($54,600).” The Times report added that Dr. King planned to donate his entire prize to the civil rights movement.

On this weekend as we reflect on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, please take a few minutes to listen to Dr. King’s remarks at the City Hall ceremony: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. December 17, 1964 at City Hall

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., City Hall, December 17, 1964. Official Mayoral Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“Yes, our souls have been tried in the cold and bitter Valley Forges of the Deep South, and black and white together, we have met the test. We shall overcome.” 

-Dr. Martin Luther King, December 17, 1964.