Blog - For The Record — NYC Department of Records & Information Services

Kenneth Cobb

Welcoming Home American Olympic Champions in 1924

Today, July 26, 2024, the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games will take place in Paris, France, one hundred years after the “City of Light” first hosted Summer Olympic games.

Scrapbook clipping from the New York American, August 7, 1924. Mayor Hylan collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

On August 6, ten days after the 1924 games concluded, New York City welcomed home more than two hundred American athletes with a ticker-tape parade along Broadway and a ceremonial dinner at the Hotel Astor.  

This week, For the Record turns to Mayor John Hylan’s newspaper clipping scrapbooks and City Greeter Grover Whalen’s records to tell the story of New York’s celebration for the returning Olympians. 

Whalen had perfected the art of staging a ticker-tape parade during his five years leading the Mayor’s Committee for Receptions to Distinguished Guests. Whalen’s files typically contain minutes of planning meetings and lists of invitees for the event. For the 1924 Olympics parade and dinner, the folder includes a “Memorandum” from the President of the Board of Aldermen urging Whalen to extend invitations to the mayors of two dozen other big American cities to “…show that there is no disposition on the part of New York City to ‘hog’ it all.” Whalen apparently accepted their advice. The file includes a transcript of a telegram Whalen sent to mayors of Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities, inviting them to attend a meeting to plan “… an entertainment for the returning victorious American Olympic Team.”   

Menu from Olympic Reception. Grover Whalen collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Menu from Olympic Reception. Grover Whalen collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor Hylan’s newspaper clipping scrapbook documents the big day. Apparently, it did not get off to a good start. The New York World-Telegram newspaper headline for August 7, read “Olympic Athletes Welcomed Home by a Broiling City.” The article related how fog in the harbor delayed arrival of the ship returning the athletes from Europe. Then, the article continued, “bunglesome” customs formalities further delayed the athletes. Eventually, however, 5,000 people gathered at Battery Park and “braved the burning sun” to see the parade that finally got underway around 5 p.m.. At City Hall, Mayor Hylan shook hands with each of the athletes and gave them gold medals expressing the gratitude of New York City for their showing in Paris. Dignitaries made speeches over the then-new municipal radio station WNYC, and the day concluded with “a beefsteak supper” at the Hotel Astor.

Telegram from Grover Whalen to Andrew Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, regarding the returning Olympians, July 21, 1924. Grover Whalen collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Previous For the Record articles have discussed how the mayoral scrapbooks are a useful resource. The mayor’s staff clipped stories from all of the local newspapers—more than a dozen in the 1920s. Although back issues of a few papers, e.g. The New York Times are now available online in digital format, most are not.

The clippings also have value because they provide context and reveal information about contemporaneous events relevant to the research subject. We Shall All Be There: Dedicating Shea Stadium described how researching in Mayor Wagner scrapbooks for stories about Shea Stadium, led to discovery of articles about a “stall-in” planned by the Congress of Racial Equality to disrupt the opening day of the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair. According to the stories, hundreds of drivers would travel on the highways leading to the fairgrounds and deliberately stall-out their automobiles to cause massive traffic jams.

Scrapbook clipping from the Brooklyn Eagle, August 3, 1924. Mayor Hylan collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Researchers investigating the Olympic athlete celebration in Mayor Hylan’s scrapbooks will find that the bigger story of the day was Grover Whalen’s resignation from his post as Commissioner of the Department of Plant and Structures. In his letter of resignation, effective July 1, 1924, Whalen explained that his decision was “based on personal and family considerations,” specifically, the expenses of educating his growing family. He also expressed concern that he would not be able to devote sufficient attention to Hylan’s plans for new subway construction.  

Whalen released a copy of his resignation letter to the press and several articles speculated about the “real cause,” of his departure from city government. The Eagle newspaper suggested that Whalen’s action may have been “a brilliant move for a possible candidate for Mayor.” Other reports cited Hylan’s decision to remove responsibility for city ferries and trackless trolleys from Whalen’s portfolio.

Whalen did not resign from his role with the Mayor’s Reception Committee, and he ably welcomed home the returning Olympians. Swimmer Johnny Weissmuller was among the victorious athletes. He won three gold medals for swimming as well as a bronze medal as a member of the water polo team. Weissmuller later made his way to Hollywood and became famous playing Tarzan of the Apes in several movies. Helen Wills won gold medals in the singles and doubles tennis events and gold-medal rower Benjamin Spock later achieved renown as a pediatrician and author.

In another film-related connection, the 1924 Paris Games themselves became immortalized in Chariots of Fire, the 1981 Oscar-winning film about British runners Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams.

It remains to be seen how the American team fares in the 2024 Olympic Games but For the Record readers will certainly cheer them on.

Preserving the Union: Military Records from the Town of New Utrecht

George William Stillwell enlisted in the Union Army on April 27, 1861. He fought in Civil War battles at Yorktown, Williamsburgh, Fair Oaks, and White Oak Swamp. Achieving the rank of Captain, he commanded a Regiment at the 2nd Bull Run, Fredericksburgh, under General Ambrose Burnside. He resigned his commission on account of physical disability.

Town of New Utrecht Record for the Bureau of Military Record, Old Town Records collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Captain Stillwell’s son James Henry Stillwell also enlisted in the Army about a month after his father. He fought in battle at Fair Oaks where he was mortally wounded. He died on June 30, 1862, at age 18. These entries appear in the Record of Troops: Roll of Persons Liable to Military and Quota of Troops Furnished in the War of Rebellion for the Town of New Utrecht, 1851-1865.

This ledger-format record, and three similar items from the Kings County Towns of Flatbush and Flatlands are part of the Old Town Records collection. Recently processed and partially digitized with funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, this large collection (1,272 cubic feet), consists of records created and/or maintained by towns and villages in Kings, Queens, Richmond and Westchester Counties before they were dissolved, annexed, or consolidated into what is now the City of New York. They document administrative, court, financial, land, voting, and tax transactions. The collection includes records of military service as well as information documenting enslaved people.  

Although few in number, these Civil War-era ledgers are of particular value due to the unique information about the men recorded in the ledgers. Not only do they provide a summary of the soldier or seaman’s military service, they also indicate demographic data, e.g. places of birth, parents’ names and occupations.    

Captain Stillwell was born on February 9, 1813, in New Utrecht. His parents were Thomas Stillwell and Catharine Bennett. His son, James Henry, was born on September 10, 1844, in Brooklyn. His parents were George W. Stillwell and Margaret Bird. Birthdates of both father and son pre-date official birth record-keeping and these ledger entries may provide the only evidence of their birth. Examining the nativity of the other soldiers and sailors listed in the ledger confirm that both native-born men and new immigrants served in the Civil War.    

Town of New Utrecht Record for the Bureau of Military Record, Old Town Records collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Town of New Utrecht Record for the Bureau of Military Record, Old Town Records collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Civil War-related records were created pursuant to a New York State law, Chapter 690 of 1865: “An Act in relation to the bureau of Military Statistics.” The legislation was enacted “To collect and furnish to the bureau of military record, and to preserve in permanent form for the county, a record of the miliary services of those who have volunteered or been mustered, or who may hereafter volunteer or be mustered into the service of the general government from the county since the fifteenth day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and a brief civil history of such person, so far as the same can be ascertained.” The full text of the law is available in the Municipal Library.     

Civil War Veterans, Flushing, Queens, lantern slide, n.d. Borough President Queens Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Stillwells were not the only New Utrecht family to suffer grievous loss in the Civil War. Researchers reviewing the ledger entries will be struck by the number of men recorded as dead or wounded. On the same page listing the Stillwells there are four other men, William Ackley, James Cozine, William Haviland and Leffert Benson, who are recorded as deceased. According to the ledger entries, William Ackley, a farmer, remained with his regiment until Chapins Farm when he was “instantly killed on the battle field and there buried.” James Cozine was “wounded in the seven days before Richmond . . . since dead and buried in Gravesend.” William Haviland had been in the battle of Williamsburgh and “afterward taken sick returned home and died April 9, 1864.” Leffert Benson had “taken sick and died at Fortress Monroe, buried at New Utrecht, April 2, 1863.”    

The transcribed version of the New Utrecht ledger has been digitized and is available via the Department’s website.  

These records demonstrate the profound effect the Civil War had on communities throughout the City. For the Record recently reviewed The New York City Civil War Draft Riot Claims Collection. Look for future posts that examine other records that document this significant era in New York City and United States history.  

Re-discovering the Old Pennsylvania Station

“The razing of this station, McKim, Mead & White’s 1910 masterpiece of Beaux-Ars design, was one of the greatest traumas New York City ever suffered,” wrote New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp, in 1993. Describing the demolition of Pennsylvania Station thirty-years earlier, he continued, “Public reaction was profound and in some ways beneficial. Historical preservation was transformed from a genteel pastime to a nationwide movement with political clout.” (“In this Dream Station Future and Past Collide,” New York Times, June 20, 1993.)  

Pennsylvania Station, aerial view, n.d. Terminals, Pennsylvania Station Vertical File, NYC Municipal Library.

Pennsylvania Railroad New York Station, Seventh Avenue Elevation. McKim, Mead & White, ca. 1906. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Today, more than fifty years later, regret over loss of Pennsylvania Station has hardly abated. And for almost as long, archivists at the Municipal Archives believed the Manhattan Building Plans collection did not include drawings of the original Pennsylvania Station. It had been assumed that plans and permit records had been disposed after the building was demolished in accordance with Department of Buildings practice at that time. Therefore, the recent discovery of several architectural drawings of the original station in the Building Plans collection is surprising, but welcome news.   

Municipal archivists have been processing the Manhattan Building Plans collection for several years. For the Record articles have described the project and provided updates on progress, most recently, in Loews Canal Street Theatre. Although relatively few in number, the recently discovered plans include several from the 1906 new building (NB) application by McKim, Mead & White as well as 1926 and 1956 alterations. One NB application plan shows an upper floor designed for Long Island Railroad (LIRR) employee recreation with a gymnasium, shuffle board, pool tables, reading room and library. The 1926 alteration plan shows details of the LIRR passage between the concourse and waiting room with brass railings, still there today. Unfortunately, the collection does not include a full set of the original NB plans, only supplemental sheets added later.

Pennsylvania Railroad New York Station, Eighth Avenue Elevation. McKim, Mead & White, ca. 1906. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Pennsylvania Station, exterior, ca. 1936, WPA Federal Writers’ Project Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

The plans discovery prompted questions about what other records could be found in Municipal Archives and Library collections that document the station in the early 1960s, given the enduring interest in its demolition. 

Pennsylvania Station, interior, March 13, 1936. Photographer: Ezzes. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Municipal Library’s vertical files proved a good resource. The file, “NYC Terminals – Pennsylvania Station” contains newspaper and magazine clippings dated from 1955 to 2003. Headlines in the early 1960s tell the sad story: “Brickbats Fly as Landmarks Tumble – Tradition-Lovers fight to Preserve Some of Little Old New York.” (World Telegram, Sept. 5, 1961.) “50 Pickets in March to Save Penn Station.” (Herald Tribune, August 3, 1962.) Articles from the 1970s took on a more elegiac tone: “It was Once a Glorious City’s Grand Portal,” (Long Island Press, July 21, 1971.)  

By the 1990s, dissatisfaction with the “new” Penn Station led to calls for improvements, notably a scheme promoted by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan to re-purpose the General Post Office as a facsimile of the old station. Located directly west of Penn Station, the Post Office’s Beaux-Arts exterior resembled that of the original Pennsylvania Station: both had been designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White. It took many decades, but Moynihan’s plan, now known as the Moynihan Hall, came to fruition and opened on January 1, 2021.

Pennsylvania Railroad Co. New York Station, Passage L.I. Concourse to Main Waiting Room. Gibbs & Hill, 1926. Department of Buildings Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Given the oft-quoted statement that Municipal Archives mayoral collections provide information about every possible topic in local, national and even international history, a search of the Mayor Robert Wagner (1954-1965) collection seemed reasonable. However, a review of Wagner’s subject listings did not reveal anything that seemed pertinent to the subject.

Letter, Robert Moses, President, New York World’s Fair 1964-1965 Corporation, to Department of Parks Commissioner Newbold Morris, April 2, 1962. Department of Parks General Files. NYC Municipal Archives.

Another Municipal Archives collection often cited for its wide-ranging subject matter, the Parks Department records, proved more fruitful. The Penn Station story in the 1960s did not have any obvious connection to Parks. However, based on previous experience, the Parks collection often provided information on seemingly unrelated topics, especially when Robert Moses served as Commissioner from 1934 to 1960. During that period, the records document his wide range of responsibilities beyond parks, such as highways, airports, and housing.

Although Mayor Wagner replaced Moses with Newbold Morris as Parks Commissioner in 1960, correspondence in the collection continues to serve many research subjects. In this instance, it turned out that there was a parks-connection. The bulk of the correspondence in the early 1960s concerned an effort by Commissioner Morris to preserve some of the granite columns from the façade of the soon-to-be-demolished station.

And it should not come as a surprise that Robert Moses, then serving as President of the New York World’s Fair 1964-1965 Corporation, would have something to say about this idea as well as the impending demolition of the station. “The whole station was inconvenient. The big shed was, and is, a monstrosity. No doubt the Grand Central Station is not as fine a monument, but it is a hell of a lot better station.” He also dismissed Morris’ column preservation plan.

Memo, Stuart Constable, New York World’s Fair 1964-1965 Corporation, to Robert Moses, March 30, 1962. Department of Parks General Files. NYC Municipal Archives.

What is a little harder to explain is why the Parks folders contained copies of correspondence to Mayor Wagner about Penn Station. But they do help researchers understand city government’s role, or lack thereof, in its demise. The 1962 Parks folder includes a copy of a letter to Mayor Wagner from the Midtown Realty Owners Association expressing their enthusiastic support for “...the recently announced plans to build a new Madison Square Garden sports center and office building complex above Pennsylvania Station.” Similarly, the Thirty Fourth Street Midtown Association issued a press release reproducing a letter they sent to Mayor Wagner on August 28, 1962: “Our Association herewith expresses approval of the proposed construction of a new Madison Square Garden on the site of the Pennsylvania Station. The opposition of a small group to this improvement appears to be entirely unsound. Redevelopment of this valuable property will represent a great economic gain for the midtown area and the entire city.”   

The folder also included copies of correspondence from Pennsylvania Railroad Company officials explaining their actions. They wrote that the original purpose of the station to accommodate long-distance travelers did not serve its current use as a commuter hub. Operating the station incurred an annual loss of more than $2 million. While they recognized the aesthetic value of the station, as a private enterprise, answerable to stockholders, the economics of their industry dictated replacing the “outmoded” station.    

Pennsylvania Station, exterior, 1961. Mayor Robert Wagner Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Muschamp’s 1993 Times article about Moynihan’s plan, quoted the Senator: “New York City has never got over tearing down Penn Station... it was a joy coming up from Norfolk as a young ensign”—this was in the late forties—“and arriving there.” Moynihan then referenced the often-cited quote from Vincent Scully, professor of art history at Yale. “One entered the city like a god,” Scully wrote in “American Architecture and Urbanism,” in 1969. “One scuttles in now like a rat.”

Look for future For the Record articles that explore the plan to preserve the original columns from the station, as well as the origins of the Landmark Preservation Commission.

New York’s First Memorial Day

Memorial Day, initially known as Decoration Day, originated with ceremonies in communities around the United States honoring soldiers who died in the Civil War. Several cities and towns lay claim to hosting observances between 1864 and 1867, but historians generally agree that the first widely-held commemoration took place in 1868. 

Seventh Regiment Armory, illustration, Manual of the City of New York, 1864, D. T. Valentine. NYC Municipal Library.

On March 3, 1868, General John Logan, of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former Union sailors and soldiers, issued General Order No. 11, which called for a national day of remembrance for Civil War dead. Logan directed that May 30 would be the day “set apart for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet church-yard in the land.” On May 31, 1868, the New York Times reported on commemoration ceremonies that took place the previous day at cemeteries in the region: “Our Dead Heroes. A Nation’s Tribute to their Memory—their Graves Strewn with Flowers.”   

Letter, Emmons Clark, Colonel Commander of the 7th Regiment National Guard, to Mayor John T. Hoffman, May 18, 1868. Mayor John T. Hoffman collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Searching for possible documentation of how and when New York City officials recognized or participated in Memorial/Decoration Day ceremonies led to sources in the Municipal Archives and Library collections. Stokes’ Iconography of Manhattan Island, available in hard-copy at the Municipal Library, is usually a good place to start researching events that took place during the 19th century. In this instance, however, the only entry in the index under Memorial or Decoration Day referenced the Times article from May 31, 1868.  

The Municipal Archives’ mayoral records, often given credit for containing information about every possible topic—local, national and even international—proved more enlightening. It also provided an opportunity to demonstrate the usefulness of the word-searchable indexes created by Municipal Archives employees when working remotely in 2020.  

Letter, M. H. Beaumont, Union Executive Committee, Grand Army of the Republic, to Mayor A. Oakey Hall, May 17, 1869. Mayor A. Oakey Hall collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Typically, archival material is described at the folder level, but in the 1950s and 60s, archivists and librarians processing mayoral records recognized the exceptional intellectual content of the correspondence files and typed summary descriptions of each item. When working remotely during 2020, Municipal Archives employees began transcribing the typed summaries into searchable databases. For the Record articles, The Transcription Project, Early Mayors’ Collection and The Transcription Project, Early Mayors’ Collection II described the mayoral record transcription projects.     

Searching information on the mayoral letters for the 1860s and 1870s revealed several letters that looked like they might be relevant to Memorial/Decoration Day. On May 18, 1868, Emmons Clark, “your friend and obedient servant” wrote to Mayor John T. Hoffman on stationary from the Office of the Metropolitan Board of Health. Clark extended to the Mayor an “official invitation to review the 7th Regiment on the 29th [of May].” He wrote: “The Regiment will parade on that occasion for the first time in its new full dress uniform.” Furthermore, “The Band will number one hundred performers.” And finally, he concluded, “I particularly desire that the City authorities should be first to see the Regiment in its new attire.”   

Letter, Hans Powell, Corresponding Secretary, Memorial Committee, Grand Army of the Republic, to Mayor William H. Wickham, May 22, 1876. Mayor William H. Wickham collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

A second letter from Clark to the Mayor, also dated May 18, 1868, is written on stationary from the Headquarters of the 7th Regiment, National Guard, with Clark signing as “Colonel Commander” of the Regiment. This letter served as a formal invitation. It seems likely that both the Mayor and Commander Clark would have been aware of the “national holiday,” proclaimed for May 30, and perhaps the “review” scheduled for May 29, was intended as part of the holiday.         

Correspondence the following year, in 1869, however, is more explicit in its reference to “Memorial Services.” On May 17, 1869, M. H. Beaumont, of the Union Executive Committee of the Grand Army of the Republic wrote to the new Mayor, A. Oakey Hall, inviting him “…to be present with us and participate in the Memorial Services on the 30th day of May.” Mayor Hall also received invitations from the Ninth Regiment Infantry, and 4th Brigade, 1st Division, of the National Guard, to review parades on the 27th and 29th of May.  

The New York State Soldiers’ Depot, located at Nos. 50 and 52 Howard Street, and No. 16 Mercer Street, had been established by the State government as a temporary home for furloughed and discharged soldiers. View of the N.Y. State Soldiers’ Depot, illustration, Manual of the City of New York, 1864, D. T. Valentine. NYC Municipal Library.

Further research in the mayoral records revealed correspondence from 1876 that specifically references “Decoration Day.” Written to Mayor William H. Wickham by Hans Powell, Corresponding Secretary of the Memorial Committee, Grand Army of the Republic, and dated May 22, 1876, the letter “respectfully extends an invitation to you, and the Hon. Common Council to take part in the ninth annual parade for the purpose of decorating the soldiers and sailors graves upon Tuesday 30th Inst. (Decoration Day). This being the centennial it is proposed to make this parade a grand success.” Based on the designation of the event as the “ninth annual parade,” confirms that the first event would have taken place in 1868, the year originally designated by General Logan. 

Secondary sources state that in 1873, New York was the first state to designate Memorial Day as a legal holiday. After World War I, it became an occasion for honoring those who died in all of America’s wars. In 1971, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act and established Memorial Day was to be commemorated on the last Monday of May. 

For the Record readers are encouraged to observe this Memorial Day, May 27, 2024, the 156th anniversary of the first commemoration.   

Soldiers’ Depot, Receiving Room, 1st Floor, illustration, Manual of the City of New York, 1864, D. T. Valentine. NYC Municipal Library.

Soldiers’ Depot, Dining Room, 1st Floor, illustration, Manual of the City of New York, 1864, D. T. Valentine. NYC Municipal Library.

WPA Federal Art Project Photographs

The Municipal Archives collection of photographs created and/or acquired by the New York City Unit of the Federal Writers’ Project has served as an essential and useful resource since its acquisition by the Municipal Library in 1943. For the Record featured WPA photographers Ralph de Sola and Clifford Sutcliffe and images from the collection have illustrated dozens of articles.

“Man Reading,” color sketch for a mural at the New York Public Library, by Edward Laning. W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer: not recorded, n.d. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

This week, For the Record highlights a second W.P.A.-created photograph collection. Accessioned by the Municipal Archives in 1983, the collection of 1,635 black and white prints had been originally assembled by Audrey McMahon, regional director of the W.P.A. Federal Art Project (FAP) for New York and New Jersey. The New Deal FAP program created employment for artists and teachers and, as McMahon said, made art “a reality in the public’s daily experience.” [Smithsonian American Art Museum.] During the first few years of its operation, the four main creative divisions of the FAP (murals, sculpture, easel painting, and graphic art) produced more than fifty thousand works of art in New York City. 

“City Hall,” lithograph by Harry Tashey. W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer: not recorded, n.d. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The photographs in the 1983 accession are all stamped: “Federal Art Project W.P.A. Photograph Division.” They date from 1936 to 1942. They are arranged in seven series: easel art, exhibits, index of design, murals, creative photography, posters, and sculpture. The name of the photographer is usually indicated on the reverse along with the name of the artist whose work is depicted and the date of the photograph. 

Daniel Kahn and Carolyn Gottfried Kahn donated the collection to the New York Archival Society in March, 1983. The Society deeded the photographs to the Municipal Archives. There is not information about how the Kahns acquired the collection. However, based on their West Village home address, it is possible that they were neighbors of Audrey McMahon (who lived at 27 Washington Square North, according to New York City directories.)     

Although the photographs are black-and-white they are still an important contribution to the Archives’ documentation of the remarkable W.P.A. programs. Researchers are invited to contact the Municipal Archives for information about access. The following is a small sample of images from the collection.   

“West 17th Street,” oil painting by Alice Neel, W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographers: Nader and Arnold Eagle, August 18, 1937. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

 

“The Cycle of a Woman’s Life,” fresco located at the Women’s House of Detention, Greenwich and 6th Avenue, New York City, by Lucienne Bloch. W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer: not recorded, n.d. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“Six Day Bicycle Race,” sculpture by Chaim Gross. W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer: Levy, May 15, 1940. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“Conquest of the Air,” oil on canvas by Dane Chanese. W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer: Levy, October 19, 1948. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“N.Y. Landscape,” woodcut by Fred Becker. W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer: Arnold Eagle, December 18, 1936. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“Peck Slip,” woodcut by Charles E. Pons, W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer; von Urban, n.d. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“N.Y. Landscape,” woodcut by Fred Becker. W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer: Arnold Eagle, December 18, 1936. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“Poster Project,” poster designed by Harry Herzog. W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer: Noble, January 27, 1938. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“Flight,” mural located at North Beach Airport, Marine Terminal by James Brooks. W.P.A. Federal Art Project. Photographer: James Brooks, April 11, 1941. Federal Art Project Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

“I Say Its Spinach!” - Robert Moses, Master Letter Writer

Robert Moses, long known as the “Master Builder,” could also be remembered as the “Master Letter Writer.” Evidence of his communication style can be found in many Municipal Archives collections. Always clear and direct, to-the-point and often quite blunt, Moses seemed not concerned whether he was insulting or rude. His prolific communications have served as a bonanza for researchers investigating virtually any topic concerning twentieth-century New York City and more broadly U.S. urban history.  

Graphic materials created during the Moses era are noted for their quality. City Planning Commission Report, 1940-1950, Mayor William O’Dwyer Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Two series accessioned from the Department of Parks contain the greatest volume of his correspondence: General Files, during the period when he served as Commissioner (1934-1960), and his records as a City Planning Commissioner (1940-1956).  

Marine Park, Staten Island, Report to Mayor LaGuardia, 1940. City Planning Department Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The bulk of the General Files records pertain to the agency’s daily operations. However, examining the intellectual content of this series shows that Moses also responded to a wide range of issues outside of the Park system. The files contain copies of letters written by him as Chairman of the Office of Committee on Slum Clearance and City Construction Coordinator. This material provides extensive documentation of his activities related to subjects such as highways, housing, and airports, as well as the 1964/65 World’s Fair.

In addition to the Parks-series, significant quantities of correspondence generated by Moses appear in the mayoral collections. From Mayor LaGuardia through Wagner, there are dozens of folders – in the Departmental series – e.g. Parks, City Construction Coordinator – and in the subject files, with letters from Moses.    

Another notable feature of Robert Moses’ correspondence is its accessibility. His records are well-indexed. In the Parks series, for example, Moses, or more likely his secretary or possibly the filing clerk, assigned a subject to every document and placed it in labeled folders arranged alphabetically.   

For the Record will let Moses take over from here:

1941 “Necessarily long and technical”

Moses included a cover letter written to Mayor LaGuardia (Moses usually addressed him as “Major”), dated October 30, 1941, as part of his printed report on “Construction and Restoration of Monuments, Memorial and Historic Buildings.” Never one to sugar-coat a subject, he informed LaGuardia “We have inherited from past administrations some God-awful monstrosities in the form of monuments. We are also the legatees of some very fine things.”

1938 “Exclusively for bicycle riders”

Robert Moses’ reputation for building a vast highway system catering to automobile transportation is well deserved. He began with the Southern State Parkway on Long Island in 1927 and ended with an extension to the fabled Long Island Expressway in 1972. And, in between, he constructed the Cross-Bronx Expressway, perhaps the most controversial urban highway built in America.  So perhaps it is surprising to find this letter, dated May 20, 1938, informing Deputy Mayor Henry Curran that “In the meantime, and off the record, I am also arranging to open the Long Island Motor Parkway from its beginning at Nassau Boulevard to Alley Park as a bicycle path exclusively for bicycle riders.”

1957 “Hornswoggled”

A letter from Whitney North Seymour, President of the Municipal Art Society, on January 3, 1957, seems to have especially irked Mr. Moses: “I don’t know who invented the term “new slums” or what it means, and don’t propose to be hornswoggled into any such silly controversy.”  He added, for good measure, “When, by the way, did the members of your Society stop beating their wives?”

1956 “Subject:  Polo Grounds”  

The imminent departure of the Giants National League baseball team from their stadium at the Polo Grounds was a huge concern. But as can be discerned from this letter to James Felt, Chairman of the City Planning Commission, Moses saw it as an opportunity to build more housing.

1954 “The Third Avenue EL”  

Within a week after Mayor Robert Wagner took office in January 1954, Moses pressed him for a decision regarding demolition of the Third Avenue Elevated Railroad. As Moses explained, “It is obvious that completion of the Second Avenue Subway is a long way off.”  “It may well be ten years.” Little did he know.

1957 “Looks rather foolish to us”   

Moses’ reaction to an idea by the New York Central Railroad to build motels “on gratings” was not encouraging, “Doesn’t at first blush seem a very brilliant or profitable way of using railroad rights of way, even if there is a demand for cheap hotel accommodations.” 

1938 “Henry Hudson did discover the Hudson River” 

This correspondence to Henry Curran may have meant something to the Deputy Mayor, but otherwise seems opaque. 

1943 “I say its Spinach”  

Reporting to Mayor LaGuardia on a meeting about the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Moses took the opportunity to comment on social workers: “These people never get anywhere, and it is a waste of time to get excited about their plans.” Moses believed parks and playgrounds would solve all social ills and so concluded to the Mayor: “If I had the sense God gave geese, I would have insisted that the only thing worth accomplishing was to get rid of Raymond Street and substitute a playground.”

Several For the Record articles have highlighted the Robert Moses collections and/or his activities. From the Dank Recesses: The Department of Parks General Files provides some general background about the Parks collections. Documenting the New Deal, The Aerial Views of Robert Moses and most recently, We Shall All Be There: Dedicating Shea Stadium, also draw on Moses-related records.

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