Deinstitutionalization of Mental Healthcare in New York

In 1994, WNYC-TV aired an episode of their current events talk show New York Hotline titled “Mental Illness.” Hosted by Ti-Hua Chang, an expert panel discussed the ongoing challenges of mental health treatment, legal issues surrounding mental health policy and history of deinstitutionalization (and defunding of mental health services) in New York. Many of the issues raised nearly 30 years ago sound tragically like the conversations being held today. Why do so many with mental health problems become homeless? How does the experience of homelessness worsen mental health? How do we help those who refuse treatment ?  Why are so many people with mental disorders skeptical of public mental health services?

One thing that makes discussing the topic so difficult is that our understanding of mental health has changed significantly over the course of the last century. Terms like mentally ill and mentally retarded were often used interchangeably. Homosexuality was viewed as a sickness like psychopathy or schizophrenia. Addiction was (and still is) often seen as a moral or character failure instead of a health crisis that could affect anyone.

According to the 2022 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), a mental disorder is “...a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or development processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expectable or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant behavior (e.g. political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual, as described above.”

D.J. Jaffe from the Alliance for the Mentally Ill, New York Hotline Episode 616: Mental illness (1994) WNYC-TV Collection

The way we treat and house those with mental disorders has changed significantly, too. Starting in the 1970s, New York State government began a long term ‘deinstitutionalization’ effort of mental health services. They sought to end large-scale institutions for people with mental disorders and transition to smaller, regional community centers that are prevalent today. One of these centers, Fountain House, was founded in the 1940s by former patients to provide a standard of care based on mutual support through social activities, temporary housing and job placement.

Fountain House Member Dorothy Purnell, New York Hotline Episode 616: Mental illness (1994) WNYC-TV Collection

The new 911 mental health response teams the administration of Bill de Blasio began in 2020 were inspired by a similar program, The White Bird Clinic. This Eugene, Oregon program began in 1969 to respond to mental health crises with health care workers instead of police, as well as more broadly serving low-income residents of the town. 

Despite these efforts, many might observe that the system today is in a desperate state. Mental disorders seem more prevalent than ever and so too are issues like homelessness and substance abuse. Some. like journalist Ti-hua Chang. might ask if it's not more humane to force these people into treatment, to institutionalize them for their own wellbeing. When considering the question, Dorothy Purnell and NY Civil Liberties Union attorney Norman Siegel both struggled to agree that people who are in dire need of healthcare might sometimes, in limited instances, benefit from being institutionalized against their will. When the need seems so dire for so many for so long, why is there still such resistance to institutionalization? While the full answer is deeply complex, one word may sum it up better than any other: Willowbrook.

Mayor Beame reappoints Dr. June Jackson Christmas as Commissioner of Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services (1973) WNYC-TV Collection

Willbrook State School was a school for the “mentally retarded”, operating from 1947 to 1987 on Staten Island. Housing mostly younger children, it was built for 4,000, but reached a population of over 6,000 by the 1960s, making it the largest such facility in the world. When Robert Kennedy toured the school in 1965, he referred to it as a snake pit where children lived in conditions worse than animals in a zoo. Cruel and unethical studies wherein mentally handicapped children were purposefully exposed to hepatitis were carried out with little regard for scientific rigor or patient safety. The 1972 WABC expose, titled ‘Willowbrook: The Last Disgrace’  first broadcast disturbing images from inside the facility. The outcry over Willowbrook and similar institutions led to the passage of the 1980 ‘Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act’ (CRIPA), which empowers the Attorney General to investigate state-run institutions that hold large numbers of people, like jails, nursing homes and mental health facilities.

It also led to closing these institutions and moving the residents to local settings, many of which were group homes staffed by social workers and medical personnel.

Regrettably, this deinstitutionalization movement was often paired with budget cuts for public mental health programs as government bodies across the country grappled with economic decline in the 1970s and ‘80s. While places like Willowbrook could not be allowed to continue, the increased funding that Commissioner Christmas hoped would fill the gaps of the mental health care system was not allocated under Mayor Beame or his successors.

The de Blasio Administration  increased funding for mental health treatment and new outreach programs. Organizations like Fountain House have expanded significantly and continue their vital mental health work.

If you or someone you know is suffering from a mental health crisis, please don’t hesitate to contact NYC Well by phone at 1-888-NYC-WELL (1-888-692-9355), by texting “WELL” to 651-73 or visiting their website at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/en/.

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.

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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

Walt Whitman

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.

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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

Langston Hughes

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.

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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

Vladimir Nabokov

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.

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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

Honoring Women’s History Day, Week and Month

From 1977 to 1991, New York City Councilmembers Miriam Friedlander, Jane Trichter, Ruth Messinger and others frequently used the cable television station Channel L to advocate for the rights and welfare of women, as well as celebrate the history and ongoing activism of women in the City. Channel L was the public access channel assigned to the City of New York by (Sterling) Manhattan Cable Television as part of the franchise agreement MCT signed with the City in the late 1960s. Hosting episodes of the call-in talk show, ‘Manhattan at Large,’ these Councilmembers invited guests to discuss salient and evolving issues in women’s lives, such as job discrimination, domestic abuse, politics, sexual orientation, and homelessness, to name just a few.

The first Women’s History Day was held in New York City, February 28th, 1909, organized by the Socialist Party of America and corresponded with rising action to achieve women’s suffrage in the United States. In the following years, the celebration evolved into International Women’s History Day, observed every March 8th by feminist, Socialist and labor organizations around the world. By 1978, both New York City and the United Nations officially recognized International Women’s History Day and the United States declared March as Women’s History Month in 1987.

REC0072_0136_excerpt March 3, 1982. Channel L Working Group Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Diane Lacey (board member of the NYC Health and Hospital Corporation) and Connie Kopelov (Coalition of Labor Union Women) comment on the importance of knowing women’s history and what it does for them personally.

The recognition of International Women’s History Day in 1978 came one year after the pivotal 1977 National Women’s Conference in Houston, chaired by New York Congressional Representative Bella Abzug. Tens of thousands of women from across the country attended the conference and created a report that was later presented to Congress and the Carter administration. The report, titled The Spirit of Houston, included a National Plan of Action detailing reforms and new policies meant to improve the lives of women in the United States. The many topics covered in the report included: education, minority women, employment, domestic abuse, healthcare, an Equal Rights Amendment, insurance, homemakers, older women, sexual assault and reproductive freedom.

REC0072_0013_excerpt March 15, 1978. Channel L Working Group Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. The devaluation of work traditionally done by women was one of many topics discussed at the National Women’s Conference.

The importance of such a conference was underlined by the stark realities women faced in the United States in the late 1970s, and still face today. One topic that Councilmember Friedlander returned to repeatedly on her Channel L program was the plight of battered women and efforts to reform laws around domestic abuse. Frequently, law enforcement officers and courts treated domestic violence as a family matter to be handled internally, rather than a criminal assault that necessitated serious legal penalties. Over the course of her time in City politics, Friedlander successfully pushed for a significant expansion of shelters and services for victims of domestic abuse.

REC0072_0027_excerpt July 26, 1978. Channel L Working Group Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. The ongoing tolerance of domestic abuse has been a primary example of the way in which women are treated as second class citizens, despite significant reforms.

Although abortion had been decriminalized in New York State in 1970, it wasn’t until 1973 with the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v Wade that abortion was essentially legalized throughout the country. Even with this new legal status, it was estimated that hundreds of thousands of women were still unable to get an abortion throughout the 1970s. This was often due to inadequate facilities where they lived, forcing them to make long and burdensome trips to obtain safe and reliable healthcare. This remains a major problem almost half a century later and one that primarily impacts already disadvantaged women.

REC0072_0129_excerpt January 13, 1982. Channel L Working Group Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Despite abortion rights being consistently supported by large majorities in the United States, it is an inherently difficult topic to discuss and therefore organize around.

In 1937, Genevieve Earle was the first woman elected to the New York City Council. Representing Brooklyn, she became involved in politics in 1907 as a municipal researcher and was a leader in the local suffragist movement for many years. Four decades after her election, Councilmembers like Miriam Friedlander traced their own work for women’s rights back to this era, drawing not only on the inspiration Earle had provided, but also the hard-won legal rights the suffragette generation had achieved. As of 2022, roughly four decades after these television programs were broadcast, for the first time in history, the majority of the New York City Council is made up of women. Still, it is important to appreciate that women’s history extends far beyond any one place or time and that no one organization or group of government officials has an ability to define or claim ownership. The same can and should be said of women’s hard-won legal rights.

The New York City Municipal Archives recognizes the critical role that women have played in our City’s history and is committed to the preservation of records that document that history. We hope that the conversations recorded in these videos and many others in the Channel L collection will inspire  current and future generations to honor the achievements of those who came before and strive for a better future.

WNYC-TV Presents Poetry Spots

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

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Bob Holman, We Interrupt This Program

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

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

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Jessica Hagedorn, Loft Living

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

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

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Allen Ginsberg, In My Kitchen

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

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

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June Jordan, Financial Planning and Sara Miles

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

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

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

Honoring Duke Ellington

For most of the 20th century, the City of New York ran the largest municipal broadcast organization in the United States, consisting of WNYC-FM, AM and TV. During this time, WNYC brought the diverse lives and cultures of the city into the homes of its residents through original entertainment, journalism and educational programming. Since the separation of WNYC from the City in 1996, the Municipal Archives has been caring for the thousands of films and video tapes from WNYC-TV, and thousands of radio recordings in partnership with the WNYC Foundation’s Archives. Some recently digitized items added to the online gallery  show deep appreciation for the life and work of music legend Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington.  

Duke Ellington, with Mrs. Ellington, receives the Bronx Medal from Acting Mayor Paul Screvane (left), August 2, 1965. Official Mayoral Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Duke Ellington Day was proclaimed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on April 29th, 2009, which would have been the jazz legend’s 110th birthday. Ellington is famous for adding his piano to brass orchestral jazz with songs such as “It Don’t Mean a Thing (if it Ain’t Got that Swing),” and was house band leader of the influential and infamous prohibition era Harlem venue the Cotton Club. The City of New York has honored the composer several times for his work and 2009 was not the first Duke Ellington Day. In 1965, Duke Ellington was presented with the Bronze Medal by Acting Mayor Paul Screvane, and Mayor John V. Lindsay also proclaimed Duke Ellington Day on September 15th, 1969, in honor of his contributions to American culture. WNYC Radio and TV covered the two events.  

MUNI-MISC-1965-08-02-71923.1 T1372 T1373

WNYC, New York Public Radio

WNYC recording, Duke Ellington Day, City Hall, August 2, 1965.  

Long before the awards and honors, Ellington arrived in New York in 1923, leaving his successful career in his hometown of Washington, D.C. for opportunity in the vibrant art scene of Harlem. That Manhattan neighborhood was in the middle of a cultural awakening now described as the Harlem Renaissance, when many enduring works by African American artists were created. Aside from Ellington, other musical giants like Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong wrote and performed in clubs across Harlem. Writers like Arthur Schomburg and Langston Hughes penned famous works such as ‘The Weary Blues’ in 1926 and visual artists Richmond Barthé and Meta Vaux Warwick Fuller portrayed the beauty of black physicality.   

Duke Ellington had gained recognition as a member in other bands already, but his career really took off once he became the band leader at the Cotton Club. Although the venue was highly popular among its exclusively wealthy and white clientele, the real surge in popularity came when CBS began broadcasting the performances across the country, making Duke Ellington the first nationally-broadcast African American band leader. This popularity quickly led to short films with RKO Pictures and recording deals with major record labels.  

Ellington and his band left the Cotton Club in 1931 and found great success in composing and recording original music, as well as touring internationally despite the onset of the Great Depression. Some of his most enduring work, like ‘Caravan’ and ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing’ were composed and performed for the first time during this period. Ellington also began to win major awards for his work when he scored a film titled ‘Symphony in Black’ (1935), featuring Billie Holiday, which won the Academy Award for Best Musical Short Piece that year.

WNYC-TV Collection, Duke Ellington and his band perform at Duke Ellington Day, with Mayor John V. Lindsay, City Hall Plaza, September 15, 1969. NYC Municipal Archives.

Ellington’s popularity waned during the 1940s, only to resurge in the 1950s and ‘60s after his headline-grabbing appearance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. The resulting vinyl record of the performance has become the best-selling album of Ellington’s entire career. Soon he and his orchestra were in high demand to play at festivals across the country. Ellington spent the later years of his career split between expanding his discography and receiving awards and accolades for his decades of musical innovation. In addition to honors from the City of New York, Duke Ellington also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and won 12 Grammy’s as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Although the original Cotton Club no longer exists, the indelible mark that Duke Ellington left on the City and its culture is evident not just in the awards he was given, but the material now preserved and publicly available through a grant from the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund. You can find the WNYC-TV recording of the 1969 Duke Ellington Day on the Municipal Archive’s digital gallery along with hundreds of hours of WNYC-TV programming.  

Richard Nixon’s 1968 Halloween Rally at Madison Square Garden

Historical photographs and movies have the unique ability to transport viewers to a time and place of a bygone era. The significance of the Municipal Archives’ photograph and moving image collections, often cited in justifying the resources needed to digitize visual materials, is that their value is not just in what they intend to depict, but also all the ancillary information—the clothes people wore, street signs, storefronts, etc.—in the image.  This week, AV Archivist Chris Nicols has selected two videos from the New York Police Department surveillance film collection to take us back to Halloween, 1968.

On October 31st, 1968, Richard Nixon held a campaign rally in Madison Square Garden. One week later, Nixon would win the Presidential election with 44% of the popular vote, running on themes of ‘law and order’ and ‘peace at home, peace abroad.’  The NYPD’s Bureau of Special Services and Investigations (BOSSI) conducted covert surveillance of the rally, both inside and outside the Garden as the events of that year surely made them (and most Americans) worried about potential violence around political figures and events. While NYPD’s BOSSI usually conducted surveillance on what they considered potentially dangerous activist groups, they also worked to ensure the safety of domestic politicians in the City and international figures visiting the United Nations. 

The 1968 Presidential election occurred during one of the most turbulent periods in American history. Over the course of that election year, sitting President Lyndon Baines Johnson declined to run for re-election, Democratic candidate Robert Kennedy was assassinated, segregationist George Wallace’s American Independent Party rose in popularity and protests occurred at both the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the Republican Convention in Miami. Other dramatic events that year –the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War and student protests at colleges across the United States—rocked American society.

Inside the rally, NYPD officers dressed in plain clothes embed with Young Republican Clubs as they cheer Nixon coming on stage.

Inside the Garden, NYPD officers placed themselves among a crowd of Young Republican organizations, dressed in civilian clothing to avoid detection. Through their lens, the scene looked similar to political rallies today- minus the giant screens. Musicians and singers entertained the crowd before various Republican politicians took the lectern to speak about the gravity of the election and extoll the virtues of the candidate. Based on transcripts from the event, Nixon spoke of the need to end the Vietnam War through negotiation and referenced his role as Vice President under President Dwight D. Eisenhower in ending the Korean War. When speaking of ongoing peace talks in Paris, Nixon said: 

“...let us make sure that we do not overlook the necessity for a new foreign policy to see to it that America is not involved in another Viet Nam and that is why we need preventive diplomacy in the world today. So, we have offered a foreign policy for America in which we will look all over this great world and diffuse those trouble-spots which presently are ready to explode... " 

Nixon also linked ‘peace abroad’ with ‘peace at home,’ citing statistics on how afraid Americans were of going out at night, the impact of inflation on the social fabric of the country, rising unemployment and fears of moral degradation stemming from the failures of the Vietnam War. Indeed, the country as a whole and large cities like New York were experiencing devastating increases in crime and poverty. Saying that America was not ‘a nation of haters,’ Nixon promised that he would “Bring the country together again.” While inflation and unemployment fell slightly in his first term, Nixon left office with both statistics shooting up higher than before, marking the beginning of a long period of stagflation. The issues plaguing New York and other American urban centers that Nixon promised to resolve would only worsen throughout the 1970’s. 

Outside Richard Nixon's 1968 Halloween rally at Madison Square Garden, demonstrators show their opposition to his foreign policy.

Outside the event, a picket line of protesters voiced their opposition to Nixon, accusing him of being pro-war and linking him to his opponents, former Alabama Governor George Wallace and Democratic Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Wallace favored an outright military victory in Vietnam, believing that it was possible to achieve in his first 100 days. Meanwhile, Humphrey opposed changes to Democratic party policy that would have called for an immediate end to bombings, a slow withdrawal of troops and the creation of a government that included both North and South Vietnamese leaders. While the Vietnam War was becoming increasingly unpopular among Democratic voters, it was still the policy Humphrey’s boss, President Johnson, firmly supported. The majority of New Yorkers voted for Humphrey.

The 1968 Tet Offensive by North Vietnam had soured public opinion on the progress of the War, convincing many that military leaders had mislead the American people. Nixon campaigned on “peace with honor” and ending the war through a process called ‘Vietnamization’ (like ‘Afghanization’) where the fighting would largely be done by American trained South Vietnamese soldiers backed by American air support. Ultimately, Nixon’s Vietnamization expanded the war into neighboring Cambodia and Laos, the overall conflict continuing into his second term. Nixon would resigned in disgrace before the end of America’s second longest war in 1975. The total number of dead is estimated to be between 1.5 and 3.5 million people, mostly Vietnamese civilians. In the years after the war, thousands of surviving Vietnamese refugees found homes in the New York City metropolitan area. 

The recently digitized footage featured in this blog once again illustrates the broad range of subjects that can be researched in Municipal Archives collections. With films on Civil Rights, original Central Park drawings and hundreds of hours of 20th century radio broadcasts, the Municipal Archives has millions of records available for free online. Take a few minutes to revisit October 31st, 1968 in New York City and Happy Halloween 2021!