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Researching the Topic Abortion in the Health Commissioners Collection

The Municipal Archives has always focused on processing and providing access to collections with the broadest appeal to researchers. Two examples are the Mayoral collections and the Department of Parks series during the era of Robert Moses from the 1930s to the 1960s. Continuing this practice, the on-going processing of the New York Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit records will serve as a resource for people researching a wide array of topics in American history.

Another collection with comprehensive significance, both in terms of its intellectual content and quantity, is the Health Commissioners records.  

Demonstrating for free abortion clinics, Foley Square, ca. 1970. NYPD Special Investigations Unit photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

This week, For the Record focuses on the topic of abortion and family planning services, highlighting relevant material in the Health Commissioners records during the early 1970’s when Dr. Mary McLaughlin served as Commissioner.

The value of the Health Commissioners collection derives from the pre-eminence of the City’s Health Department as it defined the role and scope of public health services, not only locally, but for the entire nation. These records document how the City managed complex public health and political considerations in response to disease, epidemics and innumerable health-related challenges. 

The collection is vast. It totals 742 cubic feet and is composed of 21 series, one for each of the medical professionals who served as Commissioner of the Department of Health from 1928 through the early 1990s. Researchers can explore dozens of interesting topics in the collection including chronic and degenerative ailments such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and glaucoma; campaigns against venereal disease, smoking, drinking, and substance abuse; vaccination programs for polio, measles, diphtheria, hepatitis, and other diseases, many of which faced controversy upon their introduction. Other subjects represented in the collection are sickle-cell anemia, fluoridation, lead poisoning, asbestos, rat and mosquito control, asthma, and methadone. The records pertaining to the AIDS epidemic, HIV testing, and needle exchanges, beginning in the 1980s, are especially important and uniquely informative.

In 2017, For the Record featured the collection in a post Milk, Midwives and Medical Quackery. 

Mayor John V. Lindsay swears-in Dr. Mary McLaughlin as Commissioner of the Department of Health, May 28, 1969, City Hall. 1969 Annual Report of the Health Services Administration, Municipal Library.

On May 28th, 1969, Mayor John V. Lindsay appointed Dr. Mary McLaughlin as Commissioner of the Department of Health. She was the second woman to hold the post (the first was Leona Baumgartner who served from 1954-1962). Under McLaughlin’s leadership, the Health Department launched initiatives that addressed narcotics addiction, mental health, and lead poisoning. The series also provides ample documentation of another important issue– abortion.  

Memorandum regarding abortion practices in the United Kingdom, filed January 1, 1970.  Health Commissioners Records. NYC Municipal Archives.

In 1970, three years before the Roe v. Wade U. S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion all around the country, New York State enacted legislation that permitted abortions up to the 24th week. Reviewing the correspondence, pamphlets, and news articles in the 33 folders on the topic in the Dr. McLaughlin series reveals that New York’s abortion legislation was influenced by similar debate and action in the United Kingdom.

The series also provides relevant material regarding where abortions could be performed. Specifically, whether women could obtain the service at clinics and doctors’ offices, not just hospitals. Dr. McLaughlin championed a ban against health providers performing abortions in their private offices. She believed regulating the procedure would be more effective in hospitals. Dr. McLaughlin’s motivation was to keep women as safe as possible; hence the initial decision to limit the procedure to hospitals.  

Correspondence received June 1970. Health Commissioners Records. NYC Municipal Archives.

Dr. McLaughlin held firm on her decision, weathering criticism from her colleagues, constituents, and the press:  “We don't want to act as detectives who go in to investigate after something has happened...we’re interested in the prevention of deaths and complications.” (New York Times, September 18, 1970). Eventually, the Board of Health enacted regulations that allowed early terminations (up to twelve weeks) to be performed at clinics.

Another aspect of the subject that can be investigated in the records is the number of procedures. The Health and Hospitals Corporation anticipated that more than 600 abortions would be performed per week, or roughly 110 a day. As it turned out this number was an over-estimation; the actual number was fewer than 800 procedures in two weeks.

Information about abortion is not just confined to the 33 folders in the Dr. McLaughin series. There are more than 1,400 folders on the topic throughout the Health Commissioners records.

Researchers are invited to explore this rich resource.  The collection finding guide provides a complete description of the collection and information about access.

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage month. In recognition of this tribute, For the Record is showcasing manuscripts and photographs documenting some communities in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) Collection. The May 14, 2021 blog Documenting the New Deal recounted the history of New York’s Unit of the FWP. It described how the draft manuscripts and photographs had been prepared for 64 books, only a handful of which were published, notably the New York City Guide, and New York Panorama.

Manilla Restaurant, 47 Sands Street, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 1938. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Collection, Federal Art Project photograph. Photographer: Pollard. NYC Municipal Archives.

One of the more notable research endeavors of the NYC FWP were studies of the dozens of ethnic groups and communities that made up the city’s population. Then, as now, New Yorkers came from around the world—Armenia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, Egypt, Syria, Turkey—to name just a few counties. The list of countries also included several Asian Pacific nations—China, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines.   

For each group or community, the WPA staff researched and wrote articles on a range of subjects, typically “present distribution in New York,” customs and costumes, history, literature, music, religions, holidays, etc.

Friends of China Parade, Chinatown, December 1937. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Collection, Federal Art Project photograph. Photographer: Hawes. NYC Municipal Archives.

Friends of China Parade, Chinatown, December 1937. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Collection. Photographer:  Hawes. NYC Municipal Archives.

It appears that this research was primarily intended for their signature publication, The New York City Guide. The Chinese communities in New York received fairly extensive treatment. There are seventeen folders in the collection containing articles on contributions to American culture, occupations and professions, politics, publications, in addition to the topics listed above. The Guide editors distilled this research into four pages for the section on Lower Manhattan, under the sub-head “Chinatown.” It begins with the story of “...the first Chinese known to have visited New York... Pung-hua Wing Chong, who arrived in 1807,” and goes on to describe increasing Chinese migration to New York until imposition of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Pell and Mott Streets, Chinatown, June 1938. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Collection.  Photographer: Treistman. NYC Municipal Archives.

The passage continues with a description of holidays celebrated in the community, local customs, and a lengthy discussion of popular stores, restaurants and menu items. “Chop suey came into existence in Chicago in 1896... literally translated the name means ‘hodge-podge.’ As prepared by restaurants in Chinatown the dish is far superior to that served in drug stores and cafeterias.”

Shop interior, Chinatown, June 1938. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Collection. Photographer: Treistman. NYC Municipal Archives.

Looking at the coverage of another of the Asian Pacific nations, the Philippines, provides an interesting contrast. A total of three folders apparently sufficed, although maybe not surprising given the relatively small population of Filipinos in the City at that time. The following is one of the articles:

“The Filipinos of New York

Few of the Filipinos who enter the United States come to New York City; most of them settle in West Coast cities. There are 2,000 in New York, about four percent of the country’s Filipino population. Small colonies have developed in the neighborhood of Second Avenue between Thirteenth and Sixteenth Streets, and on Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Streets between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. Some Filipinos are established in Brooklyn and the district around Sands, Concord, and Nassau Streets, and along Columbia and Hamilton Avenues in South Brooklyn.

Since the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935, Filipinos, whose former status was that of American “national” – neither citizens nor aliens – have been classed as aliens, and only 50 a year may enter the United States.

The Filipino American Restaurant at 132 East Sixty-Fifth Street is the only Filipino eating place in Manhattan, but in Brooklyn there are two: the Manila Restaurant at 47 Sands Street, and the Sunrise Restaurant at 67 Sands Street. Favorite native dishes served in these places are adobon baboy—pork fried in garlic and soy sauce—and fish soups such as sinigang isda and sinigang visaya.

Most Filipinos here are Roman Catholics. About 100 belong to the Interdenominational Church at 209 Concord Street, Brooklyn. The only Filipino paper published in the city is The Filipino Student Bulletin, organ of the Filipino Students Christian Movement of 347 Madison Avenue. There are, however, 21 Filipino social and athletic organizations in New York.”

Manilla Restaurant, 47 Sands Street, Brooklyn, NY, November 19, 1938. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Collection, Federal Art Project photograph. Photographer: Pollard. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Filipino article, much reduced, did appear in the Guide, in the section on the Navy Yard District: “…Around Sands and Washington Streets is a colony of Filipinos; native food, extremely rare in the eastern part of the United States is served in a Filipino restaurant at 47 Sands Street. Among the favorites …mixta (beans and rice), and such tropical fruits as mangoes and pomelos, the latter a kind of orange as large as a grapefruit.” 

Manilla Restaurant, 47 Sands Street, Brooklyn, NY, November 19,1938. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Collection, Federal Art Project photograph. Photographer: Pollard. NYC Municipal Archives.

In 1993, the National Endowment for the Humanities supported processing and microfilming the WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection. Readers are welcome to explore the collection guide and visit the Municipal Archives to research this rich and varied collection.

Vinyl Rhyme and Lacquered Verse: Celebrating National Poetry Month

Over the last year, thousands of lacquer phono discs from the Municipal Archives WNYC audio collection have been digitized as part of a project supported by a grant from the Leon Levy Foundation to the WNYC Foundation. The discs span from the 1920s to the 1960s, providing a window into mid-20th century life and culture in New York. WNYC, the City's radio station responded to the tumult of this period by becoming a beacon of civilization. In addition to broadcasting musical performances and news programs, WNYC brought discussions and readings of poetry from local and international authors. As the Municipal Archives ingests this collection, both digitally and physically, we invite our patrons to use National Poetry Month to explore our WNYC Radio collection already available online.

Walt Whitman is a well-known New York poet. Born in West Hills, Long Island in 1819, Whitman is famous for elevating the importance of everyday American life during the 19th century. His influence on American literature has been so vast that he is sometimes referred to simply as ‘America’s Poet.’ Whitman worked on his most famous collection of poems ‘Leaves of Grass’ until his death in 1892, revising it repeatedly after its first publication in 1855.

In 1941, WNYC Radio held their second American Music Festival, a program meant to highlight the multicultural and liberal democratic values of the Americas as compared to totalitarian and fascist powers. The words of Whitman’s poem ‘I Hear America Singing’ from ‘Leaves of Grass’ were put to music and performed live on air:

I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,

The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to no one else,

The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

The name Langston Hughes is nearly synonymous with the Harlem Renaissance of the early 20th century. Born in 1901 in Joplin, Missouri, Hughes attended Columbia University before contributing work to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) official magazine, The Crisis. His poems like ‘Harlem,’ or the ‘The Weary Blues,’ helped define poetry for generations of Americans and his works have, in turn, influenced artists ever since. The famous opening lines of ‘Harlem’ “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” and the play that took its title from those lines, continue to reverberate over half a century since his death in 1967. At the 10th American Music Festival, one of his poems ‘A Black Pierrot’ was set to music and performed live:

A Black Pierrot by Langston Hughes

I am a black pierrot: She did not love me,

So I crept away into the night and the night was black, too.

I am a black pierrot: She did not love me,

So I wept until the red dawn dripped blood over the eastern hills

and my heart was bleeding, too.

I am a black pierrot: She did not love me,

So with my once gay colored soul shrunken like a balloon without air,

I went forth in the morning to seek a new brown love.

I went forth in the morning to seek a new brown love.

I went forth in the morning, I went forth in the morning,

I went forth in the morning to seek a new brown love.

Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1899, Vladimir Nabokov was a poet, teacher, and author who was exiled shortly after the 1917 Russian Revolution. Fleeing ever further west, Nabokov and his family eventually came to America, where he wrote his most famous (or infamous) work, ‘Lolita.’  Writing creatively in several languages and teaching literature in the United States, Nabokov was also widely recognized for his poetry like ‘Pale Fire: A Poem in Four Cantos,’ which has been the subject of intense literary analysis since it was published in 1962. Nabokov was invited to read one of his poems and discuss the art form of poetry in depth on WNYC Radio in 1958. While the following audio recording has the entire poem read by Nabokov, the text is merely the opening paragraph.

An Evening of Russian Poetry (Opening Paragraph) by Vladimir Nabokov

The subject chosen for tonight’s discussion
Is everywhere, though often incomplete:
when their basaltic banks become too steep,
most rivers use a kind of rapid Russian,
and so do children talking in their sleep.
My little helper at the magic lantern,
insert that slide and let the colored beam
project my name or any such-like phantom
in Slavic characters upon the screen.
The other way, the other way. I thank you.

Thousands of audio recordings like these have been preserved and are now freely accessible online, and thousands more will be added as the project continues. Although more poetry readings and discussions can be found in the WNYC Radio collection, there are many other highlights. An interview with Jackie Robinson at the Apollo 11 ticker-tape parade, a speech by President Eisenhower to the American Legion on the dangers of Communism and Eleanor Roosevelt extolling the virtues of New York City are just some examples of the gems in this collection. Listen to them all now on our digital gallery: https://nycma.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet/RECORDSPHOTOUNITARC~26~26

The World of Tomorrow: Documenting the 1939 New York World’s Fair

The New York World’s Fair opened on April 30, 1939, in Flushing Meadow, Queens. Promoted as the “World of Tomorrow,” it hosted exhibits by 60 countries, the League of Nations, 33 states, several federal agencies and the City of New York. In keeping with the futuristic theme, new consumer and industrial products such as television, air-conditioning, nylon stockings and color film were introduced to the public at the fair.

1939 New York World’s Fair, Postcard Package. NYC Municipal Archives.

By the time it closed on October 26, 1940, 44.9 million people had visited the fair. Although well short of the projected attendance of 100 million, it was still one of the most significant events in twentieth-century New York City history. Given its importance, there is a reasonable expectation that documentation of the fair in the Municipal Archives collections would be comprehensive and voluminous. It is indeed both, but with one notable exception; records of the 1939 New York World’s Fair Corporation, a non-profit entity, are not housed in the Archives.

The Singing Cascades, Westinghouse Building, 1939 New York World’s Fair, Postcard. NYC Municipal Archives

Theme Center, Tryon and Perisphere, 1939 New York World’s Fair, Postcard. NYC Municipal Archives

Focusing on what the Municipal Archives does contain, however, is once again the tale of two New York City record-creators familiar to readers of For the Record: Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and ‘master builder,’ Robert Moses. The large quantity of records in LaGuardia’s mayoral papers collection pertaining to the fair reflects the $26.7 million contribution the city made to the fair’s $95 million budget. In LaGuardia’s files there are more than 200 folders containing fair-related correspondence, dating from 1936 through 1941. The subjects listed in the inventory include physical improvements by the city, gate receipts, free tickets to the needy, masterpieces of art, as well as folders on every state and country pavilion.

General Development Plan, Flushing Meadow Park, ca. 1936. photograph, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia Collection, NYC Municipal Archives

The quantity of material documenting Robert Moses’ involvement is even greater, consisting of more than 500 folders in the Department of Parks’ “General Files,” series.  LaGuardia had appointed Moses as Commissioner of the Department of Parks in 1934, shortly before planning for the fair began. Moses was noted for his ability to leverage funding for one purpose to serve other goals. For example, he used federal funding for the Henry Hudson Parkway along Manhattan’s west side to improve Riverside Park. Likewise, his support for the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadow allowed him to build Flushing Meadow Park in an area long considered a desolate wasteland. F. Scott Fitzgerald provided a memorable description of the land in his 1922 novel, The Great Gatsby: “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”

The Aviation Building, 1939 New York World’s Fair, Postcard, NYC Municipal Archives

The Maritime Building, 1939 New York World’s Fair, Postcard, NYC Municipal Archives

The bulk of the Parks Department material concerns the extensive infrastructure work necessary to prepare the land for the fair and subsequent repurposing as a park. The contents are wide-ranging. The first folder in the series is “Flushing Meadows – World’s Fair Project,” dated 1935. Other topics documented in the Parks folders include the aquacade, barbershop contest, waterways, mosquito control, plus numerous files related to construction, contracts, demolition, and maintenance. And like the LaGuardia material, there are folders for every state, corporate and country exhibit. The Mayor LaGuardia collection finding guide is published in NYCMA Collection Guides, and both the LaGuardia and Moses/Parks records have been microfilmed and are available for research. 

Letter regarding NYWF stationery, to Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, March 11, 1938. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia Collection, NYC Municipal Archives

Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, June 6, 1939, postal telegraph. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia Collection, NYC Municipal Archives

In addition to the new consumer products, the 1939 New York World’s Fair is noted for its distinctive visual appearance in both the architectural style of many of the pavilions and the look and typography of promotional materials. Evidence of this feature is apparent throughout the LaGuardia and Moses records, as well as in several related collections.

Ford Mercury Lincoln Building, 1939 New York World’s Fair. Queens Borough President Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Swift Corporation Building, 1939 New York World’s Fair. Queens Borough President Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Among those are the Queens Borough President’s photograph collection which includes 210 large format prints of many of the buildings in the fair. In addition, donations from private individuals have added brochures, cards, and souvenirs to the Municipal Library and Archives holdings. A typical example is a recent communication from Mrs. Juanita Flagler of Oak Park, Illinois. Mrs. Flagler donated a small cache of ephemera to the Municipal Library. In a note accompanying the postcards and brochures, she explained that she had been “cleaning out” a former home and came across these items from her father, who had been in charge of all the fireworks displays at the fair. She said, “I recall being at the Fair almost daily (we were living at the time in Forest Hills). Some of those days are still quite memorable.”

Textiles Building, 1939 New York World’s Fair, Postcard, NYC Municipal Archives.

Elgin Watch Building, Postcard, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Food Exhibitors Building, Postcard, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Building of the Ford Motor Company, Postcard, NYC Municipal Archives.

The World of Tomorrow, 1939 New York World’s Fair, brochure. NYC Municipal Archives.

Parks to the People: Gateway National Recreation Area

This year, National Park Week takes place from April 16 to 24. At first glance, this event would seem to be irrelevant to New Yorkers. Although the city is the birthplace of public parks—Central Park is the first open space intentionally set aside for everyone to enjoy, and 14% of the city’s land area is devoted to parks—New York is not at the top of the list when considering a National Park visit. But upon further investigation, New York is home to numerous facilities under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. These include the African Burial Ground, Castle Clinton, Statue of Liberty, Governors Island, and Stonewall National Monuments; Federal Hall, General Grant, and Hamilton Grange National Memorials; the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Sites.  

Gateway National Recreation Area, Winter Weekend Activities, Program, 1977. Municipal Reference Library vertical file.

The largest of the National Park facilities in New York City is Gateway National Recreation Area. Similar to the genesis of Central Park as the first public park in the nation, Gateway became the first urban recreation area in and near a major population center.

Established in 1972, the Gateway National Recreation Area spans 27,000 acres of beaches, dunes, marshes, wetlands, and historic forts spread between two States. It incorporates Floyd Bennett Field and Fort Tilden in Brooklyn, Jamaica Bay in Queens, Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, plus Fort Hancock and the oldest working lighthouse in the U.S. at Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

Given its wide-ranging footprint and federal status would there be relevant documentation in the Municipal Archives and Library? The answer is yes. Gateway provides another example of how Municipal Archives and Library collections are relevant not just to local subjects, but also to much of American history.

Gateway National Recreation Area: A Discussion of Problems and Suggestions for Development, 1971, Report. Mayor John V. Lindsay collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The first stop in the quest is the always-rewarding Municipal Library vertical files. The “N.Y.C. Parks Gateway National Recreation Area” vertical file contains newspaper clippings and a few ephemeral items ranging in date from the park’s creation circa 1972, through the early 2000s.

The Municipal Archives’ records from the John Lindsay mayoral administration (1966-1973) overlap the park’s establishment in 1972. Lindsay’s papers are arranged in a series typical of twentieth-century mayoral collections, i.e. subject files, departmental files, and general correspondence. Lindsay is unique in one regard however. His collection includes records separately labeled ‘confidential’ subject files.

Searching the Lindsay collection results in one subject file folder and three folders in the confidential series. Among the finds is a 266-page report prepared by the Mayor’s Council on the Environment. Dated November 16, 1971, it is titled, “Gateway National Recreation Area: A Discussion of Problems and Suggestions for Development.” The first page provides a clue to Gateway’s origin: “The idea of an urban park on the shores of New York Harbor has been slow in being realized. It was originally suggested by Mayor Lindsay in 1966 when he wrote to the then U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, proposing that Breezy Point should be added to the other National Seashores.” The earliest document in Lindsay’s subject files is dated 1969. Would it be possible to find a copy of the 1966 letter?

The search for the 1966 letter provides a good example of how knowledge of mayoral correspondence filing practices at that time can be helpful. Beginning with the administration of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, mayoral assistants filed correspondence with federal officials as a separate series. In the Mayor O’Dwyer,  Impellitteri and Wagner collections federal correspondence is a subseries within the departmental files. But, for Mayors Beame and Lindsay, it is a subseries within the general correspondence files. 

Mayor John V. Lindsay to Hon. Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior, letter, page 1, carbon copy, August 1, 1966. Mayor John V. Lindsay collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor John V. Lindsay to Hon. Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior, letter, page 2, carbon copy, August 1, 1966. Mayor John V. Lindsay collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Although the specific date of the 1966 Lindsay letter was not indicated, the search proved easy. The first item in the 1966 U.S. Correspondence folder, dated August 1, 1966, was the letter from Mayor Lindsay to Secretary of the Interior Udall: “I want to talk to you about adding Breezy Point to the other National Seashores that have been established the past few year, under your leadership of Interior. It would be the first one located near a large City but the fact is, Stew, that the real need for this kind of a facility is among the poor, or lower-middle class, who don’t have air-conditioning in their homes, or a car to take them to Cape Cod, or a house on Fire Island.”  

It took several years, but Lindsay’s suggestion did bear fruit: “[Interior] Secretary Hickel Announces Proposed Gateway National Recreation Area.” (Department of the Interior news release, Tuesday, May 13, 1969.) Subsequent Lindsay correspondence documents the numerous hurdles in making the “proposed” area into a national park. On April 21, 1970, Secretary Walter J. Hickel wrote to Mayor Lindsay: “From all reports that I have, public reaction to the Gateway National Recreation Area proposal has been very favorable … There still remain many small problems confronting this project, however, that need be solved.”

Gateway National Recreation Area, A Proposal, 1971, interior map, National Park Service, 1971. Mayor John V. Lindsay collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

In early 1971, support for the establishment of Gateway came from an unexpected source. In his State of the Union address, President Richard M. Nixon announced the time has come to bring “parks to the people.” 

Letters throughout 1971 address the “small problems” referenced by Secretary Hickel. Condemnation of privately-owned land, particularly in the Breezy Point and Broad Channel sections of Queens area proved especially complicated. “The Broad Channel Community problem is indeed a delicate one that requires careful handling.” (Secretary of the Interior Fred Russel to Mayor Lindsay, December 2, 1970).

The correspondence also shows how Lindsay administration officials in the Parks, Transportation and other departments all contributed to solving the myriad problems. Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff, Transportation Administrator, discussed the merits of a ferry system to bring visitors to the park in a June 25, 1971 letter to Lindsay. (He thought it inadvisable, unless subsidized, and recommended federally-funded improvements to mass transit as a better alternative.) In a six-page memo, dated July 6, 1971, Parks Commissioner August Heckscher supplied Lindsay with a detailed examination of various issues, i.e. Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Great Kills/Hoffman and Swinburn Islands, Floyd Bennett Field, and Jamaica Bay.

Review by the City of New York of the Draft General Management Plan for Gateway National Recreation Area, Issues and Recommendations, 1977. Municipal Library.

Success came after another year. On December 22, 1972, Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton informed Mayor Lindsay, “We are pleased to enclose a copy of Public Law 92-592, signed by the President on October 27, 1972, which authorizes the establishment of the Gateway National Recreation Area.” The letter noted that the Act set up a Gateway National Recreation Area Advisory Commission, “composed of eleven members, two of which would be appointed from recommendations made by the Mayor of New York City.” 

The mayoral appointments to the new Commission generated additional correspondence including a letter from Congressman Edward I. Koch, dated May 9, 1973, recommending Leonard E. Ryan to serve on the Commission. “As you know,” Koch wrote to Lindsay, “his brother, the late Congressman William F. Ryan, put great efforts into the development of Gateway, and I know, Mr. Leonard Ryan is most interested in continuing its growth.” Lindsay replied to Koch that he had already made his recommendations and suggested that Mr. Ryan be included among the appointments the Interior Secretary makes from the general public. members.    

Legislative approval for the establishment of Gateway was just the beginning. Developing the recreation area and establishing transportation to the new park took many more years of work. Publications in the Municipal Library collection help detail these necessary efforts. “Review by the City of New York of the Draft General Management Plan for Gateway National Recreation Area: Issues and Recommendations,” (January 1977), and “Transportation Access Study: Data Inventory and Analysis—Gateway National Recreation Area,” (1974), and “Jamaica Bay, a History: Gateway National Recreation Area,” (1981), are three titles of useful resources.

Fort Wadsworth, Gateway National Recreation Area, Site Management Plan, 1997. Municipal Library.

The Municipal Library vertical files also add color to the story. “Gateway Plan Surprises Officials in New York Area,” the New York Times reported on March 29, 1981. The article described how the Reagan Administration’s proposal to divest itself of Gateway drew expressions of surprise and disdain from Congressmen, state and local political leaders and officials of the park itself.  Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan: “This is one country, and it does not start at the Mississippi River and go west. It starts on the Eastern Seaboard.  We are not going to let them take it away,” he added. “If I have to stand on the Senate floor and speak until I am hoarse, we are not going to let it happen.” The proposal was dropped.

Another clipping in the vertical file, from Newsday, on September 27, 1999, reported that Representative Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn-Queens) had called for a wildlife first-aid station in Gateway, prompted by a seagull with a broken wing.

The story of the Gateway National Recreation Area is just one example of the broad scope of information in Municipal Library and Archives collections. The dramatic discovery of the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan in the early 1990s, and eventual designation as a National Monument within the National Park system is another instance of federal and local cooperation. Look for a future blog that identifies Library and Archives collections that tell this story.

The Greensward

On April 22, and 23, 2022, the Department of Records and Information Services will commemorate the 200th birthday of Central Park architect Frederick Law Olmsted with a pop-up exhibition featuring the original Greensward plan. Submitted by Olmsted and co-designer Calvert Vaux, the master plan won the Central Park design competition in 1858.

Rarely seen in public, the Greensward plan is considered a masterpiece of 19th-century landscape architecture. The story of its creation begins in 1852 when the city’s Board of Aldermen formed a Special Committee on Parks. The Committee proposed to build “The Central Park” in the rectangle bounded by Fifth Avenue, Eighth Avenue, Fifty-Ninth Street, and 106th Street.  

Map from Greensward Presentation board no. 2., 1858. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives

The two-mile-long by half-mile-wide 778-acre plot, with its rocky outcrops of Manhattan schist rising above stagnant bogs, and home to nearly 1,600 people, was a challenging site for a park. On June 21, 1853, the State Legislature authorized the mayor to issue stock, known as the Central Park Fund, to compensate the 561 owners of the more than seven thousand lots that comprised the future park.  

Delays arising from purchasing the property and political wrangling over a plan for the park delayed further action until October 1857, when a new state-appointed Board of Commissioners announced a formal design competition. All planners were instructed to incorporate specific requirements into their presentations: at least four transverse roads, a parade ground for military drills, a two-to-three-acre formal flower garden, three playgrounds for “healthful exercise,” a site for concerts and exhibitions, a prominent fountain, an observation tower, and a winter skating area, as well as “at least one institution of cultural uplift or practical knowledge.” The budget was $1.5 million. The March 1, 1858 deadline for submissions was moved back a month when the requirements were expanded to include specifications and costs for building roads and preparing the land.  

Greensward Presentation board no. 5., (view of the Lake from Vista Rock),1858. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Well-connected English-born architect, Calvert Vaux, and the Connecticut-born writer, surveyor, clerk, and farmer, Frederick Law Olmsted were casual acquaintances but shared a belief that nature had the power to uplift and refine the human spirit. Vaux suggested they collaborate on a design. The new partners worked nights and weekends through the fall and winter of 1857-58. Vaux’ son, Downing, remembered that the drawings needed “a great deal of grass to be put in by the usual small dots and dashes, and it became the friendly thing for callers to help in the work by joining in and adding some grass to Central Park.”

Preparations continued to the last possible moment. Arriving at the Arsenal Building late in the evening of March 31, 1858, Olmsted and Vaux had to wake a caretaker to deliver their proposal, only minutes before the deadline for entries. Logged in under the name “Greensward” as Entry #33, it was brilliant in presentation and bold in design. Their large-scale master plan was executed on high-quality paper mounted on linen; their two texts,  the Description of a Plan for the Improvement of the Central Park “Greensward” and Particulars of Construction and Estimate, were professionally printed by William Cullen Bryant & Co.; and their twelve presentation boards featured a mix of graphite drawings, albumen prints and oil sketches related to particular views, some accompanied by a lithograph of a map to show its location.

Presentation board no. 4, detail, (view across the Lake toward Vista Rock). The “present outlines” view, attributed to the studio of photographer Matthew Brady, shows fields bordered by a stone wall, with Vista Rock rising in the background to a lookout tower. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Presentation board no. 4, detail, (view across the Lake toward Vista Rock). The “effect proposed” view, painted by Vaux’s brother-in-law (Hudson River School artist Jervis McEntee), shows the fields have been replaced by the Lake, rising to a landscaped hill topped by an early version of Belvedere Castle. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

With monetary prizes being awarded to the top four entrants, the commissioners were hopeful that proposals would arrive from leading European experts in park design, but they received only two foreign entries and those were of little distinction. The entries were arranged for viewing in rented offices at 637 Broadway, along with summaries of the written components of the submissions. On April 28, 1858, the commissioners made their selections. The grand prize of $2,000 went to Vaux and Olmsted.  

Olmsted and Vaux believed in creating “scenery” that appeared to be natural, and that the park “should present an aspect of spaciousness and tranquility, with variety and intricacy of arrangement, thereby affording the most agreeable contrast to the confinement, bustle, and monotonous street-division of the city.”

They named their plan “Greensward,” a word that means ground covered with green grass. Visitors today can easily observe how the designers reserved large areas of the park for pastoral scenery with open greenswards bordered by shrubberies and groves of trees, often with nearby open water to reflect foliage and give a feeling of depth to the landscape.  

Presentation board no. 9, detail. The “effect proposed” shows Bogardus Hill (now known as the Great Hill) with a Monumental Tower. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Greensward plan has long been recognized as a work of genius. The Olmsted and Vaux traffic circulation system separating walkers, horseback riders, and carriages, and the sunken transverse roads, are often considered their most innovative concepts. The plan is also notable for its inclusion of lakes and ponds. The successful installation of these features proved their mastery of landscape design on a grand scale.

The Greensward plan accepted by the board was seen through to completion, with one significant change. As the design competition played out, a consensus developed among the commissioners to extend the park to 110th Street. The additional area, filled with steep rock formations, spring-fed swampland, and thick vegetation, seemed a natural part of the park, and the cost of grading the rocky terrain to incorporate it into the city street grid would have been exorbitant. In April 1859, the board requested that the state legislature approve the purchase of the additional sixty-five acres, along with a budget to provide for construction. It took until 1863 to settle the eminent domain disputes over the property valuations.

Presentation board no. 2, detail, (view toward ball field and Umpire Rock). The “effect proposed” shows a pavilion for visiting spectators (never built) sits on Umpire Rock, while ballplayers take the field in the foreground. Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Department of Parks displayed the Greensward plan in the Arsenal, their headquarters in Central Park, for many years. In 2015, the original plan was transferred to the Municipal Archives and a high-quality replica took its place in the Arsenal.   

Read the full story of the Olmsted and Vaux collaboration and creation of the Greensward plan in The Central Park, Original Drawings for New York’s Greatest Treasure, by Cynthia Brenwall, and plan a visit to the Municipal Archives on April 22 or 23 to examine this extraordinary artifact.

Open for public viewing, free timed tickets are required to ensure safety. Tickets are available for 30-minute visits on the following dates: April 22, 2022 - 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and April 23, 2022 - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Use this link to sign up for your free tickets:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrate-olmsted-bicentennial-the-greensward-plan-for-the-central-park-tickets-288125680667?aff=ebdsoporgprofile