During the Covid pandemic in 2020 the Department of Records & Information Services assigned several Municipal Archives staff to assignments that could be completed remotely. The projects included transcribing collection inventories, lists, finding guides and other descriptive materials into searchable databases and spreadsheets.

Recently, archivist Cynthia Brenwall resumed transcribing descriptions of documents in the Early Mayors’ collection. This series comprises correspondence and documents from New York City mayoral administrations from 1826 through 1897 and totals 157.5 cubic feet. The collection had been assembled by Rebecca Rankin during her 32-year tenure as the Director of the Municipal Library between 1920 and 1952. This was a core collection in the Municipal Archives when it opened in 1952, and remains one of the most important series documenting nineteenth-century government and policies.

One feature of the correspondence noted by Ms. Brenwall during her work in 2020 and again more recently, is the elaborate commercially produced stationery and letterheads used by businesses and governments. This week For the Record takes a closer look at these wonderful works of art that defined an era of letter writing.