Find of the Week, Part 2

Recently, in Find of the Week, For the Record, featured unexpected items found in Municipal Archives collections. The article described several objects stored in a box labeled “Department of Parks & Recreation – Artifacts,” including an “Official Three Stooges Fan Club” franchise certificate from 1960. At that time, the comedy trio, whose act dated back to the 1920s, were enjoying a resurgence in popularity with television audiences. However, that does not explain why their Fan Club kit would be filed with Parks Department correspondence. 

Certificate from an Official Three Stooges Fan Club kit, 1960. Department of Parks & Recreation Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

This week, For the Record, answers the question. As noted in the earlier article, when archival collections are processed, standard practice dictates that photographs, other non-paper materials, and oversize items are physically separated and stored separately. For example, photographic prints and negatives must be housed in acid-free sleeves and placed in special climate-controlled conditions. Three-dimensional objects are similarly removed from the paper files and re-housed in non-damaging containers and environments.  

Certificate from an Official Three Stooges Fan Club kit, 1960. Department of Parks & Recreation Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The procedure further directs that the processing archivist fills-out a “Separation Sheet,” and substitutes it for the removed item. The sheet is a form that records the original location of the removed item, the name of the collection, a brief description, the location where the now-separated item is stored, the date when separated, and the name of the processing archivist. A copy of the separation sheet is also appended to the removed item.

Examining separation sheets attached to objects in the Parks Department artifact box provided the necessary information to identify the related correspondence files. The sheet appended to the Three Stooges Fan Club kit indicated that it had been removed from the Department of Parks General Files, sub-series, Queens – Concessions, 1960, folder no. 1.   

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Welcome letter from an Official Three Stooges Fan Club kit, 1960. Department of Parks & Recreation Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The contents of folder no. 1, answers our query. In a letter to Parks Commissioner Newbold Morris, dated July 20, 1960, Mr. John McKnight, Director of Aquarama, requested permission to distribute Three Stooges Fan Club kits “during their engagement at the Amphitheatre [in Flushing Meadow Park].”  Mr. McKnight appended a sample fan club kit to the letter and concluded by inviting the Commissioner to see the Three Stooges “in person.” The correspondence did not include a copy of the reply and it is not known whether the Commissioner accepted Mr. McKnight’s invitation to see the performance, but Morris (or his correspondence secretary) dutifully filed the letter and fan club kit. 

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Letter from John McKnight to Parks Commissioner Newbold Morris, 1960. Department of Parks & Recreation Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

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The ‘back-story’ for other objects in the Parks artifacts box has also been traced. Among the larger items in the box are two flags, one labeled “Cuban Flag,” and the second, “Triangular Pennant with Rosette.” The related correspondence, a memorandum from R. C. Jenkins, Parks Department [Manhattan] Borough Director, to his superior, S. M. White, tells the story.

Cuban flag found in Central Park after a clash between pro-Castro and anti-Castro demonstrators, 1960. Department of Parks & Recreation Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Anti-Castro flag found in Central Park after a clash between pro-Castro and anti-Castro demonstrators, 1960. Department of Parks & Recreation Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The memorandum is dated January 29, 1960; subject: San Marti Monument – Riot – January 28, 1960. According to Jenkins, “At about 3 p.m. [the previous day], two organized groups consisting of approximately 100 persons converged at 59th Street and the Avenue of the Americas’ entrance to Central Park, near the base of the San Marti Statue. One group was pro-Castro and the other anti-Castro.” Jenkins continued, “. . . it is apparent that one group was intent on putting a wreath at the fenced-in base of the San Marti Statue and that the other group . . . tried to prevent it.” He added, “This started a fight, which police very quickly broke up and then dispersed the groups. It would seem as though the police were forewarned as to what might happen.” Jenkins concluded by noting that “Park personnel picked up two flags, which were left laying on the ground. I am sending these two flags with this report.” The memorandum also included a hand-written note “White Rose – Anti-Castro.” As with the Stooges kit, the folded flags were filed with the correspondence.  

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Memo from R. C. Jenkins, Parks Department [Manhattan] Borough Director, to his superior, S. M. White, 1960. Department of Parks & Recreation Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The New York Times article, “Central Park Ceremony for Cuban Hero Erupts Into Riot Over Castro,” which ran the following day, January 29, 1960, provided further details. According to the Times, one month earlier, a pro-Castro group had been denied a permit to hold a birthday celebration at the Marti statue. They subsequently learned that an anti-Castro group, the White Rose Organization would be allowed to place a wreath at the statue at 3 p.m. on January 28. The Times reported that “At 2:55 p.m. about forty members of the White Rose Organization, led by five teenage girls carrying a wreath of white roses reached the corner. Groups of loiterers, who later identified themselves as members of the Twenty-sixth of July Movement, converged upon the marchers, tore the wreath from the girls’ hand and use it as a weapon.” The resulting melee resulted in several injuries and twelve arrests, six from each side. The newspaper story added the detail that the “police commandeered a bus, evicted four passengers and transported the beleaguered group to Ninetieth Street and Fifth Avenue.”

Look for future For the Record articles that feature items found in Municipal Archives collections—both expected and unexpected.

City of Water Day

Tomorrow, Saturday, July 15, is City of Water Day. Now in its 16th year, the event serves to champion a climate-resilient harbor. It is organized by the Waterfront Alliance and New York–New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program.    

Aerial view New York Bay, Governor's Island, Statute of Liberty, Ellis Island, Manhattan and Brooklyn, ca. 1937. Photograph from 2nd Air Base Squadron Photo Section, GHQ Air Force, U.S. Army, Mitchel Field, New York, via WPA Federal Writers’ Project Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

New York City is an archipelago of islands. New York harbor has 65 square miles of inland waterways and 772 miles of direct shoreline of which 580 miles surround the five Boroughs.   

The city’s waterways—rivers, bays and ocean—provided food for the indigenous population and early colonists. The deep ice-free waters of New York Harbor served as the basis for the city’s economic growth and development for more than three centuries. But there was a cost; the maritime activities that generated jobs and wealth, also created pollution that degraded marine life and cut off access to the waterfront. Policymakers focused on the condition of the harbor for decades.

The Department of Docks photograph collection includes numerous large-format glass-plate negatives dating from the 1870s that depict the commercial activity along both the East and North (Hudson) River waterfronts. West Street, ca. 1870. Department of Docks Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Government recognized that encroachments and waste in the harbor required control but faced challenges in regulating emissions and shoreline construction.

Beginning with the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962, Americans began focusing on environmental issues. The Cuyahoga River famously caught fire in 1969 leading to the eventual passage of the federal Clean Water Act in 1972. By the 1970s, the city and surrounding communities began to address these concerns with an increased focus on eliminating the discharge of raw sewage and toxic waste into area waterways. Since then, many fish species have returned, and as commercial activities diminished, waterfronts have been reclaimed for housing, recreation and other activities.   

Graphic showing relationship between bathing beaches and sewage discharge from the Metropolitan Sewage Commission of New York’s 1912 report. NYC Municipal Library 

More recently, climate-change and the resulting superstorms and other destructive weather events have focused attention on the waterfront and the benefits of habitat restoration and stormwater management. The Municipal Archives and Library collections include extensive historical documentation of the waterfront that may prove useful in this essential work to create a more resilient New York and New Jersey harbor. 

The archival records date from the earliest years of the Department of Docks (1870– 1897); Docks and Ferries (1898 -1918); Department of Docks (1919-1942); Marine and Aviation (1942-1977); Ports and Terminals (1978-1985), through its final iteration, the Department of Ports and Trade (1986-1991). These series offer hundreds of cubic feet of maps, surveys, official correspondence and photographs. 

Illustration from the report, Present sanitary condition of New York Harbor and the degree of Cleanness which is necessary and sufficient for the water issued in 1912. NYC Municipal Library.

Publications in the Municipal Library document research developed by government agencies. The Metropolitan Sewage Commission of New York, issued several reports on water quality and pollutants in the Harbor beginning in 1910. More recently, the Department of Health issued Beach and Harbor Water Sampling reports that showed levels of contaminants at City beaches. In 1926, the Board of Estimate’ Subcommittee on Main Drainage issued a report on tidal currents in the Harbor, based on the movement of bottle floats.  

The theme of this year’s City of Water Day is to expand the capacity of New York and New Jersey communities to address climate change. Activities in the region include kayaking, rowing, hands-on workshops, and dozens of events for fun, education, and access to the waterfront. Visit the City of Water Day website for a complete calendar of events. 

In the meantime, here are some historical images of New York’s waterfront.  

The Department of Marine and Aviation collection includes large format color transparencies. Pier 40: Norwich and Stonington Lines (New England). Holland-American Lines (new Pier 40), circa 1960. Department of Ports and Trade Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Aerial view of the Brooklyn waterfront near Atlantic Avenue, September 19, 1956. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Aerial view of lower Manhattan, September 19, 1956. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

North River piers, Chelsea section, July 24, 1953. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Barges, East River, June 30, 1938, Photographer: E.M.  Bofinger WPA Federal Writers’ Project Photograph Collection.

New York City Receptions

The New York City Municipal Library collects and makes available information about government operations. One series in the Library’s collection is the idiosyncratic vertical files. Named thusly because the folders of miscellaneous clippings, news releases, promotions, etc. are stored in vertical file cabinets. An eye-catching subset of these files consists of six folders of information about receptions in New York City.  

The first folder, titled NYC Receptions (General), is followed by five others that are organized alphabetically. Oddly, the first items in the General Reception folder are misfiled biographical information about the City’s once peerless greeter, Grover Whalen, that belong in the Biographies notebooks. For 35 years, Whalen welcomed dignitaries as head of the Mayor’s Committee on the Reception of Distinguished Guests during seven mayoral administrations, beginning with Mayor John Hylan, and concluding with Mayor Vincent Impellitteri. Whalen is credited for inventing the ticker tape parade in 1919 when the Prince of Wales was showered with paper from stock tickers.   

The folders contain itineraries, pronunciation information issued by the Office of the Chief of Protocol at the Department of State, membership lists of the official parties, menus, background notes from the State Department, Police Department assignments and of course, newspaper clippings. They document parades—both with and without ticker tape—presentations of citations, bestowing of medals, receptions and dinners.   

According to a New York Herald Tribune article from 1950, the first parade from the Battery to City Hall to honor an individual was for the Marquis de Lafayette on August 16, 1824.  The article, an imagined account from the Marquis’s visit, called the parade “the most triumphant welcome ever given a guest of this city.”   

The files memorialize a large number of parades honoring the members of the armed services.  In fact, the first parade that Whalen organized was for servicemen returning from World War One in 1918. 

General Dwight Eisenhower stands to wave to spectators along the parade route. Mayor LaGuardia is seated. June 19, 1945. Municipal Archives Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower did not just trek to City Hall from the Battery. He traversed 37 miles of streets lined with New Yorkers shouting their approval. 

Article headline clipped from New York Times, April 21, 1951, describing parade for Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Municipal Library Vertical Files. NYC Municipal Library.

The City’s Police Commissioner estimated that 7.5 million people lined city streets to cheer for General Douglas MacArthur on April 20, 1951, and the Sanitation Department reported spectators dropped 2,850 tons of paper during the parade. If the crowd estimates were true, the New York Times calculated that “would leave only 335,099 New Yorkers at home or at work.” The parade route deviated from the regular Battery to City Hall and instead started at the Waldorf Astoria at 49th and Park Avenue, wound its way through Central Park, across 102 Street, eventually meandering through nineteen miles of City streets until reaching City Hall where the General received a gold medal and then returned to the hotel.  “Half an hour after the general returned to the Waldorf the city had resumed its normal weekday aspect,“ according to the Times.

Mayor’s Reception Committee Program for Reception to Major General William F. Dean, October 26, 1953. Municipal Library Vertical Files. NYC Municipal Library.

A quarter of a million New Yorkers greeted the thousand soldiers from the 45th Infantry Division who had just returned from Korea April 22, 1954. It was a surprisingly warm Spring day and “a hot spring sun caused several of the men to collapse” with heat prostration, according to the Herald Tribune.  Again in 1957, Korean Veterans were honored and presented with the Medal of Honor of the City of New York by Mayor Impelitteri. The veterans in this instance hailed from nineteen different nations that made up the force fighting under the United Nations banner in the war. United Nations Undersecretary Dr. Ralph J. Bunche praised their service.

A somewhat unusual parade was held for a nurse who was stationed at Dien Bien Phu during the battle between the Viet Minh and the French in 1954. Taken prisoner by the Vietnamese army and then released, Genevieve de Galard-Terraube was invited to New York by the United States Congress, “the third foreigner ever invited here by Congress,” which had unanimously adopted a resolution. The Marquis  de Lafayette and Hungarian revolutionary Louis Kossuth preceded her, according to the Herald Tribune.

The United States Conference of Mayors began a 1952 session with a parade up Broadway to City Hall where they were greeted by the Mayor. The officials later discussed traffic congestion, municipal finance, municipal bonds and the price of steel.

Even newspaper reporters were honored. In 1938, Mayor LaGuardia and the Board of Estimate welcomed two reporters—Dorothy Kilgallen from the New York Evening Journal and Leo Kieran from the New York Times, who had completed “a round-the-world trip made chiefly by airplane.” The Bronx Borough President invited them to enjoy the “salubrious air of the Bronx.”

Some things never change.  In 1937 a group of English students who were learning about different cultures through direct experience met with Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia who told them they “would not know New York until they had ridden in the subway during rush hours.” 

Program cover for event honoring Mercury Team astronauts, March 2, 1963. Municipal Library Vertical Files. NYC Municipal Library.

Astronauts also figure prominently in these files. America entered the space age in 1955 and New Yorkers were as eager to cheer them on as anyone else. John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, received a hero’s welcome and ticker tape parade to celebrate the milestone in 1962. Former President Herbert Hoover and then Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson joined Mayor Robert Wagner in honoring Major Leroy Gordon “Gordo” Cooper and the other members of the Mercury team in 1963.   The Mercury Team members were the first Americans to orbit the Earth and Cooper had the longest stint—22 orbits completed in just over 34 hours, which demonstrated that humans could survive on space trips.   

Broadway was renamed “Apollo Way” when the astronauts from Apollo 8 marched up to City Hall in frigid weather January 10, 1969. Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin received heroes welcome on August, 13, 1969, after returning from their mission to the moon.  Protestors disrupted the City Hall event for the Apollo 14 crew, chanting, “Crumbs for the children and millions for the moon” according to the New York Times. This led Captain Alan Shephard Jr. to urge people to compare the budget for space exploration with that spent for domestic matters, saying “you will be surprised at the ratio.”   

Program cover for dinner honoring United States Olympic Team, October 2, 1920. Municipal Library Vertical Files. NYC Municipal Library.

Athletes are well represented. In 1952, in a departure from the regular order New York threw a ticker tape parade for the Olympic Athletes leaving for the games in Helsinki Finland.   Mayor Impellitteri used the opportunity to make a pitch for New York to host the Olympic Games.  (Still a quest.) In 1953 professional golfer Ben Hogan received a ticker tape parade after winning the British Open. Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson was greeted by big crowds at City Hall and at Harlem’s Hotel Theresa when he returned from a European Tour. He was honored both for his boxing prowess and for his contributions of more than $100,000 to cancer research around the world. Olympians were back again in 1984 for what the New York Post termed “the city’s largest ticker-tape parade.” More than 100 medal winners walked up Broadway, showered with paper, including gymnast Mary Lou Retton, basketball player Chris Mullin and bicyclist Nelson Vails. The 1973 National Basketball Association champion New York Knicks didn’t receive a ticker tape parade but instead were honored at a City Hall ceremony. Willis Reed, Earl Monroe, Jerry Lucas, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBuschere all received diamond jubilee medallions that marked the 75th anniversary of the consolidation of New York City in 1898. 

Gertrude Ederle aboard the SS Macon, August 27, 1926, in New York Harbor arriving at the Battery for the start of her ticker tape parade. Department of Bridges, Plant & Structures Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Crowds enthusiastically welcomed the first woman to swim the English Channel, Gertrude Ederle, during a ticker tape parade on August 27, 1926, that culminated with an awards ceremony. When she attempted to leave City Hall after festivities concluded, the crowds had not dispersed and pushed forward to get closer.  She was rescued by a police officer who carried her back to City Hall. Eventually more officers escorted her home.

One very unusual reception that is documented in the files paired renowned explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, “the lanky New Zealand beekeeper who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth after his conquest of the 29,002-foot peak on May 29, 1953” with Neil Sullivan Jr, “the blind youth, who was the first person ever to score 100 per cent on the comprehensive Regents examinations in music theory,” according to the Herald Tribune.

Cover of dinner program, Imperial Japanese Commission to the United States of America, September 29, 1917. Municipal Library Vertical Files. NYC Municipal Library.

There were diplomats aplenty, from Afghanistan to Venezuela. Dignitaries visits were not always smooth. Mayor John Lindsay refused to welcome French President Georges Pompidou in 1970, creating a tit-for-tat that was smoothed over when President Richard Nixon hosted a dinner in the City for Pompidou and his wife. Mayor Robert Wagner refused to honor King Saud of Saudi Arabia or President Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia and was chided by President Eisenhower who objected to the discourtesy.    British Prime Minister Winston Churchill caught a severe cold during his 1952 visit, causing him to miss the scheduled parade up Broadway and medal presentation at City Hall. Instead, Mayor Impellitteri bestowed the honor at Churchill’s bedside and photos were prohibited.

Nelson Mandela addressed the crowds at Yankee Stadium, June 21, 1990. Mayor David N. Dinkins Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

More recently, leader of the African National Congress Nelson Mandela (and later President of South Africa) enjoyed an emotional three-day visit to the City in 1990. Leaving Brooklyn’s Boys and Girls High School, a crowd of people surged onto the route and cheered for him.  Along Atlantic Avenue throngs of New Yorkers lined the streets of Bedford Stuyvesant, East New York and Fort Greene. The New York City Police Department estimated that 750,000 people saw Mandela during the New York trip including 55,000 at Yankee Stadium. The visit included a ticker tape parade and City Hall ceremony, numerous receptions a boisterous rally in Harlem, the taping of a TV show, Nightline, at City College, meetings with business leaders, an address to the General Assembly at the U.N., a Riverside Church service, and more. 

The receptions and honors also brought the City a bonus. When Pope John Paul II visited in 1995, it was estimated that the trip had a positive economic impact of $44.7 million, including $2.13 million collected in sales tax. The trip launched the Popemobile which transported the Pope through crowds at Giants Stadium the Aqueduct Race Track and Central Park, all sites of papal masses. He wasn’t the first Pope to visit--that honor goes to Pope Paul VI who came to New York to address the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1964.  He also met with President Lyndon B. Johnson; toured Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan and offered a Mass at Yankee Stadium—all in less than 14 hours.

The first time Queen Elizabeth II visited, on October 21, 1957, she, too, had a 14-hour whirlwind trip. Landing initially in Staten Island, she took the ferry across the Bay, enjoyed a parade to City Hall, lunch at the Waldorf Astoria, visit to the United Nations, sunset viewing from the top of the Empire State Building, dinner and the Commonwealth Ball at the Armory at Park Avenue and 34th Street.  “Cinderella-like, the royal couple will leave the ball at about midnight for Idlewild where their plane is scheduled to leave for England at 12:45 a.m. on Oct 22,” reported Judith Crist in the Herald Tribune. 

On her second visit, in 1976, the Queen wined and dined at a more leisurely pace. She also collected a jar of 279 peppercorns which symbolized past due rent paid by Trinity Church. The Church received its charter from King William III in 1697 but neglected to pay the required one peppercorn annual rent until the Queen came to collect.

President Harry S. Truman was reported to be the first President to visit City Hall, in 1945, where he was welcomed by Mayor LaGuardia. Thirty-eight years later, President Jimmy Carter was honored with a reception in the City Council and Board of Estimate chambers after signing the Federal loan-guarantee bill that provided $1.65 billion to help the City avoid bankruptcy.

Although the ticker tape parades are a New York City symbol, they are not entirely beloved. In 1951, the President of the City Council recommended that the receptions and parades be sharply curtailed and that expenses be limited to less than $50 per event. The Herald Tribune reported his comments, “in an economy period there is no need to spend money on holding Receptions elsewhere.” Instead, he recommended standing on the City Hall steps to “shake hands and blow a bugle.”

Events were scaled back during the Lindsay Administration although they did host ticker tape parades for the World Series winning New York Mets in 1969 and the Apollo astronauts. The Commissioner of Public Events was quoted in the New York Times that the ticker tape parades “were horribly expensive and many of them were frauds. The Department of Sanitation was hiring its own people to go up into the skyscrapers and throw out the ticker tape so that the other Department of Sanitation people would have something to sweep up.” 

Amidst the schedules and clips about foreign dignitaries, there are also some hometown heroes represented. On September 2, 1964, The Little League World Champions hailing from Staten Island were honored with a parade and ceremony. As was custom, the parade moved from the Battery to City Hall.  The Army Band and the Sanitation Department Band both provided music. The sixteen team members, their manager and coach were welcomed by Mayor Robert Wagner and Pitcher, Daniel Yaccarino presented the Mayor with autographed baseballs from the team.  

Crowds wading through ticker tape after ticker tape parade for Captain Henrik Kurt Carlsen, January 17, 1952. Municipal Archives Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Battle for Gay Rights, continued

On Wednesday April 2, 1986, at 10 a.m., in the Board of Estimate Chambers in City Hall, Mayor Edward I. Koch held a public hearing before signing Intro. #2, the ‘Gay Rights’ bill. Before opening the hearing for comments, he spoke:

“This bill would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment, housing and public accommodation. It is long overdue…. A version of this legislation has been before the City Council for fifteen years, and I have testified in its support, both as a Member of Congress and as Mayor. At last, we can have a law that would guarantee justice too long denied to people in the City of New York who have been deprived of the right to earn a living, to obtain shelter or to have access to services and public accommodations simply because they are heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. At last, we can have a law that would liberate from the fear of discovery, discrimination and violence the thousands of gay men and lesbians—as well as heterosexual men and women whose sexual orientation is misperceived—who live in our city, and would permit them to devote more of their energies, talents and intelligence to their professional and personal lives. At last, we can have a law that would ensure fairness and equality for all of us.”

Take a moment to view footage from the Municipal Archives collection that so vividly tells the story.

To learn more about the WNYC-TV collection, browse the nearly 1,000 digitized films in the digital gallery here and discover many other collections made freely available. The digitization of these films was funded by a Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) grant from the New York State Archives.  

The Battle for Gay Rights

The New York City Municipal Archives’ moving image collection provides unique documentation on diverse subjects. Several recent digitization projects have made this visual record more widely available. This week, For the Record highlights newly digitized films and video tapes of iconic NYC LGBTQ+ rights activists like Sylvia Rivera, Andrew Humm, Betty Santoro, Marc Rubin, and many more. These activists worked from 1971 to 1986 to pass the so called ‘Gay Civil Rights Bill’ that added sexual orientation to New York City’s anti-discrimination laws, protecting queer people’s right to housing, employment and security. All of this footage was recorded either by municipal television channels serving the city or covert NYPD surveillance of the gay liberation movement in the wake of the Stonewall riot of 1969.

To learn more about the WNYC-TV collection, browse the nearly 1,000 digitized films in the digital gallery here and discover many other collections made freely available. The digitization of these films was funded by a Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) grant from the New York State Archives.

The 2022 ARB Report

In 2002, the City Council established the Archival Review Board. The five-member board was directed to “…render annually to the mayor a report reviewing the archival processing of any city papers.” Authored by Municipal Archives Director Sylvia Kollar, the recently published Archival Review Board FY 2022 Report chronicles the achievements of the City’s archival program during Fiscal Year 2022.

Highlights of the Report:

The 2022 Archival Review Board highlights several important accomplishments during the reporting period. On October 25, 2021, Commissioner PaulineToole and Industry City CEO Andrew Kimball presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the new Municipal Archives storage and research facility at Industry City. The state-of-the-art storage and research facility will ensure preservation of the City’s heritage for generations to come.

Commissioner Pauline Toole and Industry City CEO Andrew Kimball open the Municipal Archives facility, Industry City, Brooklyn, October 25, 2021. NYC Municipal Archives.

In March 2022 the Municipal Archives launched the Historical Vital Records of NYC platform on the Department of Records and Information Services website. The Archives’ vital records collection is one of the largest in the country. The Archives began digitization of 13.3 million birth, death and marriage records in the collection in 2013. The Historical Vital Records site provides free online public access to more than nine million high-quality copies of birth, death and marriage records. Within three months of the launch, the site reached more than two million views and over 170,000 downloads.  

The ARB report also describes progress on several grant projects including preservation and digitization of the Old Town ledgers with support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Other work detailed in the report includes recent “adoptions” of archival and library items in need of conservation treatment as part of the “Save New York’s Past” fundraising initiative sponsored by the New York Archival Society.  

Gravesend Town Records Book 7, Old Town Record Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Please take a few minutes to read the Archival Review Board FY 2022 Report and look for updates on progress of the archival program in future blogs.