“Hi-ya Dev!” New York City Welcomes Native Son Eamon de Valera

“Eamon de Valera, former Prime Minister of Eire, returned today to the city of his birth, arriving at LaGuardia Field from Shannon aboard the American Overseas airliner London Mercury at 4:58 a.m.” (The New York Post, March 8, 1948.) Born in New York City in 1882, the Irish leader devoted his life to the cause of Irish unification. In March 1948, he embarked on a two-week tour of the United States. His first stop was his hometown, New York City. City Greeter Grover Whalen’s records, and the subject files of Mayor William O’Dwyer, document de Valera’s two-day sojourn in the city.

Frank Aiken, Acting Mayor Vincent Impellitteri, Eamon de Valera, City Hall, March 9, 1948. Grover Whalen- Mayor’s Reception Committee Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

On his first day, an ailing Mayor O’Dwyer hosted de Valera at a private meeting in Gracie Mansion. The following day the city feted the Irish leader with a ticker-tape parade and a gala luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria. The “Official Program and Time Table,” in Whalen’s files, prepared by the Mayor’s Reception Committee, lays out the day’s itinerary. It would begin with a motorcade to convey the official party from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel to the Bowling Green for the start of the parade at 10:45, and conclude at 11:45 with the departure to the Waldorf for a gala luncheon.

Newspaper “clippings” in Whalen’s records provide a colorful description of the day. The New York Times reported the crowds greeted the statemen, popular with the city’s large Irish-American population, with “Hi-ya, Dev!” as his open car passed beneath a shower of ticker tape and torn paper. In the City Council Chamber, Grover Whelan introduced de Valera as a “. . . boy from Manhattan who made good overseas.” Acting Mayor Vincent Impellitteri made de Valera a honorary citizen and presented him with a scroll.  

The Times story added that “Irish-born Mayor O’Dwyer, now resting at his home under doctor’s orders,” was “forced to listen to the ceremonies over the radio.” Setting aside the rather odd word-choice, “forced,” For the Record readers can also listen to an audio recording of the ceremony, thanks to the city’s broadcast station WNYC. Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, WNYC microphones captured the voices of presidents, dignitaries, world leaders, artistic revolutionaries, musical geniuses, luminaries of the literati, and cultural icons. The WNYC series in the Municipal Archives is the largest non-commercial collection of archival audio recordings and ephemera from an individual radio broadcaster.   

Every account of de Valera’s visit noted his birth in New York City. When asked by a reporter if he was going to visit his old home in Brooklyn, he smilingly replied: “My home was not in Brooklyn. I’m a Manhattan man.” (New York Sun, March 8, 1948.) 

Eamon de Valera, Council Chamber, City Hall, March 9, 1948. Grover Whalen- Mayor’s Reception Committee Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Would there be a birth certificate in the Municipal Archives’ Historical Vital records collection (HVR), and would it confirm his birthplace? The search provides a good example of how to use the HVR portal. In this instance, given that the birth certificate number was not known, it was necessary to use the name search function. Entering “de Valera,” into the name search box, along with the date “1882,” and place “Manhattan” resulted in “no record.” Although it was certainly possible that his birth had not been reported to the civil office (not uncommon at that time), a further try in the HVR, this time without the space between de and Valera, produced the desired result.   

In fact, it brought up two certificates. It appears that de Valera’s original 1882 birth certificate had been “corrected” in 1910, and both remained on file at the Department of Health. The most significant amendment was de Valera’s first name. On the 1882 certificate, his name was recorded as “George.” In 1910 it was corrected to “Edward.” Otherwise, the information recorded on each certificate is similar: his father was Spanish-born artist Vivion de Valera, and mother was Ireland-born Kate (or Catherine) Coll. He was their first child. Somewhat unusual for the time period, de Valera was born in a hospital, the Nursery & Child’s Hospital. The 1910 corrected certificate also includes the parents’ residence, 61 East 41st Street in Manhattan. Published accounts of de Valera’s life state that his family moved to Ireland in 1884.

Birth certificate, Manhattan, 352241, 1882. Historical Vital Records collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Birth certificate, Manhattan, 352241 (corrected)1882. Historical Vital Records collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Returning to the documents in Mayor O’Dwyer’s subject file folder reveals correspondence about an unfortunate breach of protocol during the de Valera reception. It began with a letter dated March 10, 1948, to Mayor O’Dwyer, from Michael Francis Doyle, a member of the Permanent Court of International Arbitration at the Hague. In the letter marked “Personal,” Doyle wrote: “The Honorable James E. Murray, United States Senator from Montana, and representing unofficially members of the United States Senate, came to New York for the purpose of extending a welcome to Eamon de Valera.… Senator Murray, as you know, was a most devoted leader in the Irish cause.” The letter went on to describe a series of mishaps, including the Senator’s placement in the last car of the motorcade which led to his late arrival at City Hall. Consequently, “he was obliged to remain on the pavement with the other thousands outside and listened to the proceedings there.” This was compounded by the fact that when he arrived at the Waldorf for the luncheon, he discovered his name was not on the guest list. Doyle wrote: “We, therefore left. Senator Murray had luncheon elsewhere with a friend.” Oh.  

Eamon de Valera (left), Grover Whalen (center) arrive at City Hall, March 9, 1948. Mayor’s Reception Committee Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor O’Dwyer’s Executive Secretary, William J Donoghue quickly replied that he would inform the Mayor of the “unfortunate events.” Donoghue followed-up with a letter to the Senator, dated March 22, “to extend our apologies.” The letter added that “... because of the brief time that was allowed for the preparation of the reception and the failure of one or more of Mr. Whalen’s aides to fully appreciate your high office,” had resulted in the discourtesies. Senator Murray’s gracious reply, dated March 25 is also in the file: “I am distressed to learn that the Mayor, Mr. Whalen, or anyone else feels that I may have suffered any lack of courtesy on the occasion of the de Valera reception in New York.” He continued: “I know I would have been welcome at the luncheon if I had made my presence know. My failure to take part in all of the activities was due to my own oversight.”

And finally, the file also includes de Valera’s thank you to Mayor O’Dwyer, written upon his return to Ireland on April 13, expressing his “very deep appreciation” for his visit to New York.    

Letter from Eamon de Valera to Mayor William O’Dwyer, April 13, 1948. Mayor William O’Dwyer collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Eamon de Valera led the Irish government between 1932 and 1937. After drafting the constitution in 1937, he served three terms as prime minister and two as president of the Irish Republic.  De Valera died in 1975, with the cause to which he devoted his life still elusive.

The Times story ended with an account of de Valera’s itinerary subsequent to his visit in New York. The following day he planned to “pay his respects to President Truman” in Washington D.C. after flying to Oklahoma, he will “then go on to the West Coast, where he will be the honored guest in San Francisco at the St. Patrick’s Day ceremonies.”

Advance forecasts for St. Patrick’s Day 2024 in New York are good; no need to travel to San Francisco!

A Woman of Firsts: Constance Baker Motley

This For the Record blog post expands on a brief article in the February 2024 edition of the Municipal Library’s newsletter. New York City can count many groundbreaking women among its residents and leaders. Few, though, have been as inspiring as Constance Baker Motley who should be celebrated more widely, particularly in her adopted home of New York City. Yet there is only one public space honoring her—a recreation center on East 54th Street that the Parks Department renamed for her in 2021.   

The second Black woman to graduate from Columbia University Law School, Motley was one of the groundbreaking civil rights lawyers who fought segregation and Jim Crow throughout the nation. She was the first Black woman to serve in the New York State Senate, and the first woman to serve as a New York City borough president. That should be enough. But beyond those achievements, Motley was the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge, a position she held for 39 years.  

Office of the President, Borough of Manhattan, Annual Report, 1965. NYC Municipal Library.

The Municipal Library biographical collection includes news clips, mostly from long-shuttered newspapers, documenting her career, as well as a Manhattan Borough President 1965 Annual Report. The Office of the Mayor collection in the Municipal Archives includes correspondence between Motley and the Mayor’s Office.  

Born in New Haven to immigrant parents from Nevis, Baker Motley aspired to attend college but lacked resources. While working as a housecleaner she volunteered with local organizations advocating for civil rights. Partly, she was inspired after being denied entry to a Connecticut public beach due to her color. In a fluke, a wealthy white contractor was in the audience when she was making a speech. He offered to fund her college education. And she was off! 

Initially attending Fisk University, she transferred to New York University to complete her undergraduate degree and then Columbia University’s Law School. While a student, she volunteered with the emerging Legal Defense Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People—the NAACP LDF, and was among the organization’s first employees. Working alongside Thurgood Marshall throughout the South, Baker Motley achieved major civil rights victories over a two-decade career. 

The first Black woman to appear before the United States Supreme Court, she argued ten cases, winning nine of them. One notable example is successfully representing James Meredith in the fight to desegregate the University of Mississippi.  

Mayor Robert F. Wagner swears-in Constance Baker Motley as New York State Senator, February 7, 1963, City Hall. Official Mayoral Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

In a 1964 special election to fill a vacancy, she became the first Black woman elected to the New York State Senate where she served for one year.

In February 1965, the existing Borough President of Manhattan resigned to become a State Supreme Court Justice. This triggered a process to fill the vacancy. Unlike the present, the vacancy was not filled via a special election. Instead, the City Council delegation for the borough—numbering 8 men—convened behind closed doors and determined the successor. In this instance, a prominent political leader, J. Raymond Jones, opposed the candidacy of the likely successor and advanced Motley. After meeting for two hours, the Council members emerged from their conference to declare they had elected Motley. With a salary of $35,000, Motley became both the Borough President and the highest paid female elected official in the country, according to the New York Herald Tribune.  

Office of the President, Borough of Manhattan, Annual Report, 1965. NYC Municipal Library.

As Borough President, Motley championed the work of community boards and urged policymakers to tackle disparities, as she wrote in the transmittal letter for the 1965 Annual Report: “...our government must mount unceasing attacks on problems, old and new, so that, for example, we no longer perpetuate the misery of slum life which scars the urban scene just beyond our enclaves of culture and skyscraper symbols of material wealth. Superior educational facilities, jobs for all, and an improved business climate, are other problems of major import which must be met resolutely and solved satisfactorily.” 

Manhattan had established a community board structure in 1950 and Motley worked closely with these community leaders to advance projects and to develop plans that would end the “tale of two cities.” This included hosting two conferences for board members and the public to focus on revitalizing Harlem, from river-to-river. She recognized the need for board staffing and noted that “widespread and responsible citizen participation is not the natural state of affairs in local government, it must be nurtured.”   

Drawing on the Harlem community boards and other leaders, she organized two conferences that focused on revitalizing Harlem, from river-to-river between 110th and 155th Streets. The first conference led to agreement on a seven-point program to revitalize Harlem. Step one was securing funding in the capital budget. Step two was getting support from the two candidates for Mayor. Step three was getting federal funding.

Office of the President, Borough of Manhattan, Annual Report, 1965. NYC Municipal Library.

Motley requested funding to develop a master plan for the project. The City Planning Commission did not include the request in their proposed budget and suggested that the request be taken up by the next mayoral administration. At a hearing on the budget, Motley testified, “I regard your observation as being both a frivolous and pedantic method of disposing of a problem which simply can not and must not be shoved under the rug of additional review or early consideration. I believe that the overwhelming majority of the population of our city realizes the frightful dimensions of the social economic and human problems we nurture in the slum ghetto.”

The project did receive capital funding when the new mayor, John V. Lindsay included $700,000 in the budget to advance community planning.

The second conference in January, 1966 was attended by both United States Senators, Jacob Javits and Robert Kennedy as well as Mayor Lindsay. The proceedings of this event were taped by WNYC, the municipal radio station and can be heard here.

One notable action incorporated into development plans was a series of community generated amendments to the Morningside Heights General Neighborhood Renewal Plan. Due to Motley’s insistence, and the deference given to Borough Presidents in certain actions, the Board of Estimate incorporated several amendments to the plan. These dealt with “insuring the continuation of the mixed racial and economic character of the neighborhood, maintaining the present width of Eighth Avenue, adequate relocation housing sources on the West Side, priority consideration for rehabilitation of existing housing as opposed to demolition and new construction.” Further, the adopted plan limited expansion in the neighborhood to those in the plan, in an attempt to reduce large institutions eradicating neighborhoods.  

Motley also weighed in against the Lower Manhattan Expressway which Robert Moses still advanced, despite 25 years of community opposition. She forecast that the planned Board of Estimate vote to designate the Haughwout Building (location of the first elevator) a landmark would finally end the project.

She successfully opposed the relocation of a concrete plant from 34th Street to 131st Street and the Harlem River. Instead, she persuaded the Board of Estimate to locate a park on the waterfront, although the space remained largely undeveloped until the 1990s. 

Borough President Motley did not confine her work to the borough of Manhattan.  The Annual Report includes her statement on the development of an industrial park in Flatlands, Brooklyn. She linked the matter to the desegregation of the City’s schools and urged the development of an educational park to advance integration. In a deeply-moving statement, she cited her commitment to integrated public education and noted that without completely integrating housing, the City needed to pursue alternatives to achieve the goal. “The next generation must be fully equipped to secure the jobs which are available…. The needs of factories in New York deserve consideration.  But so do the needs of children. I cannot approve the allocation of this entire site, a vast bloc of the city’s most precious resource—open land—without any provision for meeting the equally important problem of how to provide quality integrated education.

To the thousand of boys and girls in the ghettoes of Bedford Stuyvesant and Brownsville, the plan for an industrial park offers nothing. To a number of adults, who may commute from their suburban homes in segregated areas, this plan offers city-subsidized jobs.

I do not oppose jobs, but when a plan is proposed to provide these jobs that would also permanently preclude the breaking of racial barriers that divide children, that price is too high to pay.

It will not be my vote on the Board of Estimate which locks the door to the ghetto and throws away the key.”

1965 Woman of the Year. Constance Baker Motley, center receives an award from the American Association of University Women, New York City branch, October 8, 1965 (the women to the right and left of Baker Motley are not identified). Official Mayoral Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

She also was ahead of her time in trying to identify and root out conflicts of interest. She developed a three-question survey for her staff asking for a list of any entity in which the individual or family member held office, owned a financial interest or was employed by an outside organization.

In total, she served only 13 months as the Borough President. One wonders if Motley had continued as Borough President, what might have been different in our City.

Instead, though, Senator Robert Kennedy recommended her for a federal judgeship on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. When quizzed about this suggestion, Motley expressed skepticism that her name would advance through the Justice Department review, be submitted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and approved by the Senate. In an interview with the New York Post she offered her thoughts. “But even if such an appointment were contemplated, there would be the unlimited time to be consumed in investigation. You know that I have appeared before practically every federal district court in the South, before the 4th, 5th, and 6th Circuit Courts of Appeal, before the Supreme Court.

“Each of these lower court judges would be asked to evaluate me, and I don’t think some of the Southern judges involved would have had such a high opinion of me, considering the matters I brought before them.”

But, in 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson did nominate Motley for the position. The confirmation process took some time. As predicted there was pushback from Southern lawmakers.

She remained as Borough President while the nomination made its way through the confirmation process. During this time, Motley’s advocacy for the Harlem revitalization project continued. In August, she urged Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller to construct a State office building in Harlem stating that it would increase employment and reduce tensions.

Upon confirmation, over the objections of Southern senators, she became the nation’s first Black woman federal judge, taking a pay cut. 

Constance Baker Motley became the chief judge of the District Court in 1982 and continued to serve as a judge until her death in 2005.

In January, 2024, the United States Postal Service honored her with a Black Heritage Stamp joining her legacy with that of hundreds of Black leaders like Harriett Tubman, A. Philip Randolph, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr.  Ella Fitzgerald, John Lewis and more. Let’s see what New York City can do to further commemorate this remarkable woman.

If these highlights pique your curiosity, check out the biography: Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality by Tomiko Brown Nagin. 

Finding Bayard Rustin

Before watching the Netflix film Rustin, what I knew about Bayard Rustin, a key organizer and mastermind behind the March on Washington, was limited. I had only seen Rustin’s name mentioned in the organizational files of the New York Police Department (NYPD) Intelligence Records, also known as the “Handschu” collection. However, after a closer examination of the Handschu records, I became aware of Rustin’s prolific involvement with numerous organizations, and his influence on some of the most successful demonstrations in civil rights history.

March on Washington, Flyer, 1965. Handschu Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Handschu collection, which contains records acquired by the Municipal Archives as part of Judge Charles W. Haight’s 1985 court ruling in Barbara Handschu et al. v. Special Services Division, is an invaluable resource for information about the city’s social-political sphere during the 1950s-1970s. The collection includes biographical data, mugshots, flyers and reports from several organizations, police complaints and communication reports, surveillance photographs, and audiovisual material. The vast collection comprises around 500 cubic feet, including 200,000 card files and information on more than 5,200 organizations and 3,000 individuals. Thanks to extensive surveillance and documentation of the civil rights movement, the Handschu records are an excellent source of information to learn about civil rights leaders like Bayard Rustin.

The Handschu collection is comprised of several series, including individual files. Rustin’s file only has an index card that refers to a single communications report concerning his statements about the Harlem Riots in 1964. Although it is not uncommon to find empty files, it is unusual that a file lists only one report. 

Report regarding Bayard Rustin, August 19, 1964. New York Police Department Intelligence Files, Bureau of Special Services, Handschu Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.   

After an unsuccessful search, I reviewed the Handschu card series, arranged by name into various groupings. Each card records the person’s name and includes information such as age, occupation, and relevant political activity. Police officers created the cards as they gathered information about a person, and there can be multiple cards for an individual. Rustin’s card shows us his passion for pacifism and work against conscription. The card comments on his arrests in 1947 and 1948, while working with the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The card lacks references to reports and ends around 1960, which is unusual. There could be multiple reasons for the abbreviated information; for example, state and federal agencies often requested police files for their investigations, and many cards were not returned or were misfiled.

Bayard Rustin, Index Card, New York Police Department Intelligence Records, Bureau of Special Services, Handschu Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.  

Bayard Rustin, Index Card (reverse), New York Police Department Intelligence Records, Bureau of Special Services, Handschu Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.   

In 1988, the New York Police Department’s Inspectional Services Division decided to index and number the pages of files from sixteen different organizations represented in the large organization series, which includes groups like the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Communist Party, Black Panther Party, and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The indices list the names of individuals along with the page on which the person is mentioned. A sample page for SANE Nuclear Policy, for example, designated organization code 27, lists Rustin, along with other prominent individuals such as Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt. Rustin appears in twelve of sixteen organization folders, including CORE, NAACP, Black Arts, Communist Party, and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). His most prominent role was with CORE, an organization he co-founded and was active in for many years. His association with that group generated multiple references. 

Large Organization Index, Organization 27 (SANE Nuclear Policy), New York Police Department Intelligence Records, Inspectional Services Division, Handschu Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Rustin’s inclusion in these organizations supports the thesis that while he is not yet a household name, he was instrumental in organizing and leading activities that changed the course of American history. Although he was a Deputy Director of the March on Washington, we find only a few mentions of his name in that folder. With more than 250,000 people in attendance, the March on Washington is one of the most well-known civil rights events, and the venue for Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Nevertheless, it was not Rustin’s first rodeo; the organizational files also include his role in organizing the 1958 Youth March for Integrated Schools, which had around 10,000 attendees. Other significant impacts include Rustin’s part in organizing a school boycott along with Reverend Milton Galamison, which resulted in more than 400,000 students boycotting classes and several peaceful rallies across the city in favor of school desegregation.              

There are very few details about Ruskin’s personal life in the Handschu files, but we get a sense of his friendship with Martin Luther King. We find him serving as a Special Assistant to Dr. King, listed as Executive Director of the King Defense Committee, and leading a march at a peace rally after Dr. King’s assassination. There are references from individuals in the War Resister’s League files that indicate he was well-liked and admired. Although he was an openly gay man, there is no indication about his sexuality in any of the files. The only mention I found was a New York Tribune clipping discussing Senator Strom Thurmond’s remarks that labeled Bayard Rustin a pervert after the revelation of a 1955 sodomy charge in California. The clipping has the words “Send to BOSS” inscribed in the corner.   

Interview with Bayard Rustin, Report, July 20, 1967. New York Police Department, Bureau of Special Services, Handschu Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Handschu records demonstrate that Rustin was actively involved in various causes, including anti-war efforts, fighting discrimination, education, and labor rights. There are numerous examples of his support for improving life for all. For instance, in the War Resister’s League folder, we find an essay where he proclaims that “the Crisis in Vietnam is not only one of the dangers of nuclear war [but] a crisis for the conscience of America.” There is also a flyer listing him as a guest speaker at a community church addressing the murder of four children in Birmingham, Alabama, and a report of a rally and sit-in against Woolworth’s and W.T. Grant stores. In other records, we find evidence of him writing letters requesting donations for the National Economic Growth and Reconstruction Organization (NEGRO) and supporting taxicab strikes.

Rustin believed that nonviolent resistance was the best approach to social change. The most effective way of combating racism and inequality was by cooperating with races and forming powerful alliances. Fortunately, historians can use these intelligence records, which the police created and acquired for surveillance, to piece together the life of a man who significantly impacted the civil rights movement.

The Corporation Tea Room

The tall file cabinets in the Municipal Library, termed the Vertical Files, provide an unending glimpse of the workings of City government over centuries.  One recent find, in the “City Hall” file is a typewritten report on expenses related to a tea room at the City Hall in 1800s.

View of City Hall, September 1, 1858. For D.T. Valentine’s Manual of 1862. NYC Municipal Library.

The report, written by Municipal Librarian Barbara S. Peterson, depicts the give-and-take over reimbursements between the Council and the Comptroller. It illustrates the importance of a balance of powers within government. The report was prepared in June 1925 based on research in Municipal Library holdings including the Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen and Minutes of the Common Council.

The report below is a transcript from the original document in the Municipal Library.

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The Common Council of New York City was first granted a salary in April 1850, at which time provision was made for a payment of $4.00 per day for each day the Council was in session. This provision was repealed in December of that year. The Common Council did not intend, however, to be without some share of the City’s money. A “Tea Room” was established in the City Hall under the management of one James Taylor, keeper of the City Hall. There the Board of Aldermen and the Assistant Aldermen assembled for refreshment before starting the regular business at five o’clock in the afternoon.

The Comptroller’s report for the year 1850, lists under the heading “Contingent Expenses of the Common Council,”

“Paid for Tea Room Supplies . . . $2,061.65.”

For the year 1851 the report reads,  

 “Paid for Refreshments for Members . . . $5,185.82.”

ln 1852, the Comptroller received a bill for tea room expenses amounting to $9,672.82, which he refused to pay, setting forth his reasons at length in the annual report published February 14, 1853. His chief reason was that the money had not been appropriated for that special purpose.

Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York, 1852. NYC Municipal Library.

The amended charter of 1830, provided that no money should be “drawn from the city treasury, except the same shall have been previously appropriated to the purpose for which it was drawn.” The Department of Finance, with the Comptroller as the chief officer, was provided for in the amended charter of 1849. It was to have “control of all the fiscal concerns of the Corporation.” 

Among the unnecessary expenses which had been the object of the charter of 1830 to make impossible in the future, were refreshments in the City Hall and Almshouse and refreshments for the court and jury. In reference to the last item of only $100, Stephen Allen, in reporting the amendment to the Senate said, “It is entirely new in the annals of Corporation accounts.” Celebrations and parades made other expenses complained of, having their parallel in Comptroller Flagg’s report for the year 1852, with expenses for the funeral of Daniel Webster amounting to $6,447.35, this in spite of “the injunction contained in the will of that eminent man, to wit: ‘I wish to be buried without the least show or ostentation.’”

“As for the account for refreshments at the City Hall,” says Comptroller Flagg, “although made out by the head of a bureau in the Finance Department, they are a novelty in the history of auditing accounts for disbursement of public money. The last account paid, before I entered on the duties of the office, for refreshments for the month of December, was stated and verified as follows: 

“Corporation of New York,

To Jas. Taylor Dr. 

To refreshments furnished the Common Council, for the month of December, 1852, viz: 

Beef, pork, vegetables, bread, butter, tea, coffee, milk, sugar, chickens, oysters, eggs, cake, pepper, mustard, salt, vinegar and help, ...................... $776.46.”

To this an affidavit was annexed stating that the amount was just and that the articles named, ‘were purchased for, and consumed by, the members of the Common Council, and others, by their authority.’” 

The Comptroller then goes on to state that the former payment were made “under pretense of authority from the commissioners, consisting of the Mayor, and the Aldermen of each ward.”

He claims that no appropriation was made for the item of refreshment and he is not aware of any authority of the expenditure,

The Board had provided for the expenditure in a way satisfactory to themselves by an ordinance adopted by them February 3, 1852:

“Resolution that the keeper of the City Hall be directed to furnish refreshments to the members of the common Council, whenever they meet in session, and that the Comptroller be authorized to pay all bills for the same, when duly certified.”

The Comptroller’s report was received by the Board and “was laid on the table and ten times the usual number directed to be printed.” 

The New York Daily Times for February 15, stated in the editorial column that the comptroller’s report was “one of the most timely and valuable documents ever issued from that Department,”

The New York Tribune of the same date, commented on the report as follows: 

“As to the Tea Room, the Controller thinks the expenditures have no justifiable basis to rest upon. In view of the illegality of the refreshment bills, Mr. F. refuses to pay any of them, . . . It seems that there was a hint of this given out at City Hall, since Mr. Keeper Taylor got in his December bill before the end of the month, when they were usually a full month behind date. The Controller also denounces the refreshments bill of the Aldermen as Commissioners of Excise.”

It may be that the necessity of getting out a bill two months earlier than usual accounts to some extent for the brevity of the bill the Comptroller made such slighting remarks about. 

Another expenditure which evidently got by before Mr. Flagg took up the duties of his office, was that involved in an ordinance passed April 1l, 1852: 

“RESOLVED, That the Commissioner of Repairs and Supplies procure a good and substantial oil-cloth, for the floor of the room in the City Hall, known as the tea-room, and cause the same to be laid therein; and to replace, with new furniture, such articles of furniture in said room, as are in worn out and dilapidated condition, and that this resolution be carried into immediate effect.”

Some idea can be obtained of the appearance of the tea room from this description in the Tribune for August 23, 1852:

“The City Fathers. - These worthy gentlemen are returning slowly to the City, and will appear in a few days upon the broad steps of the City Hall and the sacred porches of the Tea Room, the scene of their moral and physical glory. The corridors of the Hall have been remarkably silent for the past three weeks, and the hangers about there complain that the place is remarkably dull; there is no bribery, no bullying, no vote-buying, no juggling of contracts, no fun whatsoever to enliven the sultry hours....

“But the Fathers are coming back, and brushing up for the September session. They have kept very shy in regard to their intentions, but there is a large amount of business of importance to be faced. 

“Probably the most important business of the session will be that in relation to the coming election; and will be transacted over the champagne and game of the Tea Room. This would be very rich, but unfortunately reporters are not admitted.” 

Even before the Comptroller refused to foot the bills at the tea room, the question of abolishing it came before the Board of Aldermen in the form: 

“RESOLVED, That the Keeper of the City Hall be, and he is hereby directed not to furnish any refreshments to any person, whereby the expense of the same shall come out of the city treasury.”  

The now famous Tweed, then a mere Alderman, moved that the above resolution be laid on the table and the motion was carried. 

The Times the next morning made the following statement about this incident: 

“A flare up among the Patrons of the Corporation ‘Tea Room.’ - Last evening, several of the City Fathers declined entering the corporation ‘Tea Room’ to get their supper, as they have hitherto been in the practice of doing, one of them proclaimed it was an outrage to make the people pay $11,000 per annum, for what was consumed in that ‘Tea Room’ and he at once proceeded to Sherwood’s Saloon in Broadway, took supper, and paid for it out of his own purse. This action will probably result in the abandonment of Mr. Taylor’s department at the ‘Tea Room.’” 

Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York, 1852. NYC Municipal Library.

Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York, 1852. NYC Municipal Library.

The next move in the abandonment of the tea room was a communication from Comptroller Flagg to the Aldermen, dated March 7, 1853, “nominating Thomas Allaire, as keeper of the City Hall and Park, in the place of James Taylor.”

Definite abandonment of the room was not further considered until June 17, 1853, when the Board:

“RESOLVED, That the tea room lately used by the Common Council and known as the ‘tea room’ be set apart for the use of the Clerk of the Common Council…” 

Nov. 25, 1853, the Mayor approved an ordinance which provided:  

“That the Commissioner of Repairs and Supplies be, and he is hereby directed to advertise for proposals for the fitting up, in an appropriate manner, the room known as the ‘tea room’, for the use of the Clerk of the Common Council.” 

The sum of three hundred dollars was appropriated for the purpose. 

The Reform Charter of 1854 resulting from the evidence of graft of which the tea room is only one example, limited the expenditures of the city’s money for entertainment of any kind  to the celebration of three holidays, one of them Washington’s birthday. 

That the new Aldermen were not entirely reform members is indicated by the following incident. The celebration of Washington’s birthday in 1854 would have cost the City $541.42 if the Comptroller had not again refused to pay the bill as presented by James Taylor, stating his reasons in a communication to the Board. His letter reveals that the dinner had been given in honor of the veterans of the war of 1812. The Comptroller wrote: 

“The champagne, brandy and cigars were duly expended in the public and patriotic service of celebrating Washington’s birthday, from forty to sixty days. It did not appear from the evidence that the veterans of 1812 had any share of the three thousand cigars, the five gallons of brandy, and the twenty baskets of champagne.”

Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York, 1852. NYC Municipal Library.

George Washington in New York: The First Presidential Mansion

At 12:30 p.m. on April 30, 1789, a military escort arrived at Franklin House in lower Manhattan to conduct president-elect George Washington to Federal Hall where, about ninety minutes later, he took the oath of office as the first President of the United States. The current Federal Hall, which replaced the original structure in 1842, is a well-known historic site and national landmark that has been welcoming visitors ever since. History has been less kind to Franklin House. Located at the intersection of Cherry and Pearl Streets, Franklin House was demolished in 1856. This week, For the Record highlights Municipal Archives and Library collections that help tell the story of the nation’s first Presidential residence.   

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Federal Hall, Inauguration of General Washington, the First President of the United States, on the 30th of April 1789. H.R. Robinson for D.T. Valentine’s Manual, 1849. NYC Municipal Library.

Although President Washington’s residency at Franklin House was short-lived, from April 1789 to February 1790, it was long enough for the City’s tax assessor to record his name in the records of Assessed Valuation of Real Estate.

The assessed valuation ledgers constitute one of the Municipal Archives’ core collections, providing essential information about the built environment of the City for countless researchers. For the Record featured the collection in How to Use Tax Assessment Records to Date Construction of a Building.

The 1789 ledger is the oldest in the series. There are five sections in the ledger; one for each ward of the city. The Franklin House was located in the Montgomery Ward. Turning to page 15 and reading down the first column (Name of Residents) to the ninth line, the entry “George Washington in D” jumps out. The “D” is an abbreviation for “ditto,” meaning Mr. Washington lived in a house owned by Samuel Osgood, listed on the line above. 

Two questions arise from discovery of this entry.  What can Municipal Archives and Library records tell us about the Franklin House, and second, who was Samuel Osgood?

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Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, Montgomery Ward, Cherry Street 1789. Records of Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, NYC Municipal Archives.

The first step in any research project concerning the built environment is to determine the Borough block and lot (BBL) numbers. Although not officially adopted until the latter part of the nineteenth century, it is still important to identify the BBL as records that pre-date the numbering system are often subsequently identified and/or indexed by those numbers. Examining historical atlases in the Archives to locate the Franklin House on Cherry Street provides the necessary BBL: Manhattan Block 112, lots 1 and 52. 

Secondary sources provide helpful information about the early history of Franklin House. An article from 1939, “President Washington’s Cherry Street Residence,” in the New York Historical Society’s Quarterly Bulletin (vol. 23) is particularly useful. According to article author Henry B. Hoffman the Cherry Street property on Block 112 had been the site of a brewery operated by Robert Benson in the mid-18th century. After Benson’s death in 1762, his widow Catherine and son Robert closed the brewery and sold the property to Walter Franklin for £2,000. The Municipal Archives deed transcription series, confirms this transaction, referencing Conveyance Liber 39, page 53, indicating that Catharine Benson, Widow, and Robert Benson grant the property to Walter Franklin on March 19, 1770.    

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Conveyance transcriptions, Manhattan, Block 112. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Hoffmann article continued: “Walter Franklin who was a rising merchant, at once built a large residence on Cherry Street, a squarish building with a front about fifty feet long. In May 1774, he married at Flushing, Long Island, Mary (or Maria) Bowne, daughter of Daniel Bowne of that town. They had three daughters. After the British evacuation of New York City [in 1784], Mr. Franklin died, and shortly thereafter, on May 4, 1786, his widow married Samuel Osgood, a native of Andover, Massachusetts.”  

The indispensable six-volume Iconography of Manhattan Island, by I. N. Stokes, available in the Municipal Library, adds to the story. Stokes quotes extensively from George Washington’s correspondence concerning his upcoming inauguration in New York. In March 1789, Washington wrote from Mount Vernon to James Madison: “I... take the liberty of requesting the favor of you to engage lodgings for me previous to my arrival [in New York City for the inauguration]. “On the subject of lodgings I will frankly declare, I mean to go into none but hired ones—If these cannot be had tolerably convenient... I would take rooms in the most decent Tavern...” Thanks to members of Congress, the President did not need to take rooms in a tavern, but instead they rented the Franklin House on Cherry Street, then owned by Mr. Samuel Osgood. Stokes writes, “This house had been built in 1770 by Walter Franklin, an old merchant in the city and upon his death had passed into the possession of Mr. Samuel Osgood, who was appointed Post-master General in September 1789. It stood on the north side of Cherry Street several doors east of the present Franklin Square which received its name in March 1817, in honor of Benjamin Franklin, its former appellation having been St. George’s Square.”

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The Presidential Mansion, from D.T. Valentine’s Manual, 1853. NYC Municipal Library.

The President’s residency in the Franklin/Osgood house was short-lived. It apparently proved inadequate to accommodate the large Washington household which included seven enslaved persons. In February 1790, the President and his entourage moved to larger quarters, the Macomb house on lower Broadway, nearer to Federal Hall on Wall Street.

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Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, 4th Ward, Cherry Street, 1808. Records of Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, NYC Municipal Archives. 

The subsequent history of the Franklin House (later called Franklin Mansion) is described in the secondary sources and confirmed in Archives collections. According to the Hoffmann article, and supported by examination of the assessed valuation records, in 1789 Osgood owned not only the Franklin mansion, but another property at no. 6 Cherry Street. In 1791, after Washington vacated the property, Osgood moved into the Franklin Mansion, and remained there until he died in 1813. His wife Maria survived him by only one year at which point the house passed into ownership of Osgood’s two step-daughters, Maria and Hannah. Maria married DeWitt Clinton, who would later serve as Mayor of New York City and Governor of New York State. Hannah Clinton married DeWitt’s brother George.

The assessed valuation ledger for 1808 shows Samuel Osgood at no. 9 Cherry Street (renumbered from no. 3 in 1794) with the property valued at $7,000, considerably greater than surrounding properties and consistent with the description of the Franklin Mansion as a substantial structure. The 1809, 1810, 1811, and 1812 ledgers record similar data. The 1813 ledger is missing, but in 1814, after Osgood’s death, ownership is listed as DeWitt Clinton and the property’s assessed value had increased to $20,000.

The Hoffmann account notes that the Franklin Square neighborhood had become increasingly commercial in the first decades of the nineteenth century, and by 1818 the mansion had been remodeled into a bank. And again, the assessed valuation records confirm the change. In 1821, the property owner is listed as “Widow Clinton,” with description as “Bank,” valued at $16,500. By the 1840s, the last occupant was the piano and music store of Firth, Pond & Company, also confirmed in the tax records. Finally, the mansion was demolished in 1856.  

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Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, 4th Ward, Cherry Street, 1824. Records of Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, NYC Municipal Archives.

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Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, 4th Ward, Cherry Street, 1842. Records of Assessed Valuation of Real Estate, NYC Municipal Archives.

Samuel Osgood. Library of Congress

To answer our second question, who was Samuel Osgood, secondary sources are again helpful, supplemented by other Archival material. An entry prepared by the University of Virginia Miller Center provides basic biographical information:  “Samuel Osgood was born in Andover, Massachusetts, February 3, 1748. He graduated from Harvard University and first experienced politics on a small scale, serving from 1774 to 1776 on the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and as a delegate to the Essex County Convention (Massachusetts). He earned more notoriety after a successful stretch with the Revolutionary Army, ascending in rank from volunteer militia captain to army colonel in four years (1776-1800). Resuming his political career soon thereafter, Osgood served two terms with the Massachusetts State Senate (1780 and 1784), and spent several years as a member of the Continental Congress (1781-1784). Involved in national financial affairs as well, Osgood became director of the Bank of North America while a congressman and later became one of three board members to oversee the U.S. treasury under the Articles of Confederation (1785-1789). In recognition of Osgood’s national service, President George Washington named him the nation’s first postmaster general in 1789, a post which Osgood held until resigning in 1791. After giving up politics for a decade, Osgood reappeared to become a member of the New York State Assembly and Supervisor of Internal Revenue for the District of New York by appointment of President Thomas Jefferson (1800-1803). In 1803, Jefferson promoted Osgood to naval officer at the port of New York, a position Osgood held until his death on August 12, 1813.”

George Washington statue in front of Sub-Treasury, 1937. E.M. Bofinger, photographer. WPA Federal Writers’ Project collection. Built as the Custom House in 1842 on roughly the same site as City Hall/Federal Hall, then operated as the US Subtreasury from 1862 to 1924, the building was used for various federal purposes until 1939 when it was turned over to the National Parks Service for use as Federal Hall Memorial National Historic Site.

For the time period of the colonial era through the early Republic, the Common Council records are a useful resource, and it is not surprising that there are several references to Samuel Osgood in the series, given his prominence in the community. To the great benefit of students of this time period, the proceedings of the Council are well indexed, printed and published in two series: 1653-1776 and 1784-1832. Among Mr. Osgood’s appearances in the Common Council records are notices of his appointment as Inspector of Elections for the 5th Ward in 1792 and 1794. Other entries in the Common Council records concern more mundane matters. In 1794, Osgood and other residents along Cherry Street petitioned the Council, “..complaining of the Injury which result to their Houses if the present regulation of St. James Street should be carried into execution... and Mr. Osgood attending the Board was heard on the subject whereupon the whole Board proceeded to the place to see whether any and what alteration could be made in the regulation of the said Street to the end that the cause of complaint be removed if possible.” The record does not note the final outcome.

For the Record wishes its readers a happy Presidents’ Weekend.

The Phony and the Crackpot at City Hall, by Stanley H. Howe

The For the Record  blog has frequently commented on the serendipitous nature of archival research. Thanks to imperfect descriptions and the sometimes haphazard filing practices of record-creators, researchers are often rewarded with seemingly random items. The typescript featured this week turned up in Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s subject files, in a folder labeled “Speeches, 1936.”  

Henry Modell, to Hon. Stanley H. Howe, Secretary to the Mayor, January 8, 1936. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The five-page typescript is titled “Cheese Club 1/13/36.”  It appears to be a transcript of remarks that Stanley H. Howe, Secretary to the Mayor, gave to members of the Club. The exact nature of this organization is not entirely clear, but a reference in a description of Sardi’s restaurant seems plausible:  “. . . a group of newspapermen, press agents, and drama critics who met for lunch regularly at Sardi's and referred to themselves as the Cheese Club.”  It is possible that the Club dates back to James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) who founded the literary “Bread and Cheese,” according to a New York City Encyclopedia entry under literature. 

Howe began his remarks: “It occurred to me that the members of the Cheese Club would be interested in hearing some of the interesting human incidents that occur at the City Hall. There are times when it seems that everyone of the seven million people of the City of New York is trying to see the Mayor.” 

Take a few minutes to read Howe’s account of a day at City Hall. In his words:  “Every day we have we have to deal with the phony and with the crackpot as well as with the serious and well-intentioned.”  

Transcript, remarks to Cheese Club, by Stanley H. Howe, Secretary to the Mayor, January 13, 1936. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.