Displaced Persons

On June 25, 1948, more than three years after the war in Europe ended, President Harry S. Truman signed the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. The legislation was intended to help thousands of European refugees who had been displaced from their home countries during World War II, to settle in the United States.  

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Correspondence, November 11, 1948. Mayor William O’Dwyer Records Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

In September 1948, anticipating that most of the refugees would enter the U.S. through the port of New York, and that many would settle within the five Boroughs, New York City Mayor William O’Dwyer appointed a twelve-member commission “…. to deal with employment and housing problems expected to arise in connection with admission of displaced persons from the camps of Europe.”    

During the next decade City mayoral administrations endeavored to aid in the relocation of the “displaced” persons. In addition to Mayor O’Dwyer’s correspondence, records of the subsequent Mayors in the Municipal Archives—Vincent Impellitteri (1950-1953), and Robert Wagner (1954-1965), document the Commission, and the resettlement efforts.

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Sample Referral Slip, 1948. Mayor William O’Dwyer Records Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Researchers examining the “displaced persons” folders in the Mayoral collections will see “File #90” written in pencil on many of the documents. Beginning with the O’Dwyer administration, clerical staff adopted the practice of assigning a number to each subject file. For example, they assigned “Num. #5” to housing-related correspondence. Juvenile Delinquency was “Num. #112,” and Long Island Railroad was “Num. File #122.” Knowledge of the numbering system is useful for researchers as referral slips found in the files often have only the numerical designation. The practice continued through the Wagner administration but appears to have been abandoned during the Lindsay years. The ‘key’ to the numerical filing system is located in the hard-copy Mayor Wagner finding guide in the Municipal Archives and Library Reading Room.

The first boatload of displaced persons arrived in New York on October 31, 1948. The story made the front page of The New York Times: “The first group of homeless Europeans to arrive under the Displaced Persons Law came up New York harbor yesterday past the Statue of Liberty amid the thunder of welcoming whistles.” The story continued, “As they lined the rail of the Army transport Gen. William Black, they were a little tearful, very polite and quite stunned as the greatest city of the western world arose before them.” The article quoted Mayor O’Dwyer’s welcoming remarks: “New York City is glad to have you here. Many of you will stay here—I wish all of you could. You will like it in New York,” [November 1, 1948].

The happy circumstances described in the Times article disguised a significant defect in the federal legislation—it denied an American visa to any persons who had entered a refugee camp after December 22, 1945. This seemingly arbitrary stipulation served to prohibit the entrance of Jewish refugees who survived the Holocaust, but when faced with pogroms in postwar Poland, fled to the refugee camps in nearby Germany after December 22. According to information published by the Truman Library Institute in Independence, Missouri, President Truman had reluctantly signed the bill.“It is with very great reluctance that I have signed S. 2242, the Displaced Persons Act of 1948…The bad points of the bill are numerous. Together they form a pattern of discrimination and intolerance wholly inconsistent with the American sense of justice…The bill discriminates in callous fashion against displaced persons of the Jewish faith…The bill also excludes many displaced persons of the Catholic faith who deserve admission…” 

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Correspondence, August 18, 1949. Mayor William O’Dwyer Records Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Over the course of the next two years, Truman pushed Congress to amend the bill. Mayor O’Dwyer also recognized the limitations of the legislation and urged Congress to remedy the situation. His correspondence files include a lengthy letter to Mr. William Boyle, Chairman of the National Democratic Committee: “I am writing to you to... join with other men and women of good-will in urging the United States Senate to act favorably and soon upon the McGrath-Neely Bill which would correct the injustices of the present DP Act. This bill, as you know, is backed by scores of national organizations and thousands of American citizens of all faiths and of both major parties.” (August 16, 1949)  

Finally, in 1950, Truman persuaded Congress to enact an amended version of the legislation. It removed the cutoff date which previously blocked the entrance of thousands of Jewish refugees. “It is with very great pleasure that I have today signed H.R. 4567, which amends the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. The improvements embodied in H.R. 4567 now bring the American principles of fair play and generosity to our displaced persons program.” [Truman Center]

Mayor Impellitteri greeted another new arrival, “... pretty Maria Geroulis of the Village of Steno Tripolis, Greece, . . .. attired in colorful ancient Greek garb,” with a special “coronation ceremony” at City Hall on August 20, 1951. Official Mayoral Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

With passage of the amended law, Mayoral records detail plans for celebratory events. Vincent Impellitteri succeeded Mayor O’Dwyer as Mayor in September 1950. On December 20, 1950, his administration honored the 200,000th displaced person brought to the United States with a 9 a.m. ceremony at the pier, a City Hall reception at 11 a.m., and a “Santa Claus Party,” at Lord & Taylor at 2 p.m.

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News release, August 20, 1951. Note referral to #55 “for correspondence.” #55 is the subject file designation for mayoral speeches and messages. Mayor Vincent Impellitteri Record Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

For a similar event, Impellitteri’s office issued a press release on July 11, 1951, describing how the Mayor greeted “Volodymyr Holubiw, a 42-year old Polish Ukrainian farmer, who is the quarter of a millionth displaced person to be brought the United States...” The release added that Holubiw arrived with his wife, Maria, and three children who “have known no home except a displaced persons camp.”  

Impellitteri’s files also include correspondence with Congressman Emanuel Celler about the Congressional bill to provide for the “admission of 50,000 Italian immigrants, without regard to annual quota limitations, over a period of 5 years, beginning July 1, 1952.”  In a press release from the Congressman, dated October 8, 1951, Celler wrote that “Italy is simply bursting at the seams.” It continued, “This is a bill which benefits benefactor and beneficiary. It will strengthen our ties with Italy; it will speed economic recovery in Europe and will increase our manpower and consequently our production.”   

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Chart appended to “Outline of the Organization and Work of the President’s Committee for Hungarian Refugee Relief in Resettlement of Hungarian Refugees,” 1957. Camp Kilmer was located in New Jersey. Mayor Robert Wagner Record Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The work of the Mayor’s Commission on Displaced Persons continued after Mayor Robert Wagner took office in 1954. In 1957, correspondence in his subject files points to a possible revision in the Commission’s focus, or perhaps to the establishment of an entirely new organization. An internal memo dated January 22, 1957, proposed a “Mayor’s Committee on Refugee Assistance.” The memo explained that “This Committee would aid and assist the various religious, labor and voluntary agencies in their program of aiding refugees.” The memo added that the Committee would work with the New York State Committee on Refugees and the President’s Committee for Hungarian Refugee Relief.” A multi-page description of the President’s Committee was appended to the memo. The folder did not contain any further correspondence on the subject; further research would be necessary to learn whether the new “Committee” became a reality. Likewise, the fate of the original Mayor’s Displaced Persons Commission after the Wagner administration is also not clear.  

A displaced persons folder in the Impellitteri collection contains a press release issued by the War Relief Services agency, dated November 13, [1951]. It transcribed remarks made by Alexander Ranezay, a Czechoslovakian displaced person: “Honored friends. Thank you for this welcome. Now that we are New Americans, we’d like to say—not just from ourselves but from a million other former DPs—thank you to every American and to every citizen of the other seventeen countries who created the IRO [International Refugee Organization] to give a refuge to refugees. In our gratefulness, there is only one thing we would still like to ask: ‘Please don’t forget those who are still behind.’ When in the country I have left, a person enters a house he says; ‘God give you a good day.’ Entering your country, we say it to you.”

Historical Anniversaries

New York City is awash in historical anniversaries. In 2024, the Netherlands Consul General of New York established Future 400, commemorating the arrival of Dutch colonists in 1624, and imagining a more inclusive future.

New Visions of Old New York, created as part of a long-term collaboration with the New Amsterdam History Center’s Mapping Early New York project.  

In 2025, New York commemorates the 400th anniversary of the founding of City government and the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Erie Canal. And, next year, we will mark the country’s semi-quincentennial—the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States as well as the 25th anniversary of the deadly attacks on the World Trade Center.

Mayor Eric Adams announced a citywide commemoration, Founded by NYC, which showcases events and sites throughout New York that “explore the City’s ongoing tradition of making history.” In partnership with NYC Tourism + Conventions, FOUNDED BY NYC will celebrate how New York City has made history, and continues to do so—highlighting the achievements driven by the creativity and resilience of the five boroughs and its people, including the perspectives of marginalized audiences like those of the Indigenous community, women, and people of color. 

Dutch vessel, 1660, in 3D, courtesy New Amsterdam History Center, Mapping Early New York.

As part of this exploration, the City’s Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) has opened a new exhibit: New Visions of Old New York. Created in collaboration with the New Amsterdam History Center, the exhibit features a touchscreen with an interactive 3-D map describing places and people in New Amsterdam and uses records from the Municipal Archives and Library to illustrate the presence of women, indigenous people and enslaved people. The exhibit is located in the gallery at 31 Chambers Street and will run throughout 2025 and is open to the public.

Broadway, 1660, in 3D, courtesy New Amsterdam History Center, Mapping Early New York.

The Municipal Archives and Library collections at DORIS are vast and document government decision-making and interactions with a diverse community. The earliest collections date to the 17th Century and include court cases, matrimonial banns, powers of attorney, indentures of apprentices, mortgages, deeds, conveyances, meeting minutes, and government edicts. The early records provide insight into the people of New Amsterdam.

In 1625, the City’s population consisted of a handful of European residents and a substantial number of Indigenous peoples. Native Americans long pre-dated the settlers and helped the new arrivals survive. From its earliest years, the colony was notable for its diverse population. The religious groups in New Amsterdam included Lutherans, Quakers, Anabaptists, Catholics, Muslims and Jews. The colony attracted immigrants from the Netherlands, Germany, England, Scandinavia, and France. Both free and enslaved Africans also resided in the population.

Stories of everyone here in the 17th century—women, Native Americans, Black people-both enslaved and free, Dutch, English, Jewish, and Quaker settlers—are important because they are part of a complicated history, one that emphasized tolerance and acting by conscience. But also one that relied on enslaved people to build the commercial center that now is the capital of the world. And one that did not understand or particularly value the complex culture of the Lenape.

Castello Plan, 1660, in 3D, courtesy New Amsterdam History Center, Mapping Early New York.

The New Visions of Old New York exhibit and programming planned for the next few years provide an opportunity to recognize every culture that contributed and continues to contribute to a fair and just City.

During 2025, the New Amsterdam Stories project will be revitalized. This online site uses records from the Stadsarchief Amsterdam and NYC Archives to document the experiences of colonial settlers.

An Indian Village of the Manhattans, D.T. Valentine’s Manual. NYC Municipal Library.

In recent years, the Archives began focusing on a collection of Dutch records that had previously been ignored—the Old Town records from the town governments in Queens, Brooklyn, and Westchester County. Included in the collection are records documenting a business transaction between the colonists and Indigenous Americans. Unlike many similar records, the document includes the names of seven Native Americans: Tenkirau,  Ketamun, Arrikan, Awachkouw, Warinckekinck, Wappittawaekenis, and Ghettin.

During this 400th anniversary of the founding of a municipal government in New Amsterdam, we will use these colonial records to better tell the stories of a shared, complex history.

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Links:

• https://newamsterdamstories.archives.nyc/news-and-events 

• https://www.dutchcultureusa.com/future400/

• https://www.business.nyctourism.com/founded-by-nyc-b2b

• https://newamsterdamstories.archives.nyc/stories-of-new-amsterdam

Department of Street Cleaning Photographs

“You Live in the Greatest City in the World – Let’s Make it the Cleanest and Healthiest,” is the wording on the sign on a Department of Street Cleaning cart photographed around 1908. The same sign today would not seem out of place on a Department of Sanitation truck and probably would have been a reasonable exhortation two hundred years ago. Except, until 1870, the City mostly contracted-out street cleaning services.  

Rack Cart with Officer, 1908, Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

The photograph of the cart is one of approximately 300 black-and-white prints depicting Department of Street Cleaning workers, equipment, and activities dating from the 1890s to 1925. Recently accessioned by the Municipal Archives, they are uniform in size, measuring approximately five by seven inches. Each is captioned on the reverse. Originally mounted in an album, the prints have been re-housed in acid-free envelopes.

Roll Call and Inspection of Drivers, 1908. Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Like many City agencies, the Department of Street Cleaning began using photography in the early years of the twentieth century to document their work. Although relatively few in number, the Street Cleaning pictures capture an essential municipal function at a time of transition from an exclusively human (and horse) powered operation to one with motorized and mechanical assistance. The many pictures of trucks, tractors, snow “scoops,” flushers, and other equipment attest to the Department’s growing reliance on machinery.

One striking feature of the photographs, especially those from the earlier time period, is the ubiquity of horses. Two recent For the Record articles, Stables and Auction Marts: Building Plans With Horses and Horsepower: The City and the Horse discussed the importance of horses to transportation, construction and recreation in the city. The Street Cleaning pictures add to that theme with an abundance of images that document how critical horses were to the Department’s mission. In addition to the many photographs of horse-pulled carts and wagons, the Street Cleaning series includes several pictures of veterinarians employed by the Department, illustrating how they cared for their equine population.

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Inspection After Hook-Up, n.d. Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Department Veterinarian Treating Horse, n.d. Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Another aspect of Street Cleaning work that quickly becomes apparent in the pictures is snow, and the removal thereof. The snow-related images vividly illustrate the effort it took to clean snow from the streets. A 1915 survey of City departments, with budget information, shows that out of their total annual budget of $4.5 million, the Street Cleaning Department spent more than $650,000 to employ “contractors,” i.e. day laborers, mainly for snow removal. (Government of the City of New York, A Survey of Its Organization and Functions, 1915, Municipal Library.)

Fifth Avenue, 1908. Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Contractors Loading Snow, 1920. Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Contractor Dumping Snow into North River, 1916. Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

As noted above, many of the pictures depict newly acquired mechanical equipment, obviously important to the Department as it modernized in the twentieth century. But equally apparent is the human effort needed to perform the work. “New York’s Strongest” is, and has always been, an apt motto for workers in the Street Cleaning Department. 

In addition to the Street Cleaning pictures, Municipal Archives collections include a series of photographs originating from the Department of Sanitation, successor agency to the Department of Street Cleaning in 1930. The Collection Guides provide information about this larger (35 cubic feet) collection.

The Commissioner’s Carriage Before Motorization, n.d. Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Model T Ford, 1914. Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

The Street Cleaning pictures have not yet been digitized, but they are available for research. In the meantime, For the Record readers can take a look at sample images from the collection. Like so many other pictures in Municipal Archives collections, the aspects that are ancillary to the subject of the photograph that add interest, e.g. the pedestrians, signs, storefronts, automobiles, and advertisements. The Street Cleaning collection is another good example.

Carts On Way to Inspection Points, n.d., Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

Four-wheel Cart Used for Recruiting Help During World War, ca. 1917. Department of Street Cleaning Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives. 

New York and President Jimmy Carter

On October 5, 1977, President Jimmy Carter visited the South Bronx. “The Presidential motorcade passed block after block of burned-out and abandoned buildings, rubble-strewn lots and open fire hydrants, and people shouting, “Give us money!” and “We want jobs!” Twice Mr. Carter got out of his limousine, walked around and talked to people. He said the Federal Government should do something to help, but he made no specific commitment.” —The New York Times, October 6, 1977. 

Letter from President Jimmy Carter to Mayor Abraham Beame, October 5, 1977. Mayor Abraham Beame Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The pleas Carter heard from the residents of the South Bronx are essentially what the President heard from New York City officials throughout his administration: We want money, and we want jobs!    

Beginning in the 1930s, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia established a financial relationship between the City and the Federal Government that has continued to this day. It began with Federal funds from President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs that the LaGuardia administration used to lift the City out of the Great Depression. With seven million inhabitants and dozens of “shovel-ready” public works projects, New York received more funding than any other city.

Since then, City finances have been inextricably linked to, and reliant on, federal sources. For a while, it worked. From the 1930s through the 1960s, federal funding flowed, with support for highways and housing as notable examples. By the 1970s, however, new administrations in Washington with different priorities became less sympathetic to urban needs. For New York City, the famous New York Daily News headline on October 30, 1975, “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” summed up the change in relationship. 

The election of Jimmy Carter to the White House in 1976 gave New York officials hope for an improved relationship with their Federal counterparts. Researchers interested in documenting the history of the connection between City finances and the Federal Government will be well rewarded by information in the Municipal Library and Municipal Archives collections.  

The Municipal Library’s vertical files on Federal-City Relations are a particularly rich resource for investigating the dramatic story of New York’s fiscal crisis, and recovery, in the 1970s. Although the immediate peril to the city’s economy had passed by the time Carter took office in January 1977, intense negotiations between City, State, and Federal authorities continued throughout his administration. “Carter Cool to Plea on New York’s Loan,” (New York Times, February 1, 1977), and “Carter Opens Drive for Passage of Bill on Aid to New York,” (New York Times, May 9, 1978), are just two examples of the many, almost daily, clippings in the vertical file that chart the ups and downs of efforts to fix the City’s budget.

Mayor Abraham Beame and Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter departing Gracie Mansion, July 1976. Mayor Abraham Beame Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Delving into the Municipal Archives collections to document President Carter’s relationship with the City brings researchers to the Mayor Beame collection. During the Abe Beame administration mayoral correspondence was sent to “central files” where clerks separated letters into different series, e.g. Subject Files, Departmental Correspondence, General Correspondence, and Correspondence with State and Federal offices. The clerks further refined this arrangement by separately filing “President” correspondence.

Mayor Beame’s “President” file for 1977 contains copies of the letters he wrote to President Carter recommending people for jobs in the new administration. In April, the Mayor began to address economic conditions in his correspondence with Carter. On April 20, 1977, he sent a dense three-page letter urging the President to consider the effects of defense spending on employment. “The Mayors of the nation’s older urban centers want our cities to continue their historic role as major contributors to the American economy...  by assuring that these communities receive a fair share of authorized Defense spending, the federal government can provide an important stimulus to the private sector economics of these cities.”

The file does not include a response from Carter directly addressing Beame’s concerns regarding unemployment, but on May 11, 1977, the President wrote to the Mayor about the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA): “I am writing you to emphasize the continuing urgency of our battle against high unemployment. I anticipate that Congress will soon approve the funds we have requested... to double the number of public service jobs provided under CETA.” Carter went on to urge Beame to “...do everything possible to minimize procedural delays... in filling these new jobs.”  

Mayor Edward Koch, President Jimmy Carter, New York Governor Hugh Carey, on the steps of City Hall following approval of Federal loan guarantees for New York City, August 8, 1978. Mayor Edward Koch Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

When Mayor Edward Koch took office as Mayor in January 1978 the “central file” system, with correspondence arranged in series, seems to have been abandoned. Although this makes research in Koch administration records somewhat more challenging, archivists created a key-word searchable inventory for a portion of his records—essentially what would have been his subject and departmental files.

Typing ‘Carter’ into the search box identified a folder of correspondence between the Mayor and the President. In a letter to President Carter, dated February 20, 1980, Koch got right to the point: “I wish to bring you up to date on the progress being made to close New York City’s projected budget gap and to acknowledge the assistance being provided by your staff in identifying additional sources of federal aid.” In three typed pages Koch delineated measures related to Medicaid, Welfare, and Education Aid, and attached a six-page memorandum prepared by the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget that detailed “Federal Actions.”

Mayor Edward Koch, Queens Borough President Donald Manes, President Jimmy Carter, Town Hall meeting, September 25, 1979. Mayor Edward Koch Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Four months later, on June 20, 1980, Koch wrote to President Carter’s Chief of Staff, Jack Watson, about funding needed for the CETA program, and scrawled “Please Help!” under his signature. Koch again used the personal approach in an August 1980 handwritten note to Carter: “Here is the memo you asked that I send to you when we traveled together to the Urban League. Congratulations on the outcome of the Convention. Now we have to pull it all together.” He signed it, Your friend, Ed. Although the convention went in Carter’s favor, the general election in November did not.

Jimmy Carter and HPD Commissioner Gliedman (in red tie) on East 6th Street, Manhattan, July 30, 1985. Department of Housing, Preservation and Development Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Jimmy Carter’s connection to New York City did not end with his Presidency. His work for the Habitat for Humanity organization brought him back to New York. In 1985 he met with Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Anthony Gliedman on the roof of a building on East 6th Street in Manhattan where Carter had been working with the Habitat group.