Michael Lorenzini
Breaking the Color Line: Mayor LaGuardia and ...

On October 24th, 1945, newspapers announced that the Brooklyn Dodgers had signed Jackie Robinson to their Montreal farm team, effectively ending segregation in professional baseball. General manager Branch Rickey did not participate in the signing ceremony, but he quickly made sure that the press knew he was the one behind it.

What went underreported at the time were the behind-the-scenes efforts of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and the City’s Committee on Unity, led by Dan Dodson, a professor within the Educational Sociology Program at NYU…. The Mayor’s correspondence files and the records of the NYC Commission on Human Rights in the Municipal Archives help tell the little-known story of the political pressure at play in breaking the color line in baseball.

Amy Stecher
Manhattan Building Plans Processing Project ...
Alexandra Hilton & Matthew Minor
Mystery Item, Part II
Pauline Toole
200 Years of the Erie Canal
Kenneth Cobb
The NYC Department of Health Celebrates 220 ...

Brooklyn Dodgers

Breaking the Color Line: Mayor LaGuardia and the Fight to Desegregate Baseball

On October 24th, 1945, newspapers announced that the Brooklyn Dodgers had signed Jackie Robinson to their Montreal farm team, effectively ending segregation in professional baseball. General manager Branch Rickey did not participate in the signing ceremony, but he quickly made sure that the press knew he was the one behind it.

What went underreported at the time were the behind-the-scenes efforts of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and the City’s Committee on Unity, led by Dan Dodson, a professor within the Educational Sociology Program at NYU…. The Mayor’s correspondence files and the records of the NYC Commission on Human Rights in the Municipal Archives help tell the little-known story of the political pressure at play in breaking the color line in baseball.

New Yorkers' Voice Their Dodgers Views: Missives to Mayor Wagner

Not so long ago, New York City had three baseball teams: The Dodgers, the Giants and the Yankees. Competition was fierce and team alliances were set in stone. But then, in the course of one year, only one remained: the others left town.

The end result is well known—in 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers decamped to Los Angeles, becoming the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team now in the World Series. The Giants also skulked away to San Francisco but without much hand wringing from fans or sports columnists or impassioned correspondence to the Mayor.

Doomed Guests: Faisal II, The “Boy King” Of Iraq

The City of New York has hosted hundreds of distinguished individuals and groups, from heads of state to accomplished athletes. The art of a New York City reception was the brainchild of public relations guru Grover A. Whalen...