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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.

If Not Perfectly Clear, Postponed One Week: Invitations of the Gilded Age

Invitation to a Lawn Party to Aid the Peabody Home for Aged Women, June 7, 1890. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.

Viewers of the new HBO series The Gilded Age may speculate about the veracity of the many plot lines drawn from 19th century New York City history. The New York Times recently published a helpful guide for the curious: “The Gilded Age: What Is Fact and What Is Fiction?” (February 22, 2022). In the article, writer Sarah Lyall examined the “back stories of some of the elements that shape the world of the series.” As Ms. Lyall explains, that world is “…the Gilded Age of our imagination, full of grand families, sumptuous furnishings, lavish entertainments, stringent social rules, massive fortunes and sky’s-the-limit ambitions.”

Invitation to the Fourth Annual Excursion of Ivy Lodge No. 65, July 10, 1893. Early Mayors Records, Thomas F. Gilroy. NYC Municipal Archives.

Among the preoccupations of those at the at the apex of the city’s social scene (or those who wished to be) is the world of charitable functions. To be more specific, who was invited to what charity event (and who was not invited) formed the centerpiece of much the conflict between new and old money New York families that is engagingly depicted in the program.

Complimentary Ticket to the Tournament at the New Game of Billiards at Tammany Hall, November 11, 1879. Early Mayors Records, Edward Cooper.  NYC Municipal Archives.

The importance of these social events resonated with city archivists who remembered seeing invitations and other artifacts of these functions in the Early Mayors’ Records. This series includes correspondence and documents from New York City mayoral administrations from 1826 through 1897 and totals 157.5 cubic feet. The collection had originally 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. The Early Mayors' Records finding guide is now available online.  

Invitation to the First Annual Summer Festival for the Benefit of the Immigrant Girls Home, August 13, 1891. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.

 Two blogs in 2020, The Transcription Project, Early Mayors’ Collection, and

The Transcription Project, Early Mayors’ Collection II , discussed how archivists, working remotely in 2020, transcribed descriptive materials that enhances access to the intellectual content of the series. Researchers will be able to more easily identify the invitations and other artifacts of the social scene, such as the samples reproduced here.   

Invitation to the Grand Annual Excursion of the Mohawk Association, August 13, 1890. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.

Another theme, thoroughly exploited for dramatic purposes in the series, are the interactions between political leaders and the business community. The invitations to social, fraternal and other functions found in the mayor’s papers (many marked ‘complimentary’) are just one manifestation of this enduring fact of New York City life during that era.  

Invitation to the Grand Annual Pic-Nic for the Benefit of St. Mary’s Literary Institute, June 7, 1880. Early Mayors Records, Edward Cooper. NYC Municipal Archives.

Invitation to the Family Excursion of the Property Owners Association, July 22, 1897. Early Mayors Records, William L. Strong. NYC Municipal Archives.

Here are a few examples. Today we can appreciate them for their artistry, color, and typography—evocative of the ‘Gilded Age’ in New York City—and as artifacts of a world long-gone. 

Invitation to Grand Annual Ball of the Legion of Justice, March 9, 1891. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.

Program, Metropolitan Opera, January 24, 1891. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant.  NYC Municipal Archives.

Program, Metropolitan Opera, January 24, 1891. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant.  NYC Municipal Archives.

Hat Check for the Tough Club, February 21, 1890. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.

Knights Temperance Invitation, September 16, 1890. Early Mayors Records, Hugh J. Grant. NYC Municipal Archives.

Searching for Marsha P. Johnson

The motivation for this blog was to celebrate gay rights activist Marsha P. Johnson’s influence on New York City history using materials from the Municipal Archives collections. Marsha P. Johnson was a black transgender sex worker and gay rights activist who rose to fame in the 1960s and 1970s. Considering all the lives she touched and the park and statues recently dedicated to her, it seemed reasonable to assume that her name would appear throughout the Archives. But diligent research in property, prosecution, and park documents failed to result in documentation. However, ripples and echoes of Johnson's actions did appear in the Handschu series, one of the most important collections for researching activism in New York City.

Marsha P. Johnson pickets Bellevue Hospital to protest treatment of street people and gays, ca. 1968. Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. Digital Collections.

The “Handschu” series is formally known as the New York Police Department Intelligence Division records collection. It contains more than 2,500 files on groups and organizations that operated between the 1940s-1970s. The files were created by the Bureau of Special Services, a unit within the NYPD Intelligence Division that conducted investigations on groups both on the right and left of the political spectrum. The records had been transferred from the New York Police Department to comply with the ruling of Handschu et. al. vs. Special Services Division (1986). 

The first step in researching activism in the Handschu Collection is to identify dates of known protests and the names of relevant individuals and organizations. Marsha P. Johnson was a founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). According to the collection inventory, the GLF and Gay Activist Alliance are each represented with an individual folder in Series IV: Small Organizations files. These folders in turn were found to contain two index cards referencing several folders within the 1969, 1970, and 1971 Communication files series.  

Despite careful searching in the references, Marsha P. Johnson was never listed by name. Sometimes archives have gaps—perhaps due to collection policies or institutional prejudices against marginalized history—but often it is just that the documentation simply doesn't exist. Currently, the Handschu collection is not fully processed (i.e. not fully reviewed or arranged), which means Marsha P. Johnson may still be represented in other parts of the collection. 

Although Johnson’s name did not appear on any document, her work was well evident in the collection. 

Communication file on a demonstration by the Gay Liberation Front at NYU and Bellevue, 1970.  While this document does not include Johnson by name, there is evidence she had been protesting Bellevue Hospital as shown by the above image from the NYPL digital collections. NYPD Intelligence Division Records, NYC Municipal Archives.

STAR members protesting conditions in the Manhattan Mens House of Detention, better known as “the Tombs,” 1971. NYPD Intelligence Division Records, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Handschu collection contains records documenting the demands that gay activists, like Johnson, presented to the city including flyers used to call new activists to demonstrations and protests. The exact routes taken by protesters were recorded by the very organization they were protesting. Even the messages written on the flyers and protest signs are documented by the police who conducted the surveillance.

This is what makes the Handschu collection a wonderful tool for research—lots of little pieces waiting for someone to apply context and build a larger picture.

There’s a complicated relationship between activists such as Marsha P. Johnson and the NYPD, which is why thinking about these materials as tiny bits of a bigger picture is important. Without the dedicated work of independent organizations and archivists, the larger context would be lost. If you are interested in learning about the history of activism in New York City, the Handschu collection could have exactly what you need, as long as you know to look for it.

Sabbath Studies, the Arnold Eagle Interview

In 1980, curator Barbara Millstein conducted interviews and corresponded with several surviving staff members of the New York City unit of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Writers’ Project (FWP). The knowledge she gained helped prepare interpretive materials for the Department of Records & Information Services’ exhibition “NYC Work and Work: WPA Photographs.” Recent blogs highlighted Ms. Millstein’s interview transcript with  Clifford Sutcliffe and correspondence with Ralph De Sola. Both served as photographers for the FWP. This week, in the final installment of this series, we are reproducing the notes from her interview with photographer Arnold Eagle.   

Sabbath Studies, 1937. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Arnold Eagle was part of a generation of Hungarian emigrees who were influential in photography including Robert Capa, Cornell Capa, André Kertész, Brassaï, László Moholy-Nagy and Martin Munkácsi. Although not nearly as well known as his contemporaries, Eagle was significant in his own right as a photographer and photo-educator. Eagle was born December 14, 1909, in Stryi, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was later incorporated into Poland before becoming part of Ukraine in 1939.

Eagle emigrated to the United States with his family in 1929. He took up photography soon after and was a member of the Film and Photo League in New York, and then the social justice-oriented Photo League. In 1937, he joined the WPA as a photographer and worked with both the Federal Art Project and the Federal Writers’ Project. He also photographed for the Public Works Administration (PWA), another New Deal program.

Eagle is best known for a book of portraits of the Orthodox Jewish community on the Lower East Side, which was published posthumously by Aperture in 1992 as At Home Only with God. Many images from this project are included in the Archives’ FWP photograph collection.

The following is a summary of Barbara Millstein’s interview conducted with Arnold Eagle on January 31, 1980.

Eagle said that he was on the project for about two years, from 1938 to 1939, but he has some records that indicate that he was on from 1937 [many of the prints from his “Sabbath Studies” project are marked “Jan-Mar 1937”]. After he left the WPA he became head of the photography project at the National Youth Administration.

Eagle said that he was one of the non-relief workers. A Mr. Vincintini, his first supervisor, liked Eagle’s work (a series of photographs on the 3rd Ave. El) and asked him to be part of the project. About 20 or 30 people worked in the photography division. Very few of the photographers did creative work. They mostly photographed paintings, murals, and models. They photographed work for the Index of American Design, and did publicity shots for other WPA agencies, as well as some creative work.

WPA publicity. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Eagle seems to have done a little of everything, but he most clearly remembers two creative projects. The first was a series on housing, with Dave Robbins. This took about six months. He photographed slums and also some of the same people after they moved into new public housing [Eagle was probably referring to the Williamsburg Houses, which were built as a PWA project. The photographs are uncredited, but the Municipal Archives’ collections include “before” shots from 1935, and “after” shots from 1937, which might be by Eagle and Robbins.]

Eagle has a book of photographs (and also the negatives) titled ‘One Third of a Nation: A Social Document, by Arnold Eagle.’ Some of the stills were used in the film, One Third of a Nation. The photographs were also exhibited at the Federal Art Gallery. He has no recollection of these or other photographs being used in the Federal Writers’ Project books. He thinks that the Citizens Housing Council had something to do with his work, but not sure exactly what. [One Third of a Nation was a still photograph project by Photo League photographers Eagle, Sol Libsohn and David Robbins from 1935 to 1937 documenting New York City slum conditions. It was made into a 1938 play and a 1939 film by the WPA Federal Theatre Project.]

Sabbath Studies, 1937. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

His second creative project was Sabbath Studies. He has postcards done recently which reproduce these photographs, dated 1937. He had his own equipment (Speed Graphic and Roloflex cameras), but he remembers that the WPA had equipment as well, although he thinks he used his own equipment when he did his creative work. The WPA provided the other supplies (which he says were plentiful) and darkrooms as well, where he would develop his own work. He feels that he “learned a great deal from his work, even his copying work.” In general, he felt that it was a “helpful and creative kind of thing.” He had great pride in his work and enjoyed doing his work. He had a great deal of respect for the whole WPA as representing a great cultural awakening for America. He and others were trying to get away from Salon Photography, which was considered conservative, and a phony painter tradition.

He felt that photography was communication, and he came out of a documentary tradition, although many of the photographers on the WPA felt like news reporters covering assignments. He had earlier been a portrait photographer, but was always interested in documentary photography. 

After the WPA, Eagle took photographs for Fortune and The Saturday Evening Post magazines and worked with Roy Stryker for Standard Oil of New Jersey. He later became a cinematographer and taught filmmaking and photography at the New School for Social Research from 1955 until shortly before his death in 1992.

Sabbath Studies, 1937. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Sabbath Studies, 1937. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Sabbath Studies, 1937. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Sabbath Studies, 1937. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Sabbath Studies, 1937. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Sabbath Studies, 1937. Photograph by Arnold Eagle, WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Ralph De Sola, WPA Photographer

Ralph De Sola, Editor and Photographer, WPA Federal Writers’ Project, 1940. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The recent blog Because He Had a Camera, featured an interview with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Writers’ Project photographer Clifford Sutcliffe. The interview transcript was filed in the records of Barbara Millstein, curator of the Department of Records & Information Services’ exhibition NYC Work and Working: WPA Photographs. Opened in September 1980, it displayed more than 130 images from the Municipal Archives’ WPA Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) photograph collection. Ms. Millstein’s files also contained correspondence with another FWP photographer and editor, Ralph De Sola. This week’s blog reproduces De Sola’s letter to Millstein, and highlights seven of his photographs. A future blog will feature Ms. Millstein’s interview with FWP photographer Arnold Eagle. These materials add valuable knowledge about the FWP and the provenance of one of the most appealing and enduring collections in the Municipal Archives.

Ralph De Sola to Barbara Head Millstein, March 4, 1980. NYC Municipal Archives

As noted in his letter, De Sola sent Ms. Millstein a selection of photographs he took for various FWP book projects including The Maritime History of New York, Who’s Who in the Zoo, Birds of the World, Reptiles and Amphibians, and American Wildlife Illustrated. The pictures he sent were appended to the original FWP collection that had been transferred to the Municipal Library by the FWP at the conclusion of the project in 1943. (The Municipal Archives, an offshoot of the Municipal Library, was established in 1950 and many collections were transferred from the Library at that time.)

The inventory of the Archives’ FWP photograph collection lists 103 images created by Ralph De Sola. Of these, twenty-four have been digitized and are available in the gallery. 

American Eagle, photograph for American Wildlife Illustrated. ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Old wooden three-story house under the bridge, Water and Dock Street, Brooklyn side, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brooklyn Piers near Fulton Street, December 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Artist, Jack Nelson, with animal paintings, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Printing press, Brooklyn Museum, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

WPA Bookbinder, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“What We Have Done,” book covers newspapers, reviews, Harry Hopkins quotation, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Display of WPA guidebooks at Macy's, ca. 1937. Ralph De Sola, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Clarence Ralph De Sola was born at 64 West 88th Street in New York City on July 26, 1908. His post-WPA career included technical writing and editing. From 1955 to 1968, he taught technical English in the San Diego Unified Colleges. He authored several books including Abbreviations Dictionary, Crime Dictionary, A Dictionary of Cooking, and Worldwide What & Where: A Geographic Glossary & Traveler’s Guide.  He died June 8, 1993 in California.

WNYC-TV Presents Poetry Spots

Starting in the early 1980’s, municipal broadcaster WNYC-TV shifted from primarily broadcasting public ceremonies and government press conferences to creating original programming that highlighted the diverse cultures, events and people of New York. One such television program was Poetry Spots, originally conceived of by poet Bob Holman. Poetry Spots featured award-winning writers like Allen Ginsberg and paired readings of their poems with short video art segments usually featuring the authors themselves. Airing for six seasons from 1987 to 1993, the series won two New York Emmy awards and inspired other innovative programs on poetry and video art.

Bob Holman, We Interrupt This Program

REC0047_2_158_2142: WNYC-TV Poetry Spots, April 26, 1989, Bob Holman - We Interrupt This Program

Before Poetry Spots, Bob Holman was an active organizing member of the New York City poetry community. Originally raised in rural Ohio, Holman attended Columbia University in the late 1960s, but found his artistic home in the Lower East Side. After graduating, Holman became a member of multiple local poetry organizations, like the Nuyorican Poet’s Café and the St. Mark’s Poetry Project, as well as an active director and producer of plays written by fellow poets at The Poet’s Theater. Learning from his experience producing Poetry Spots, Holman went on to refine the format for his award-winning PBS series United States of Poetry in 1996. Still active today, Holman now runs several Bowery-based arts organizations, like Bowery Poetry Club and Bowery Poetry Books.

Jessica Hagedorn, Loft Living

REC0047_2_158_2142: WNYC-TV Poetry Spots, April 26, 1989, Jessica Hagedorn - Loft Living

Jessica Hagedorn is an award-winning American playwright, composer and author who first moved to New York in 1978 after growing up in Manila and getting her education in theater in San Francisco. She quickly wrote and staged several of her works like Mango Tango, Tenement Lover, Holy Food and Teenytown. Just after her appearance on Poetry Spots, Hagedorn released her 1990 novel Dogeaters, which caused controversy among Filipino communities for exploring themes of colonialization and westernization. At the same time, it won an American Book Award and has been adapted into successful stage productions several times.

Allen Ginsberg, In My Kitchen

REC0047_2_158_2142: WNYC-TV Poetry Spots, April 26, 1989, Allen Ginsberg - In My Kitchen

Along with writers like Jack Kerouac and William S. Boroughs, Allen Ginsberg defined the Beat Generation of poets with his famous 1951 poem Howl. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Ginsberg lived in cities across the world, but spent much of his life living and working in New York’s East Village. For decades, Ginsberg was a prominent voice in the American counterculture, writing poems that denounced military actions like the Vietnam War, advocated for greater free speech and explored culturally taboo topics, like drug use and homosexuality. Ginsberg passed away in 1997 from liver cancer not long after a last public appearance at an NYU Poetry Slam. His last poem Things I’ll Not Do (Nostalgias) was written one week before his death.

June Jordan, Financial Planning and Sara Miles

REC0047_2_158_2142: WNYC-TV Poetry Spots, April 26, 1989, June Jordan - Financial Planning and Sara Miles.

June Jordan blurred the lines between journalist and poet perhaps more than any other author featured in Poetry Spots. Along with more than two dozen major works of creative writing, Jordan was also known for her journalism as a regular contributor to the publication The Progressive from 1989 to 2001, shortly before her death in 2002. Growing up in Harlem to parents who had emigrated from Jamaica, Jordan won many awards and grants as she progressed rapidly in her career, focusing on issues of racial justice, feminism, and queer rights. Her awards included a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982 and an award from the National Association of Black Journalism in 1984, to name just a few. In 2019, Jordan was added to the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument in 2019 for her focus on LGBTQ issues in her writings, both fiction and non-fiction.

The full version of this episode of Poetry Spots is now available on the New York City Municipal Archives digital gallery, as well as compilations and other full episodes. Hundreds of hours of other programs from WNYC-TV that focused on arts and culture are also freely available, such as New York Hotline, Neighborhood Voices and Heart of the City. From 1985 to 1996, programs like these helped New Yorkers explore their City in ways they never would have otherwise. We hope that by preserving and making them widely available, they can inspire not only New Yorkers, but people from around the world.

The 2021 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 2021 ARB Report, describes another year of exceptional accomplishments in the City’s archival program, all the more remarkable in light of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

Municipal Archives, Reading Room, Industry City, Brooklyn. NYC Municipal Archives.

Highlights of the Report:

The fiscal year 2021 accomplishments detailed in the report are many, but two in particular result from many years of planning and hard work—the new archival facility and the NYCMA Collection Guides.  When the Municipal Archives moved from the Rhinelander Building in the mid-1960s (demolished to make way for 1 Police Plaza), its subsequent  Manhattan locations (23 Park Row, Tweed Courthouse, and 31 Chambers) did not have the capacity to store the entirety of the collections. Additional storage space was provided in several locations, including a pier along the Hudson River and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, all of which were substandard for archival holdings. Beginning in 1986, the City leased space for the Archives in Industry City, Brooklyn. Although the facility was an improvement on prior locations, it was not suitable for long-term storage of archival materials. 

Finally, in 2015, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services began the process of locating and planning for an appropriate archival storage facility and subsequently funding was secured for a new space. Located within the Industry City complex (not far from its current location) the new space would incorporate environmental controls, high-density shelving, and modern spaces for research as well as essential appraisal, processing, conservation and preservation work. 

Construction of the new facility began in January 2020.  Despite COVID-19 related delays, construction was completed in May 2021. There is a public reading room for research, a digital laboratory, collections processing offices, and a conservation triage lab.  It provides more than 90,000 linear feet of storage across three floors, and a cold storage vault for photograph and audio-visual materials.  Custom storage units were designed to house ledgers, rolled and oversize flat maps, as well as drawings and unique objects. 

Preparation for moving into the new facility prompted extensive work to improve intellectual control over collections. As detailed in the report, these activities included barcoding, adding descriptive information, replacing more than 55,000 damaged containers and surface-cleaning. In total, more than 160,000 cubic feet of varied historical materials were relocated to the new site.  

In another major achievement during the fiscal year, the Municipal Archives launched the NYCMA Collection Guides, a web-based platform that provides public access to detailed descriptions of archival collections.   The Guide is the culmination of years of work on the part of Archives and IT Staff to build the vast data infrastructure of names, places and subjects that are linked to New York City agencies, offices, commissions, and administration. 

Gable-End Elevation, Brooklyn Bridge Station, Brooklyn Terminal 1881. Brooklyn Bridge Drawings Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The ARB report also describes progress on several grant projects:  preservation and digitization of the Old Town ledgers and processing of the Manhattan Building Plan Collection.  Other work detailed in the report includes legacy data management, the transcription projects and reappraisal work and 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.

Please take a few minutes to read the report and look for updates on progress of the archival program in future blogs.