Michael Lorenzini
On Mayors and the Counting Thereof
Neen Lamontagne
Human Rights Day: How Human Rights Discourse ...
NYC Municipal Archives
Happy Thanksgiving!
Andy Lanset
Quiz Shows on WNYC: A History of Civic Curiosity
Kenneth Cobb & Marcia Kirk
Mr. George Rex, “The Last Slave”

On Mayors and the Counting Thereof

“A List of the Members of the City Government from its incorporation (1653) up to the present time, arranged alphabetically; with the different stations held by them in the Common Council; and also under the State and United States Government.” Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1866. D.T. Valentine, Clerk of the Common Council.

Recent news reports have suggested that New York City has been misnumbering its Mayors since the 1600s. Not that they were numbering them at that time, but ever since the City started giving official numerical designations, the numbering has gone awry.

In the 2019-2020 “Green Book,” The Official Directory of the City of New York, Matthius Nicolls is given a single entry, 1672. In truth he was Mayor from 1671-1672 and again from 1674-1675. NYC Municipal Library.

This past August, historian Paul Hortenstine noticed that the “Official” list of Mayors failed to include the second term of Mayor Matthias Nicolls (Nicoll). He had served two non-consecutive terms, the first from 1671-1672, and the second from 1674-1675. Hortenstine was not the first to notice this discrepancy. In 1989, the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society published an article by Peter Christoph revealing that every mayor after #7 had been misnumbered. As Christoph pointed out, if a Mayor had two non-consecutive terms the practice was to assign them two numbers, starting with Thomas Willett, who was Mayor #1 and #3. He noted four other early Mayors credited with two terms.

We thought the error might have been due to a little-known hiccup in mayoral history. In July 1673, the Dutch (who had established the colony of New Amsterdam in 1625 and lost it in 1664), invaded and took it back. For fifteen months the colony (renamed “New Orange”) was under a Dutch “Council of War,” that restored the Dutch-style government of a council of Burgomasters and Schepens. As a result, there was not a “Mayor of New York” between July 1673 and November 1674, when the English Governor, Edmund Andros, reappointed Nicolls. Moreover, Nicolls had not been Mayor when the Dutch invaded, his successor, John Lawrence, had assumed that role. So, by all rights, Nicolls served two non-consecutive terms with another Mayor in the middle, making him Mayor #6 and #8. Thereby moving everyone else one place down the line. Lawrence was appointed Deputy Mayor in 1674, but also served another non-consecutive term as Mayor, the 2nd time in 1691, making him both #7 and #20 (under the corrected numbering system).

Records of the Mayor’s Courts of the City of New York, entry from October 12, 1672 lists “Capt. Matthius Nicolls, May[or].” The book for the following year is missing from the historic record. Court Minutes, Volume 6, 1670 October 13-1674 November 10, NYC Municipal Archives.

On October 12, 1672, the council put forward John Lawrence and Matthius Nicolls as candidates for Mayor. John Lawrence was apparently selected but those records have been lost. MSS0040 New Amsterdam records, Court Minutes, Volume 6, 1670-1674, page 205.

In one of his last acts as City Clerk, David Dinkins transferred the colonial Dutch and English records of New Amsterdam and New York to Commissioner of the Department of Records & Information Services, Eugene Bockman, December 30, 1985. NYC Municipal Archives.

Christoph, in a footnote, surmised the error arose from the compiler using the “Minutes of the Mayor’s Court” as a source, and noted that a volume for the period November 1674-September 1675 had been missing for some time. In 1982, historian Kenneth Scott located the volume at the New York County Clerk’s Division of Old Records. At that time, all the earlier Dutch and English Court minutes resided with the New York City Clerk. On December 30, 1985, outgoing City Clerk David N. Dinkins transferred the entire collection of colonial-era records held by the City Clerk to the Municipal Archives. The 1674-1675 volume still resides with the County Clerk in a later series of Mayor’s Court records covering the years 1674 to 1820. However, the Minutes of the Common Council, which are also with the Municipal Archives and were published in 1905, still have a gap from 1674-1675.

After the Dutch returned New York to the English in 1674, the Mayor’s Court reconvened with Captain Matthius Nicolls as Mayor. Minutes of the Mayor’s Court, November 13, 1674-September 21, 1675. New York County Clerk.

There is yet another missing volume from these records—the volume documenting activities from October 13, 1672 to August 11, 1673. The last entry in the preceding volume, dated October 12, 1672, lists “Capt. Matthius Nicolls, May[or]” at the top. The next book in Archives possession starts on August 12, 1673, in Dutch, titled “Proceedings of the War Council of New Orange.” Those Dutch records end on November 10, 1674. The next volume begins, in English again, with Matthius Nicolls as Mayor. So, the first term of John Lawrence is missing entirely from the historical record. Some compiler must have realized this and inserted him into the history but forgot to split Nicolls’ two terms.

Proceedings of the War Council of New Orange, starts on August 12, 1673, in Dutch. The Dutch records end on November 10, 1674, just before Nicolls was reappointed. Court Minutes, Volume 6, 1670 October 13-1674 November 10, NYC Municipal Archives.

In the 1841 edition of the Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, the clerk listed “Members of the City Council from 1655 to present.” The list actually starts at 1653 and included both Dutch and English governmental structures.  Samuel J. Willis, Clerk of the Common Council, Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1841. NYC Municipal Library.

The earliest printed list of Mayors (without numbers) that we located, appeared in the first Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York 1841-1842 edition, under the authority of Samuel J. Willis, Clerk of the Common Council. The list has large gaps in the colonial period and includes a note, “there are no records during the time of the first English possession in the Clerk’s office.” The Manual, as was explained in the preface, was created because it had, “been thought expedient to enlarge the substance of the City Hall Directory... by the introduction of additional matter interesting and useful to members of the Corporation....”

The first Manual listed “Mayors,” members of the City Council, and the Dutch colonial government officers of New Amsterdam. The Manuals became more widely associated with then Assistant Clerk and future Clerk, David Thomas Valentine. During D.T. Valentine’s tenure, from 1843 to 1867, the manuals became increasingly elaborate and lavishly illustrated with fold-out maps and historical information. He reprinted the 1841 list verbatim in the 1842-1843 edition. In the 1853 edition, Valentine included “Sketches of the Mayors of New York from 1665 to 1834.” This included all the colonial English Mayors but not the Dutch leaders. It does not mention Nicolls’ second term. This erroneous list was also published in the Civil List and Forms of Government of the Colony and State of New York beginning with the 1865 edition.

There were errors and large gaps in the first published list in 1841. It not only left out the 1674 second term of Nicolls, it identifies Thomas Willet as “Major” instead of “Mayor” in 1665 and then skips to the Dutch Burgomasters in 1673. Samuel J. Willis, Clerk of the Common Council, Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1841. NYC Municipal Library.]

In the 1854, 1863, and 1866 editions of the Manual, Valentine printed an alphabetical “List of the Members of the City Government from its incorporation (1653) up to the present time...” This list included the Dutch but omits Mayor John Lawrence, an error repeated through the 1866 edition. In his 1861 Manual, Valentine also published a section called “Mayors of City,” which ignores the colonial period entirely. Instead, the list begins after the American Revolution with Mayor James Duane in 1783. The 1869 and 1870 editions contain something close to the current list of “Mayors of the City of New York” starting on 1665. However, they omitted two mayors.

“Mayors of the City of New York, 1665-1869.” Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1870. John Hardy Clerk of the Common Council. NYC Municipal Library.

The earliest known appearance of a numbered list of the “Mayors of the City of New York.” Official Directory of the City of New York, 1921. NYC Municipal Library. 

In 1918 the Official Directory of the City of New York, a.k.a. the “Green Book,” began publication under the direction of the Supervisor of the City Record. In 1921 the Green Book included a list of Mayors. In it, and all subsequent editions, until it went completely online in 2021, they reprinted and updated the list of mayors, with number designations. Up through 1936 the list was consistent. It started with Thomas Willett at #1 and finished with #98—LaGuardia. Then, starting in 1937, they added a mayor, Charles Lodwik as #21 (1694 to 1695) and bumped everyone after him up one so that LaGuardia became #99. Lodwik had also been missing from the 1869 and 1870 lists in the Manual, most likely the source for the Green Book. However, Lodwik (sometimes spelled Lodewick) had been included in the list of Mayors Valentine published in 1853 as “Charles Lodowick, Mayor in 1694.”

The insertion of Lodwik to the list in 1937 may originate with the 1935 publication of Select Cases of the Mayor’s Court as it contains two mentions of Mayor Charles Lodwik. The book also contains the first mention in print of Nicolls’ 1674 term. It states “The records of the Mayor’s Court included in this volume begin more properly with the reoccupation of the English in 1674. The new mayor and deputy-mayor, Matthias Nicolls and John Lawrence, respectively, had both held the mayoralty under the first English rule.”

Charles Lodowick, Mayor in 1694, was included in “Sketches of the Mayors of New York from 1665 to 1834,” but left out of later lists until 1937. Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1853. D.T. Valentine, Clerk of the Common Council.

Additional confusion about the number of Mayors arises from the differing forms of government during the Dutch and English colonial periods. Until 1977, the City founding date was listed as 1664. In 1977, the founding date was set as “1625” to acknowledge the year the Dutch established a colony on Manhattan. Between 1625 to 1653 the colony was under the authority of the Dutch colonial governors. In 1653, New Amsterdam incorporated under a charter and established the Dutch system of Burgomasters and Schepens, and Schout, which could roughly translate to offices of mayors, aldermen, and sheriff. These bodies decided several different functions, including criminal and civil legal matters, and municipal governance.

On June 12, 1665, the English Governor Richard Nicolls (no relation) abolished the Dutch court and established the first Mayor’s Court, naming Thomas Willet as Mayor. Willet is traditionally listed as the first mayor.

However, even if the count begins in 1665, why does the list skip the new court of Burgomasters and Schepens appointed on August 17th, 1673? Part of the answer is that the Dutch system, with two or three Burgomasters (or Mayors) serving jointly is confusing. And as noted above, part of it is that the Dutch were largely written out of the history of New York City[i] until the 1970s. Given that the first English Mayors appointed by the Governor served functions similar to[ii] their Dutch predecessors, why not include the Burgomasters in the count? If the count included Burgomasters who served multiple, non-consecutive terms, 15 additional Mayors[iii] would be on the list.

List of the Burgomasters 1653-1674 as published in the Civil list and forms of government of the Colony and State of New York: containing notes on the various governmental organizations; lists of the principal colonial, state and county officers, and the congressional delegations and presidential electors, with the votes of the electoral colleges, 1870. Hathi Trust.

The aforementioned hiccup in 1673 was not the only period in which the line of Mayors was broken. Just over a hundred years later, on June 22, 1776, the line was interrupted again when the Continental Army arrested Mayor David Matthews. He escaped from house arrest in December 1776 and returned to New York, then under British military control. Matthews retained the title of Mayor with greatly reduced power. He left the City on November 25th, 1783 (Evacuation Day). The next Mayor was appointed on February 10, 1784.

Four “Acting Mayors” get mentions, but no numbers. Green Book 2019-2020. NYC Municipal Library.

Another oddity is that when Mayor James J. Walker was forced to resign due to a corruption scandal an “Acting Mayor,” Joseph V. McKee—President of the New York City Board of Aldermen—was appointed on September 1, 1932. In the subsequent special election, McKee lost to John P. O’Brien who served for one full year, 1933. O’Brien is on the list as #96, but although McKee is noted, he is not given a number. When William O’Dwyer left office in September 1950, Vincent R. Impellitteri, President of the City Council, assumed the role of Mayor. He is counted because he won the special election in November 1950 and served a full four-year term. McKee is not the only Acting Mayor who is not counted—Ardolph Kline finished William Gaynor’s term, after the latter died on September 10, 1913 of complications from an assassination attempt three years prior.

The Green Book records two additional instances, “T. Coman” in 1868, and “S.B.H. Vance” in 1874. They are on the list but are not counted as Mayors. Thomas Coman was President of the Board of Aldermen from 1868 to 1871. When Mayor John Thompson Hoffman left office to become Governor, Coman was elevated to Acting Mayor, serving from December 1, 1868, to January 4, 1869. The next Tammany-backed Mayor appointed him to oversee construction of the New York County (Tweed) Courthouse, and he was indicted for corruption. Samuel B.H. Vance similarly ascended to Acting Mayor from the position of President of the Board of Aldermen on November 30, 1874, when Mayor William Havemeyer died. He served until January 1, 1875, when William Wickman was sworn in. Exactly four weeks. No scandals recorded.

“Mayors of the City” was another list of mayors Valentine compiled that only included post-Revolutionary War mayors. Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1861. D.T. Valentine, Clerk of the Common Council.

The count of Mayors in New York City government seems not to be determined by a uniform set of rules. Four Mayors who assumed the role by Charter mandate, but who were not elected, are not counted. In the colonial era, Mayors appointed by the English are counted. But not Dutch ones. Or “Acting” ones. Who makes up these rules?

Hortenstine has identified two additional colonial-era “Acting Mayors,” William Beekman from 1681-1683, who had been a Burgomaster in 1674, and Gerardus Stuyvesant in 1744. Neither has been listed in the Green Book and their dates in office overlap with other listed Mayors. The Municipal Archives’ finding aid to the Records of the Early Mayors, also has a numbered list of Mayors. It does not have Nicolls’ second term, or the two Acting Mayors Hortenstine identified, but it has another, Thomas Hood. Hortenstine believes that to be a transcription error however, and that it was Phillip French who assumed the office after Thomas Noell died from smallpox in 1702. The Archives list does assign numbers to Acting Mayors, and when last updated it had Bill de Blasio at #114. Adding the three missing terms, but subtracting Hood, he would be #116, making Adams #117 and Mamdani #118.

The initial question was, should Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani be counted as the 111th or 112th? But the answer has proven far more complex. The numbering of New York City “Mayors” has been somewhat arbitrary and inconsistent. Maybe he should be number 118? If the Dutch Burgomasters were counted in the same way we count Mayors serving non-consecutive terms, another fifteen would be included so the Mayor-elect might be number 133. There may even be other missing Mayors. As far as employees at the Department of Records and Information Services can tell, no government agency has been tasked with “counting” Mayors. The numbers have been more a matter of convenience. One thing for certain is he is not Mayor 111. By our current Anglo-centric numbering practice (not including Acting Mayors) it does appear that on January 1, 2026, Mayor Mamdani should be Mayor number 112.

[i] Valentine complained, in an 1867 letter, that the Dutch records “were not very attentively cared for, having been without readers for probably a century and more. No attempt had been made to translate them; and... the history of New Amsterdam... was not supposed to lie hidden in these dusty, unbound and forbidding volumes.”

[ii] It was not until the Dongan Charter of 1683 that City government more closely resembled our own, with a “common council” that consisted of a mayor, recorder, six aldermen, and six assistant aldermen. Most importantly, the Dongan Charter separated the legislative functions of the council from the two judicial courts that were established. However, the Mayor was still appointed by various governmental bodies until 1834 when Cornelius W. Lawrence was democratically elected Mayor. With the exception of Peter Delanoy who was democratically elected in 1689, during Leisler’s rebellion, a short-lived colonial uprising against Catholic English rule.

[iii] The Burgomasters were the following: 1653: Arent van Hattem, Martin Cregier; 1654: Arent van Hattem (replaced by Allard Anthony), Martin Cregier; 1655-1656: Allard Anthony, Oloff Stevenson van Cortland; 1657: Allard Anthony, Paulus Leendertseen van der Grist; 1658: Paulus Leendertseen van der Grist, Oloff Stevenson van Cortland; 1659: Oloff Stevenson van Cortland, Martin Cregier; 1660: Martin Cregier, Allard Anthony, Oloff Stevenson van Cortland; 1661: Allard Anthony, Paulus Leendertseen van der Grist; 1662: Paulus Leendertseen van der Grist, Oloff Stevenson van Cortland; 1663: Oloff Stevenson van Cortland, Martin Cregier, Paulus Leendertseen van der Grist; 1664: Paulus Leendertseen van der Grist, Cornelis Steenwyck; 1673: Johannes van Brugh, Johannes de Peyster, Ægidius Luyck; 1674: Johannes van Brugh, William Beeckman.

Sources:

American Legal Records—Volume 2: Select Cases of the Mayor’s Court of New York City, 1674-1784. Pp. 40-62. The American Historical Association, 1935. https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/854396/?offset=569061#page=55&viewer=picture&o=download&n=0&q=%22john%20lawrence%22

Andrews, William Loring: “David T. Valentine” reprinted in Valentine’s Manuals: A General Index to the Manuals of the Corporation of the City of New York, 1841-1870. Harbor Hill Books, 1981 (originally published 1900).

Christoph, Peter R., “Mattias Nicolls: Sixth and Eighth Mayor of New York.” The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Record, July 1989: Volume 120, issue 3, pages 26-27. https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/online-records/nygb-record/566-602/26

Civil List and Forms of Government of the Colony and State of New York: containing notes on the various governmental organizations; lists of the principal colonial, state and county officers, and the congressional delegations and presidential electors, with the votes of the electoral colleges. The whole arranged in constitutional periods. Weed, Parsons and Co., 1870. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009014294

Hortenstine, Paul. “NY City Mayors and Slavery: Matthius Nicolls: 6th & 8th.” 2025. Northeast Slavery Records Index. https://nesri.commons.gc.cuny.edu/matthias-nicoll-6th-and-8th/

Guide to the records of the Early Mayors, 1826-1897. NYC Municipal Archives. https://dorisarchive.blob.core.windows.net/finding-aids/FindingAidsPDFs/OM-EMO_REC0002_FA-MASTER.pdf

Valentine, David. T., et. al. Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York by New York (N.Y.). Common Council; 1841, 1853, 1861, 1866, 1870. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000054276

Human Rights Day: How Human Rights Discourse has Impacted the New York City Government since the 1940s

This past May For the Record introduced a new project Processing and Digitizing Records of the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Supported by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives as part of their Documenting Democracy initiative, the project will enhance public access to records created by the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Key activities of the project include rehousing and processing 268 cubic feet of records, digitizing the earliest 53 cubic feet, publishing digitized materials, an online finding aid, social media content and blog posts, and curating a digital exhibit that showcases both the collection and the project’s progress.

This 1964 flyer is from grassroots organizing efforts to end segregation in New York City’s public schools. NYC Commission on Human Rights collection: REC0103, Box: 59, Folder: 17. NYC Municipal Archives.

This week, project staff discuss the historical background of the human rights movement and how the records in the CCHR collection tell the story. Several items identified during processing serve to illustrate this important historical trajectory.

In 1943 Mayor LaGuardia established The Mayor’s Committee on Unity, the first New York City municipal government entity created specifically to address racial and religious tensions and discrimination. The Committee investigated discrimination, mediated community disputes, and produced reports on issues such as inequities in education and city services. Its leadership and membership reflected the city’s diverse communities, and its research was widely circulated to government agencies, universities, and civil rights organizations.

Community members frequently brought neighborhood concerns directly to the Mayor’s Committee on Unity; especially complex or ongoing issues were assigned to subcommittees. For example, the Subcommittee on City Services in Congested Areas investigated inequities in sanitation services within densely-populated minority neighborhoods, while the Subcommittee on Press Treatment of Minority Groups worked with local newspapers to encourage adoption of fair and non-discriminatory news coverage protocols.

This 1944 pamphlet was published by the City-Wide Citizens’ Committee on Harlem, another early civil rights organization that worked with the Mayor’s Committee on Unity to address inequities facing Harlem residents during the mid-20th century. NYC Commission on Human Rights collection: REC0103, Box 25, Folder 5. NYC Municipal Archives.

Long before Mayor LaGuardia established the Unity Committee, specifically dedicated to human and civil rights, several organizations laid the groundwork for addressing institutional discrimination and the need for change. A few organizations that influenced the debate and worked with the City government are shown below.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded in 1909, held its first meeting in New York City. They came into being after the 1908 Springfield Race Riot in Illinois. Accounts of mobs terrorizing the town, lynching Black citizens and burning homes and businesses shocked the nation. The first national organization formed to fight for the rights of Black Americans, the NAACP interracial membership included the Black writers and activists W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells-Barnett. They led national campaigns against lynching and segregation, advanced rights through strategic litigation (culminating in victories like Brown v. Board of Education), and built sustained public advocacy for racial equality in the United States.

in 1913, the B’nai B’rith, a Jewish fraternal organization, founded the Anti-Defamation League to combat antisemitism and fight for civil rights for all marginalized groups in the United States. Members monitored extremist groups like the KKK, fought against discriminatory hiring practices, and promoted civil rights legislation.

In 1942, a group of interracial students in Chicago organized the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). They were inspired by methods of non-violent protest and applied those tactics to help end segregation and discrimination in the United States through sit-ins, voter registration drives, and numerous de-segregation campaigns.

1947 cartoon strip, “Hopeless Henry” by Kaulee. Produced in the aftermath of World War II, the strip was designed to build public support for the newly formed United Nations while also challenging discriminatory attitudes at home. NYC Commission on Human Rights collection: REC0103, Box: 44, Folder: 9. NYC Municipal Archives.

During WW II, Americans heavily promoted the idea that they were fighting for democracy, freedom, and the dignity of all people. There was a strong cultural understanding of the dichotomy “Democracy vs. Fascism.” This idea strengthened changing attitudes towards the necessity of human and civil rights, not just in the war effort, but in the U.S. as well. The 1940’s were still a deeply racially segregated era in the U.S., but northern urban centers, especially New York City, Chicago, and Detroit were some of the first to reach beyond the concept of individualized racism and start addressing structural racism within localized urban contexts.

This 1951 report reflects city government’s engagement with the moral challenges of segregation and efforts to confront and change those conditions. It also demonstrates the influence of ideals shaped by World War II and the emerging international human rights framework established by the United Nations. NYC Commission on Human Rights collection: REC0103, Box: 38, Folder: 11. NYC Municipal Archives.

The United Nations established Human Rights Day in 1950 to celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Adopted on December 10, 1948, the Declaration is the first global statement of fundamental human rights. In recognition of this occasion, it is valuable to consider how national and international human rights discourse in the latter half of the twentieth century shaped the work of New York City government.

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, declared “. . . in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. The American Civil Rights Movement gained momentum after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. In 1957, the City’s Unity Committee evolved into a permanent city-funded agency, the Commission on Intergroup Relations.

Cover sheet from a 1963 research study conducted by the Greater Urban League of New York on the “Problems of Integration in New York City Public School since 1955.” The study was used to guide the City Commission on Human Rights plan of action to more comprehensively tackle desegregation. NYC Commission on Human Rights collection: REC0103, Box: 60, Folder: 7. NYC Municipal Archives.

Events around the country during this period, ranging from the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, integration of the Little Rock Central High School, the March on Washington and passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, all contributed to a greater awareness of discrimination. While New York had made attempts to address school segregation prior to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, progress was slow and uneven. By 1964, frustration over these delays led to a series of massive school boycotts co-organized by the NAACP, the Harlem Parents Committee, CORE, PACE, and the Pan Hellenic Council. About 45% of all NYC students boycotted school on February 3, 1964. An estimated 464,361 students and teachers participated overall, the boycott being so large that it exceeded the number of people who took part in the March on Washington.

Established in 1957, the Commission on Intergroup Relations had a broad mandate, but it created fewer records than the earlier Committee on Unity, and its successor organization, the City Commission on Human Rights. It could be argued that the committee was struggling to keep pace with a rapidly shifting social landscape, resulting in record-keeping practices and organizational structures that were less robust than usual.

In 1962, the Commission on Human Rights took over this role and the administrative records reveal a complex engagement with civil rights issues, activist groups, and civil rights leaders of that time. The first executive director of the Commission on Human Rights, Madison Jones, was the point person for all civil rights issues relayed from the Mayor’s office, as evidenced in the records of their frequent correspondence. A large part of the administrative records also deals with the desegregation of NYC schools. Materials found in the series include reports, action plans, data, press releases, and boycott responses. The CCHR was definitely aware of, and in conversation with, civil rights activist groups and civil rights leaders—there are references and mentions of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in the records.

This excerpt from a 1962 letter written to Madison Jones, the executive director of the City Commission on Human Rights inquires if Jones had invited Malcolm X to the 1962 Harlem Leaders Conference, an interesting piece of ephemera showing the dialogue happening in the NYC government regarding prominent civil rights leaders. NYC Commission on Human Rights collection: REC0103, Box: 61, Folder: 31.

The relationship between CCHR and the political discourse of the time seemed to shift in nature, to that of response, as opposed to the early Mayor’s Committee on Unity’s work, which was more preemptive and forward-looking. But the political discourse around human rights was also very different in the 1940’s compared to the 1960’s, which could partly account for the change in the Commission’s programmatic planning. The archival records suggest that it was the activist groups who pushed for the changes that the city government then responded to, and the city government was often targeted and criticized for its seeming indifference due to its slow bureaucratic processes in making the changes. It would certainly be an interesting research topic to study how the city government’s actions changed, how the political landscape changed, and how the public’s attitudes towards the city government changed when reflecting on civil rights issues from the 1940’s-1960’s.

This summary of negotiations regarding a discriminatory rental practice at the Electchester Housing Cooperative was found amongst correspondence sent from CCHR executive director Madison Jones to the Mayor’s Office. It’s important to note that two local branches of the NAACP and the American Jewish Congress, another civil rights activist group, were part of the negotiations, showing further dialogue between the city government and civil rights activist groups. NYC Commission on Human Rights collection: REC0103, Box: 60, Folder: 28. NYC Municipal Archives.

Current City Organizations Dealing with Human Rights

Since the 1960’s there have been continual changes in the discourse on human rights and in the City’s response to these issues. Several commissions and offices addressing these intersectional concerns have been established, in addition to the CCHR. The City established the Equal Employment Practices Commission in 1989 through the Charter.

In 2022, voters passed an amendment to the City Charter establishing the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice. It is comprised of several governmental offices and commissions that bring an intersectional approach to equity, including NYC Her Future (NHF), the NYC Commission on Gender Equity (CGE), the NYC Unity Project (UP), and the NYC Young Men’s Initiative (YMI) as well as multi-agency bodies like the NYC Pay Equity Cabinet (PEC) and the NYC Taskforce on Racial Inclusion & Equity (TRIE). Together, these offices and commissions aim to engage New York City’s diverse communities and constituencies, advance equity and promote racial justice within New York City.

The City Commission on Human Rights has continued operating under the same name from 1962 until today. The passage of the Human Rights Law of the City of New York in 1965 gave the CCHR authority to prosecute discrimination in private housing, employment, education, and public accommodations. These demanding and important aspects of the CCHR’s work, continues until today. Currently, the CCHR also promotes education on human rights issues through outreach programs and restorative justice practices at community service centers throughout the boroughs.

Conclusion

This dynamic evolution of the concept of human rights has left important evidence in the archival records of New York City’s government. The City Commission on Human Rights Collection offers a concrete, detailed look into the history of a municipal government’s engagement with the fight for human rights, its categorizations, communications, methodologies, applications of the law, and both its achievements and shortcomings confined to the practice of a single city’s governance, from the 1940’s until today.

Federal support for Documenting Democracy was provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission of the National Archives.

Quiz Shows on WNYC: A History of Civic Curiosity

The Municipal Archives’ upcoming trivia night reminds us that New York City has long used questions—and the thrill of answering them under pressure—to engage, educate, and entertain the public. Decades before televised quiz scandals or the high-stakes glitz of commercial networks, WNYC and WNYE were using the question-and-answer format, helping to define one of radio’s most popular genres during its so-called “golden age.” But unlike commercial broadcasters, the city stations used these contests of knowledge and recall as a powerful tool for civic understanding and cultural enlightenment.

H.V. Kaltenborn at Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, January 27, 1934. Photograph by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Brooklyn Daily Eagle editor H. V. Kaltenborn started radio’s first quiz show on WNYC, before going on to a long career in broadcasting.

Early Experiments: The 1920s and 1930s

More than ten years before CBS introduced Professor Quiz in 1936 (popularly regarded as first of the genre), WNYC aired the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s annual Current Events Bee, a competition that pitted leading high-school students against each other in feats of news knowledge. The Bee’s quizmaster, associate editor H. V. Kaltenborn, would later become known nationwide as the “Dean of Network News Commentators.”

Four Current Events “Demons” who won prizes on WNYC, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 24, 1926 pg. 5, Brooklyn Public Library Collection.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle Current Events Bee medal from the 1920s. NYPR Archives Collection.

Twelve years later, WNYC inaugurated what is widely recognized as radio’s first music quiz show, Symphonic Varieties. The program arose almost by accident: a last-minute Saturday cancellation left announcer and drama director Ted Cott scrambling to fill two hours of airtime. He gathered five staff members, jotted down a dozen music questions, and launched an impromptu quiz that immediately drew enthusiastic listener mail. Cott refined the idea into a successful weekly contest pairing a professional musician against a knowledgeable amateur, accompanied by plentiful musical excerpts.

The show attracted notable talent. A young Jonathan Sternberg, later an internationally known conductor, scripted roughly 200 episodes, crafting both questions and correct answers. In January 1939, NBC’s famed “tune detective” Sigmund Spaeth filled in as host. One young contestant—future WNYC and WQXR classical host David Randolph—was encouraged by Spaeth to stick with radio, advice that shaped Randolph’s lifelong broadcasting career.

Cott eventually took the program to CBS, where it was rebranded as So You Think You Know Music.

Art, Culture, and Civic Knowledge

WNYE Know Your City radio transcription disc label, 1927. WNYC collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

In February 1939, the Brooklyn Museum sponsored Art for Art’s Sake, a quiz devoted entirely to painting, sculpture, dance, drama, literature, and architecture. It premiered in WNYC’s largest studio before moving to the museum’s auditorium. Winners were said to receive works of art, although Brooklyn Eagle radio columnist Jo Ranson assured readers that no Rembrandts or Botticellis were being handed out as prizes.

That same year, the WPA’s Federal Writers’ Project joined the wave with Quiz of the Town, airing weekly over the city’s station from the New York World’s Fair. Designed to deepen New Yorkers’ knowledge of their city, the contest drew questions from the WPA’s New York City Guide and similar works. Early contestants included journalists covering the Fair, and winners received a copy of the 800-page guide.

Educating Young New Yorkers: Know Your City

Beginning in 1943, WNYC and WNYE collaborated with the City History Club of New York to launch Know Your City, a weekly children’s quiz on local history, civics, geography, and landmarks. The program was hosted by Edith McGinnis, affectionately known on the air as “Aunt Edith,” who would later become Manhattan’s first borough historian (1950). She viewed the program as an extension of classroom instruction, a way to instill civic pride through lively competition.

In 1945, the Schools Broadcast Conference recognized Know Your City for “outstanding excellence” and “superior educational application.” Listen here to Aunt Edith with kids from P.S. 8 and P.S. 166 on this February 27, 1951 edition.

Postwar Variety and Innovation

At the end of May 1949, WNYC introduced Mind Over Music, with conductor and violinist Mishel Piastro, composer George Kleinsinger (Tubby the Tuba), pianist Seymour Lipkin, and NYU music professor Phillip James as panelists, and John Savage as host. Variety praised the program’s range—from grand opera to Broadway, classics to folk songs—and its mixed format of panel questions and individualized challenges.

Listen here to panelists Walter Hendl, former Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, Vernon Duke, composer of Cabin in the Sky, and WNYC’s “shoeless troubadour” Oscar Brand at the end of August 1949.

During the early 1950s, quiz programs became staples of WNYC’s annual art and book festivals. The first book festival in March 1953 featured a literary Q and A moderated by critic and editor Clifton Fadiman, with a panel of authors, reviewers, and academics that included: “The Critics”—Charles Poore of The New York Times Book Review paired with Columbia University Professor of Philosophy Irwin Edman—against “the Authors”—Alfred Kazin of The New Yorker, and Jan Struther, of “Mrs. Miniver” fame—in a battle over various literary facts. The Critics won.

Civil Service on the Air: Quiz Time

In October 1954, public service became a subject for public competition on Quiz Time, a weekly show featuring teams of city employees from sixteen different departments. Hosted by the Department of Personnel’s Dr. John Furia, the premiere matched Welfare Department staff (a stenographer, interviewer, and investigator) against a fireman, truckman, and fire-boat lieutenant from the Fire Department. Questions escalated from basics—the colors of the city flag, the rivers surrounding it—to thornier queries about how the opposing agency functioned.

Mayor Robert Wagner, introducing the program, described it as a way to show “how the thousands of loyal employees of the city are serving you.” Variety called it “a pleasant vehicle for transporting incidental intelligence about home.” Here, the Department of Budget goes head-to-head against the Department of Correction in May 1954.

A Transforming Genre Transformed

From music and art contests to citywide tests of civic knowledge, WNYC and WNYE’s quiz programs reveal far more than a fondness for trivia. They reflect a philosophy of public broadcasting rooted in curiosity, community, and democratic participation. Long before podcasts or online quizzes invited audiences to “play along,” New York’s municipal stations understood that asking questions was a powerful way to spark interest—whether in classical music, fine arts, local history, or the day-to-day workings of city government.

These programs also underscore the unique role that the city’s radio stations played in mid-century New York culture. Unlike network quiz shows driven by sponsors, prizes, and ratings, WNYC and WNYE’s contests were designed to illuminate rather than sensationalize. They offered New Yorkers a forum in which learning was not merely entertainment but a civic virtue—something shared among students, musicians, museum curators, firefighters, welfare investigators, and anyone tuned in at home.

Although the quiz-show scandals of the late 1950s reshaped public perception of the genre, the municipal station’s earlier efforts stand apart. They belonged to a different tradition: one that celebrated knowledge without cash incentives, showcased the talents of city workers, encouraged children to explore their neighborhoods, and invited listeners to see culture and government as accessible parts of daily life.

In revisiting these programs—from Symphonic Varieties to Know Your City and Quiz Time—we are reminded that the simple act of posing questions can knit a community together. WNYC’s legacy of inquiry lives on not only in modern trivia nights but in the station’s continued commitment to public service broadcasting. The history of these quiz shows offers an instructive window into how New York once educated and entertained itself—one question at a time.

Test Your NYC Knowledge at the NYC Department of Records and Information Services’ Second Annual Trivia Night! 
 

Do you know which Brooklyn thoroughfare was the location of the nation’s first bike lane? Or how many U.S. presidents were born in NYC? Or which hip-hop group from Staten Island helped put “Shaolin” on the musical map? 

Whether you’re a native New Yorker, new to the Big Apple, or simply love trivia, join us for an exciting evening of fun, facts, and friendly competition at our second annual NYC history trivia night! 

Test your knowledge of the city’s rich past and unique records, with questions highlighting everything from iconic moments to forgotten landmarks in New York City’s history. This is your chance to show off your smarts, bond with friends, and maybe learn something new along the way!


Date: Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025 
Time: Doors Open at 6:00PM; Trivia begins at 6:30PM 
Location: Surrogate’s Courthouse, 31 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007 

Teams: 

  • Teams of up to 5 are welcome! 

  • Already have a team? Great! All teammates must register individually and indicate the team captain’s name.

  • Coming solo or with just a few friends? No problem! You can compete on your own or we'll happily match you with other trivia lovers on the night of. 

Prizes: 

  • The top two teams will take home some fantastic prizes! 

  • Spots are limited, so don’t wait—reserve your spot today! 

 
To RSVP for “Trivia Night at the Municipal Archives & Library,” click here. 

Mr. George Rex, “The Last Slave”

Recently, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) asked the Municipal Archives to participate in a panel discussion The Birth of Identity: Race, Racism, and Personhood in New York City Health Records. Organized by Dr. Michelle Morse, Acting Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer of the DOHMH, the panelists explored the importance of birth certificates and how they record essential facts about a person’s identity. The panel also addressed how race data on birth records informs DOHMH work in pre-natal, maternal wellness, and health outcomes.

Dr. Morse extended the invitation when she learned about the Archives collection of records that document the births of enslaved children. They consist of more than 1,300 entries in local government records throughout the five Boroughs of New York City. These records had been created in response to the 1799 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in New York State. The Law stated that children born to enslaved women after July 4, 1799, would be legally freed after 25 years for women, and 28 years for men. In most instances, enslavers reported births of the children in recorded statements before Town clerks or other officials.

To prepare for the panel discussion, City archivists considered whether the Historical Vital Records (HVR) and related vital record ledger collections could potentially augment information about the enslaved children documented in the manumission records. Although vital records for the towns and villages in Brooklyn and Queens, where most of the manumissions took place, only date back to the early 1880s, research in the series is now significantly easier thanks to a completed digitization and indexing project.

Town of Newtown, Queens death ledger, 1881-1897. Historical Vital Record collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

To test their theory, City archivists began reviewing the Town of Newtown, Queens, death ledger (1881-1897), and soon came across a startling entry: No. 982; date of death: March 2, 1885; name of deceased: George Rex; age: 89. In the column for “Occupation,” the clerk wrote, very clearly, “The Last Slave.” Oh!

Apparently, the clerk somehow knew that Mr. George Rex had been born enslaved and was described in his community as the last person with that background. The research journey that led to Mr. Rex was conveyed at the DOHMH panel, with a suggestion that further research in the Archives might provide “The Last Slave” with a greater sense of identity and dignity.

Subsequent to the panel discussion, City archivists began building a family tree for Mr. Rex. Based on his apparent renown in the community, it seemed possible that his death may have resulted in a local news article. And indeed it did. In fact, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper (digitized and available on-line via the Brooklyn Public Library) published several articles about Mr. Rex. “Frozen to Death,” ran on March 3, 1885. The subhead added, “George Recks, the Missing Negro, Found after Three Weeks’ Searching the Woodside, L.I. Woods.”

The story related that Recks is the “. . . aged negro who mysteriously disappeared from his home on Quincy Street, near Lewis Avenue [Brooklyn], about three weeks ago.” The story stated that he had been owned by the Rapelye family of Brooklyn and “. . . was believed to have been the last negro slave freed on Long Island.” It also added that George Reck’s father was named George Rex, after the then King of England, but the spelling of the family name had been changed to Recks.

Marriage certificate for Phoebe Ricks and Joseph Trower, 1879. Historical Vital Record collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Would the Historical Vital Record (HVR) collection provide a greater identity and more information about Mr. George Rex/Recks? The answer is yes. The newspaper article stated that Recks had been the father-in-law of “J. C. Trower.” With that clue, archivists quickly located the 1879 marriage of Phoebe Ricks to Mr. Joseph Trower. The marriage certificate confirmed Pheobe’s parents, George Ricks and Isabella Crips. (The name was variously spelled as Ricks or Recks in the vital records.)

Continuing to search in the HVR, looking for death records indexed as Recks/Ricks resulted in the death certificate of George’s wife Isabella Crips, on July 4, 1871. According to the certificate, she had been born in Virginia in 1809, and her place of death, Quincy Street, near Stuyvesant Avenue, matched George’s residence. The certificate also indicated that Isabella was buried at the “Weekesville” Cemetery. One of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, Weekesville is currently an historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn.

The HVR index also led to information about George and Isabella’s other children. In addition to Phoebe, they had at least two other daughters, Margaret and Jane. Their sons William, Thomas and Peter all died at a young age. 

Death certificate for George’s son, Thomas Rix, 1862. Historical Vital Record collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Continuing research on Phoebe and James Trower, revealed that they had at least two sons, Walter and Herbert. Both lived, married and died in Brooklyn; their records consistently stated Mother’s name Phoebe Ricks, and Father’s Name Joseph A. Trower. Further research will focus on whether either of their sons had children. Perhaps these inquiries will lead to descendants of George Rex/Recks/Ricks alive today. 

Other Municipal Archives collections have proved useful in confirming additional information about George Rex/Recks/Ricks, in particular his residence on Quincy Street in Brooklyn. On March 4, 1885, the Eagle published a follow-up article. The story related that “The deceased... was born on the farm where he died. Alderman Collins, for whom Recks worked as a gardener... will see that his body is given a proper burial.”  The article added that “Mr. Collins’ wife is a daughter of Jeremiah J. Rapelye, who built for Recks a house on Quincy Street when that populous neighborhood was almost as lonely as Montauk Point.”   

Annals of Newtown, 1852. Courtesy NYPL.

The Town of Newtown death ledger entry for George Rex’ death indicated his place of birth as “Trains Meadows on the Rapelye-Purdy Farm.” Seeking to know more about this reference led to a volume, Annals of Newtown, in the Municipal Library. The book included a map insert that showed the exact location of Trains Meadows, and that it bordered both the Rapelye and Purdy farms.     

The Municipal Archives map collections and the Assessed Valuation of Real Estate ledgers confirmed the newspaper story about the Quincy Street house. The 1886 atlas of Brooklyn (Robinson’s) showed that the residence was clearly within the boundaries of what had been the Rapelye farmland in Brooklyn. The assessed valuation of real estate ledgers for Brooklyn also corroborated the news account. The Brooklyn 19th century assessment records are arranged by Ward number and further by block and lot numbers. The related series of Ward Maps helped identify the necessary numbers for the Quincy Street property: Ward 9 (later Ward 21), block 192, lot 18.   

Robinson’s Atlas of Brooklyn, 1886. NYC Municipal Archives.

Unlike the Manhattan annual assessment ledgers, each Brooklyn book spans several years. The Ward 21 ledger for 1869 through 1873, lists “J. Rapelye” as the “owner” of block 192, lot 8. Under “description of property” the clerk scribbled what looks like the number “2” indicating a two-story structure. According to later assessment records, within a few years after the death of George Rex, his property had been divided into lots and sold for residences.       

Record of Assessed Valuation, Brooklyn, Ward 21 for 1869 through 1873. NYC Municipal Archives.

George Rex’s house, lot 18, sat in the corner of what had been the Rapelye farm. Robinson’s Atlas of Brooklyn, 1886. NYC Municipal Archives.

Returning to information in the Newtown death ledger, under “cause of death” the clerk wrote “Inquest Pending” by medical attendant Coroner O’Connell. The Archives Old Town Records collection, recently processed with support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, includes several ledgers created by town coroners including O’Connell. Regrettably, the oldest surviving ledger maintained by Coroner O’Connell only dates back to November 1885; several months after the death of George Rex. However, on March 4, 1885, the Brooklyn newspaper reported that the cause of death had been confirmed as exposure.

Record of Assessed Valuation, Brooklyn, Ward 9 Atlas, 1863. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Municipal Archives recently launched a transcription project that will greatly enhance access to the manumission records. Born before enactment of New York State’s law for gradual emancipation in 1799, George Rex’ name will not appear in that series.  Using the Old Town records, vital records and other collections, it may be possible to identify and develop fuller histories of other member of the Rex family.

The research will continue. Mr. George Rex, “The Last Slave” will not be forgotten! 

New Yorkers Love Books!

Book Sale in the Atrium at 31 Chambers Street, November 7, 2025.

Staff at the Municipal Archives and Library weeded surplus books from our collections for the purpose of holding a two-day book sale of items that might be of interest to the general public.

The sale was scheduled for two days, Friday, November 7, and Saturday, November 8.  Because of the overwhelming response by New Yorkers, almost everything was sold on Friday and the Saturday sale is cancelled.

The turnout was unprecedented. Our prior sale of similar deaccessioned books in 2016 had much lower participation. Today, by contrast, people were lined up by 9:00 a.m. to get in. Twice, admission had to be paused because the number of people in the lobby was close to the limit under the fire / safety rules.

New Yorkers love books and bargains! Both of which they got today.

If you missed the sale and are interested in an online auction of exceptional items, please check out our online auction https://on.nyc.gov/auction where twelve volumes are on the auction block until Friday November 14. In addition, we still have a limited number of original redeemed vintage bonds and stock certificates dating from the 1920s to the 1980s offered for sale on our support page: https://www.archives.nyc/support

Book Sale in the Atrium at 31 Chambers Street, November 7, 2025.