NYC Municipal Archives
History of Reproductive Rights in New York City ...
NYC Municipal Archives
Transcribing Records of Enslaved New Yorkers
Pauline Toole
Daylight Savings Time
Kenneth Cobb
The S.S. United States
Kenneth R. Cobb
The 1890 Police Census–Digitized

History of Reproductive Rights in New York City - Exhibit

This week, the Department of Records and Information Services opened a ‘pop-up’ exhibit on the history of reproductive rights in New York. It begins in 1828, when providing an abortion after quickening first became illegal, and traces the story to the present day, highlighting the city’s current reputation as a national leader in the fight to protect women’s reproductive rights.

1916 handbill in English, Yiddish, and Italian advertising Margaret Sanger’s first birth control clinic at 46 Amboy Street in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. Margaret Sanger, My Fight for Birth Control, NYC Municipal Library.

The new exhibit uses historical documents, photographs, and ephemera to depict the evolution of the laws governing abortion from criminality to full access. It begins with the 1828 New York State law that made it a misdemeanor for a provider to induce abortion after “quickening.”

March held during Abortion Action Week, May 6, 1972. New York Police Department Special Investigations Unit Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Bottle with cork. Exhibit in case: People vs. Elizabeth Klurk (Abortion), April 29, 1878. This bottle with its unknown residue, contained a solution intended to induce abortion. NY DA Indictment Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

Items from Municipal Archives collections created by the criminal justice system illustrate how New York criminalized women who obtained abortions. The 1871 indictment against Jacob Rosenzweig is on view. The City prosecuted Rosenzweig, a former saloonkeeper, for murder after performing a botched abortion on Alice Augusta Bowlsby and stuffing the woman in a trunk, where she died. Other items in the display focus on the former seamstress Caroline Ann Trow Lohman, aka Madame Restell, also prosecuted for performing abortions. Documents about Margaret Sanger and her sister document her journey through the criminal justice system for sharing birth control information illustrate her story. 

Inquisition into the death of Alice Augusta Bowlsby, 1871. Jacob Rosenzweig, a former saloonkeeper, was prosecuted by the City for murder after performing a botched abortion on Bowlsby and stuffing her body in a trunk. NY DA Indictment Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

The exhibit also includes photographs from the New York Police Department Crime Scene Photograph collection in the Municipal Archives that graphically illustrate the un-hygienic locations where illegal abortions were performed.

Scene of bedroom where a 20 year old woman received an illegal abortion and later died in Manhattan General Hospital, July 14, 1932. NYPD Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Charts from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene track how thousands of women from across the country relied on City health providers for safe, legal reproductive health care after 1970 when New York State decriminalized abortion and before the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

The exhibit uses pamphlets, buttons, and items from the mayoral collections to tell the story through the last decades of the 20th century as the City fought to protect women’s reproductive rights. The show concludes with a copy of the 2024 Sexual and Reproductive Health Bill of Rights further enshrined New York City’s commitment to protecting reproductive rights.

The exhibit is free to the public. It is located at the Municipal Archives, 31 Chambers Street, Manhattan, Room 103, New York, NY 10007. It is open from 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Transcribing Records of Enslaved New Yorkers

New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently announced an ambitious project at the Department of Records and Information Services to make accessible historical records documenting thousands of formerly enslaved New Yorkers. The records in the Municipal Archives date from 1660 through 1827 when New York State abolished the practice of slavery.

Slave and School Records in Kings County, 1799-1819. Old Town Records, Gravesend, NYC Municipal Archives.

The records are part of the Old Town Records collection. This series includes records created by the towns and villages in Kings, Queens, Richmond, and Westchester Counties prior to consolidation in 1898. Recently processed and partially digitized during a project funded by the National Historical Publications & Records Commission, the records provide unique documentation of communities now part of the Greater City of New York. Over the course of the processing project, For the Record published several articles tracking progress and highlighting aspects of this collection. Processing the Old Town Records Collection, Oyster Boards in the Old Town Records and The Genealogical Possibilities of Manumissions in the Old Town Records are a few of the articles.

This week, For the Record interviewed Arafua Reed for information about the transcription project and how interested persons can volunteer to participate. Arafua is a City Service Corps volunteer with AmeriCorps and NYC Service, currently serving as DORIS’ DEIA Coordinator.

For The Record: Arafua, what are the records that are being transcribed?

Arafua Reed: It’s going to be a phased project. The focus of phase one is birth certificates and manumission documents, along with some court minutes from the Old Town Records collection. During the second phase we will transcribe information recorded in other collections such as the Records of New Amsterdam and the Common Council.  

FTR:  Can you tell us about the provenance of these records?

AR:  Most of these documents resulted from the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery enacted by New York State in 1799. The law stated that children born to enslaved women after July 4, 1799, would be legally declared “free.” Since these children were still considered property with material value, this came with a loophole that their freedom would become valid only after a certain amount of time had elapsed—25 years of age for women, and 28 years for men—meanwhile these children were still required to work. Therefore, enslavers were required to record the children’s births on legal documents.

Certificate of Birth for Harry, a male child born on October 25, 1804, reported by John Vanderbilt on September 5 1805. Records of the Town of Flatbush, Old Town Records collection, NYC Municipal Archives..

Enslaved people born prior to July 4, 1799, were re-categorized as indentured servants; this language (using “servant” instead of “slave”) appears throughout the manumission documents. Typically, the document includes the enslavers statement reporting the birth, and a corresponding certification of its accuracy by the town clerk. In rare instances, there is text in a will document freeing an enslaved person.

FTR:  Do you know about how many individuals will be identified by the transcription project?

Birth records, ledger, 1826, Town of Flatlands, Old Town Records collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

AR: There are about 1,300 birth and manumission records in the books slated for transcription during this phase.

FTR:  Please describe the transcription process.

AR: The Municipal Archives is using an online service called From The Page for the transcription project. Once logged-in, volunteers will click on a book and select a page. Or, they can click “Start Transcribing” (just above the list of volumes) and will be taken to a random page that hasn’t been worked on yet. The format of volunteer submissions are split into two sections: there’s a text area field, where the entire page will be transcribed in full. Just below this text box is a spreadsheet, where volunteers will insert the information about children born to enslaved mothers.

We’re asking that volunteers type what they see and to keep in mind the transcription tips that sit in the middle of every page. It’s an easy process to get into; reading some of the handwriting is probably the most difficult part of it.

FTR:  Are transcribers provided any assistance with reading the hand-written records?

Birth records, 1810-1811, transcribed in ledger, Town of Flatlands, Old Town Records collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

AR: That’s my current responsibility. There’s a convenient Notes and Questions box under each transcription page, so if volunteers need help with some of the words, or if they want a review of something very specific on one of their pages, or even if they find something interesting, they can send that message there. These notes are public, so if volunteers want to engage with someone else’s comments, they can.

FTR:  How will you make sure that the transcribers do not make mistakes?

AR: That is another part of my responsibility. I don’t expect anyone to complete these pages to perfection and, when I see mistakes, I can easily correct them. I’m currently reviewing the submissions page by page, but there are ways for volunteers to note specific pages that they need help with. After a submission is all typed out, volunteers can check a box by the Preview and Save buttons that says, “Needs Review.” This lets me know that a transcriber would like someone to look over the work before it’s considered complete. These notes are very helpful for me to track progress. In some cases, I might need to adjust the transcription conventions to include things that people struggle with often.

Certificate of Birth for Henry Lynes, a male child, born on November 5, 1804, reported by Simeon Buck, November 26, 1804. Records of the Town of Flatbush, Old Town Records collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

FTR:  How will the transcribed information be made available?

The Archives will publish the birth records as a database in Collection Guides. In addition, the Archives has curated a sub-collection for birth records of enslaved people and a webpage on archives.nyc devoted to holdings featuring Records of Slavery and Emancipation.

FTR:  It looks like a significant impediment to using manumission records to trace ancestry is the lack of surnames. In the example below, we know that “Tom” was born on March 28, 1806, to “Bet,” but we do not know their surnames. Do you have any advice about how to overcome this impediment?

Certificate of Birth for Tom a male child born on March 28, 1806 to Bet, reported by George Lott on September 27, 1806. Records of the Town of Flatlands, Old Town Records collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

AR: We suggest that researchers try using vital record collections of the communities where enslaved persons resided. Given that we know the date of birth and a first name, and if the formerly enslaved person remained in the community, it might be possible to find additional demographic information in vital records. The Municipal Archives collection of vital records includes records of birth, death and marriage in many of the Old Town communities.

FTR:  What should a person do if interested in participating in the project?

AR:  To start working, a volunteer can visit the Records of Slavery page that lives on the website.

Daylight Savings Time

Unfortunately, it is time again for that semi-annual ritual: changing your timepieces to reflect Daylight Savings Time. 

Sundial, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, September 1937. Photographer: E.M. Bofinger. WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Spring forward. Fall back. Most have heard this axiom that reminds us of how to shift time. And on Sunday, March 9, we will be springing forward and, in many cases, grumbling about it and wondering, “When did this practice start and for what purpose?”

Interestingly, a folder in the collection of former Mayor John Purroy Mitchel (1914-1917), provides some context. Titled “Conventions-New York Daylight Savings Committee,” the folder contains various communications from 1916 and 1917.   

In May, 1916, Marcus M. Marks, President of the Borough of Manhattan announced a conference on “Turning the Clock Forward” to be held later in the month. He invited City merchants and organizations to participate. The announcement noted that Cleveland, Ohio was a leader in the practice of adjusting time, along with various European cities. New York was behind the times.  

New York Daylight Savings Committee, Invitation, 1917. Mayor John Purroy Mitchel Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

New York Daylight Savings Committee, Acceptance, 1917. Mayor John Purroy Mitchel Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Conference attendees recommended forming a committee (a time-honored manner of resolving matters). The New York Daylight Savings Committee, based in the Borough President’s office and chaired by Marks, consisted of leaders from civic organizations, law firms, financial trusts, unions, manufacturers, and academia.

In January 1917, the Committee launched the idea of a Convention that would be addressed by Senators, Governors, Mayors, and others. Marks authored a column, “Health and Wealth in Daylight” in the newspaper Evening Sun attributing the idea of daylight savings time to “the brain of Benjamin Franklin over 135 years ago.” He wrote that “In 1784, Franklin estimated that the city of Paris that year would save in its lighting bills the somewhat exaggerated sum of $19,000,000.”

The article also refuted opponents claims: “It has been suggested that all the advantages could be obtained without turning the clock ahead, by rising and retiring an hour earlier. The answer is that we would not do it; and if we tried it we would find ourselves out of harmony with our surroundings….  There is an element of psychology in this movement. It would be quite an effort for those accustomed to arise at seven o’clock to get up at six. But when the clock says seven, habit asserts itself, and in a few days no one remembers that the clock has been turned ahead.”

Daylight Saving, by Harold Jacoby, comparison chart. New York Daylight Savings Committee, 1917. Mayor John Purroy Mitchel Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Much of the rationale included in the column was pulled from a paper written by Harold Jacoby, the Rutherford Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University. He explained the value of changing the clocks instead of changing schedules. “It is almost certain that if the factory whistles that now blow at seven should be sounded at six instead, something like an insurrection would occur among the workers. Therefore, the new plan proposes to attain the result by changing the clocks instead of the whistles.”

Mayor Mitchel accepted the invitation to address the convention at a lunch to be held at the grand ballroom at the Hotel Astor on January 30, 1917. He also appointed the required ten delegates to consider the concept.      

National Daylight Saving Convention and Luncheon, agenda, January 30, 1917. Mayor John Purroy Mitchel Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The impetus for changing the clocks originated in England but was first successfully implemented in Germany in 1916. Great Britain and France soon also adopted the system. The mayoral records fail to indicate that this occurred in the middle of World War I (1914-1918), when the goal was to reduce civilian energy use so those resources could be directed to the war effort. Adoption of the approach by both sides of the conflict is noteworthy.

The United States Congress passed legislation to create universal daylight savings time in 1918 and repealed the law in 1920. During World War II, Congress again established the program and again repealed it when the war ended. In 1966, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act that standardized time zones in the country and brought back Daylight Savings Time. The start and end dates varied each time the law was revised. Currently, daylight savings runs from the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November (which usually is also the date of the New York City Marathon).      

New York Daylight Saving Committee to Mayor Mitchel, 1917. Mayor John Purroy Mitchel Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The start and end days have always been Sundays, and the Mitchel folder contains an explanation. In 1883, the nation’s railroad companies introduced a standard system for railway timetables that established time zones and eliminated dozens of confusing locally set times. The new standard required uniformity in timetables. For travelers, the resulting schedule adjustments led to criticism. When daylight savings time was implemented in 1918, train travelers were a prime consideration: “Only continental through trains actually between stations on the critical Sunday nights near May 1 and September 30 might possibly offer some difficulty. It is for this reason that these dates are placed on Sunday, and at an hour after midnight, when few trains are in motion,” wrote Professor Jacoby.

So, in 2025, as we adjust our clocks, America’s long-lost (declined??) passenger railway system still runs the show.

The S.S. United States

Shortly before noon on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, the luxury superliner S.S. United States began its final voyage. With news helicopters hovering overhead and escorted by five tugs, the largest passenger ship ever built in America slowly departed its berth in Philadelphia, bound for Florida’s panhandle. Its last journey will end 180 feet beneath the sea where the great liner will become the world’s largest artificial reef. News media marked the solemn occasion: “The S.S. United States Is Going Down for Good,” read the front-page headline in The New York Times on Friday, February 21, 2025.

The S.S. United States and the S.S. America, New York harbor, April 7, 1963. Department of Marine and Aviation Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

In a striking contrast, more than seventy years ago, the S. S. United States made the front page of the Times on a decidedly happier occasion: “Six Hour Welcome Greets New Liner on First Trip Here.” (June 24, 1952.)  The New York Daily News story that day trumpeted “The Queenly U.S. Gets N.Y.’s Bow.” In their coverage of the event, another of New York’s numerous newspapers, the Daily Mirror, described the scene: “The nation’s new queen of the seas, the superliner United States, yesterday gingerly threaded her way through a harbor clogged with hundreds of shrilling small craft and, under a canopy of helicopters, blimps and planes, majestically eased her white-and-ebony bulk up against her pier after the most tremendous welcome ever accorded a vessel here.”

Menu cover for luncheon aboard the S.S. United States, Pier 86, New York City, August 20, 1952, in honor of the Mayor’s Reception Committee, to commemorate its outstanding performance on the occasion of the arrival of the S.S. United States, in New York Harbor, July 15, 1952. Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

1952 Sailing Schedule, S.S. United States, Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Daily News story reported that the ship’s Captain, Commodore Harry Manning, speculated that on her upcoming first transatlantic voyage, his new command might make a bid for the transatlantic speed record. As it happened, Manning’s prediction proved exactly correct. On its return from Southampton, England to New York, the giant superliner did indeed break the speed record, and on July 18, 1952, New York City went all-out to celebrate the achievement with a ticker-tape parade.

To research the story of the American superliner and the City’s welcoming event, researchers can turn to Municipal Archives collections. The Mayor Impellitteri records, and the files of the Mayor’s Reception Committee, then under the direction of City Greeter Grover Whelan, are an especially rich resource. In addition, the Department of Ports and Trades photograph collection provides unique visual documentation.

Spectators awaiting arrival of the S. S. United States, Pier 86, United States Line, Hudson River, June 23, 1952. Department of Marine and Aviation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

By the early 1950s, Whalen had perfected the art of staging a ticker-tape parade. He organized thirty-three parades in just three years from 1949 through 1952. Researchers reviewing collection contents will quickly see that no detail was too small for Whalen and his staff as they planned for the ticker-tape parade, City Hall reception, and luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria Starlight Roof.

S. S. United States docking at Pier 86, Hudson River, July 15, 1952. U. S. Army photograph, Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

Pier 86, United States Line, Hudson River, June 23, 1952. Department of Marine and Aviation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Although less voluminous, the subject file for the reception in Mayor Impellitteri’s records also contains informative items. Among them are a transcript of the Mayor’s remarks at the City Hall reception. Printed in a giant font, suitable to be read from a lectern, Impellitteri’s speech praised Commodore Harry Manning, Captain of the ship: “That the United States [ship] deserves all the praise and admiration she has received—both here and abroad—goes without saying. But I submit that there is a human factor within the greatness of the ship which is equally deserving of tribute. A ship, after all, no matter how perfect in mechanical detail is nothing without her caption and crew. It is in recognition of that fact that we gather here today to honor Commodore Harry Manning, Captain of the S.S. United States, and through him, the 1,000-man team which make up his crew.”

The Habitual Hero

Time magazine cover, June 23, 1952. Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor Impellitteri continued on to say that this was not Captain Manning’s first time in a ticker-tape parade. Grover Whalen’s very capable assistant Gertrude Lyons prepared a memo with biographical information about Manning for the Mayor’s speech-writers. Her memo detailed an incident in 1929 when Manning, then the first officer on the ship “America,” came upon an Italian freighter sinking in the Atlantic. Manning volunteered to take a lifeboat with seven men across a quarter-mile of raging sea to rescue the half-frozen Italian crewmen. Manning’s action saved 32 men, and upon his return to New York, the City gave him a hero’s welcome with a ticker-tape parade. As Ms. Lyons wrote, “This is but one instance which led to Commodore Manning being referred to as the ‘habitual hero’.”

Commodore Harry Manning and Chief Engineer William Kaiser, S. S. United States, ticker-tape parade, Broadway, July 18, 1952. Mayor’s Reception Committee Photograph, Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

Menu, luncheon in honor of the Master, Officers and Crew of the S. S. United States, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, July 18, 1952. Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Mayor included the rescue story in his speech, but omitted another significant event detailed in Lyons’ memo. She explained how in 1937 Manning had been on leave from his ship to serve as navigator for Amelia Earhart on her proposed around the world flight. “In Honolulu, the plane skidded on a take-off and cracked up. No one was hurt, but Manning had to return to his ship before the plane could be repaired and the flight resumed without him. This was the flight on which Amelia Earhart lost her life.”

The Reception Committee folders also include copies of two short documents with “Suggested Remarks for Commodore Manning at City Hall” scrawled on the top. “Just a few thoughts for consideration,” Whalen wrote. No detail too small!

Mayor Vincent Impellitteri presents Proclamation to Commander Harry Manning, Captain, S. S. United States, City Hall, July 18, 1952, Mayor’s Reception Committee Photograph, Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

Sleek as a Shark

Reading Manning’s biography, it is perhaps not surprising that Time magazine featured him on the cover of their June 23, 1952, issue; a copy is in the Whalen collection. In ten lavishly illustrated pages the news magazine told the full story of America’s new “Luxury Liner.” As described in the article, “The superliner is the dreamboat of William Francis Gibbs, 65, crack naval architect and famed designer of World War II’s Liberty ships. Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. made it come true.”

The story explained how Congress appropriated $42 million of the total $79 million cost of the ship not only to enhance the country’s prestige, but also to bolster its military readiness. During wartime, the ship’s 241,000-horse-power steam engines could move 14,000 troops, with equipment, halfway around the world, nonstop, without refueling. “For all her size, the hull is sleek as a shark to help her outrun submarines.”

Brochure cover, S.S. United States, July 1952, Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brochure interior, S.S. United States, July 1952, Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

Brochure interior, S.S. United States, July 1952, Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

During peacetime, the ship could transport 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew in air-conditioned comfort, the first ocean liner with that amenity. Federal requirements necessary for the potential naval use of the vessel created challenges for interior designers Dorothy Marckwald and Anne Urquart. Using 100% fireproof materials, their interiors were hailed as a masterpiece of what is now called “mid-century modern.”

The S.S. United States went on to cross the Atlantic 800 times, but the 1952 Time story correctly foresaw the downward trajectory of transatlantic travel by ocean liner. “All liners are waging a losing battle against the airlines. Five years ago, only 30% of transatlantic travel was by air. This year it will reach about 40%.”

S.S. United States, New York Harbor, July 15, 1952. The liner’s remarkable speed during the transatlantic journey peeled the paint from its hull. Mayor’s Reception Committee Photograph, Grover Whalen Papers, NYC Municipal Archives.

In 1969, the United States Lines took their flagship vessel out of service and moored it in Norfolk, Virginia. It later berthed at Philadelphia until its final voyage that began last week. The  S.S. United States Conservancy, a non-profit, bought the vessel in 2011. The Conservancy is headed by Susan Gibbs, granddaughter of the ship’s designer William Francis Gibbs. Having failed to find a permanent home for the liner, the Conservancy agreed to the planned sinking of the ship to serve as a coral reef. The Conservancy is now planning a land-based S.S. United States museum.

It is unlikely that any of the thousands of spectators at the parade for Commodore Manning and the crew of the S.S. United States in 1952 gave much thought to the fate of the great liner when it reached the end of its useful life. But if they had, perhaps they would like the idea of its new role as habitat for sea creatures.

The 1890 Police Census–Digitized

The Municipal Archives recently completed digitizing the 1890 Police Census. Supported by a generous grant from the Peck-Stackpoole Foundation, project staff reformatted all 894 extant volumes of the collection to provide access (113 volumes are missing from the collection). They re-housed the volumes in custom-made archival containers to ensure their long-term preservation. Long prized by family historians, the census provides unique documentation of approximately 1.5 million inhabitants of New York City. To further enhance access to the valuable information in this series, the Municipal Archives has invited anyone with an interest to participate in a transcription project.

42nd Street, looking east to 6th Avenue Elevated, ca. 1890. DeGregario Family Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Provenance of the Census

“It is the right of the people of New York to be counted accurately and to have representation in Congress and in the Electoral College proportionate to their population. In their name, I demand as their right, that the federal authorities make an accurate enumeration of all the inhabitants of the City of New York.”  Mayor Hugh Grant, October 16, 1890.

As it had done every ten years since 1790, federal census takers conducted an enumeration of the City in 1890. The count took place between May and June. New York City Mayor Hugh Grant and other city officials believed the federal census significantly undercounted inhabitants. To support their claim, Grant ordered the Police Department to conduct another census. It took place between September 29, and October 14, 1890. The new count showed a gain of 200,000 people in the population, compared to the federal number.

“Not Allowed”

Based on the results of his “police” census, Mayor Grant submitted a letter to the Superintendent of the Census in the Department of the Interior requesting a re-count. The Federal office refused. Grant submitted a second request; also denied. The Municipal Archives mayoral records from the Hugh Grant administration includes the lengthy correspondence from the Department of the Interior detailing their reasons for not conducting another census of the City. In his cover letter to Mayor Grant dated October 27, 1890, Interior Secretary John W. Noble concluded, “There is sent you herewith an opinion answering your demand for a renumeration of the inhabitants of your city, which, for reasons therein set forth, is not allowed.” Noble attached a fifteen-page document listing the reasons for declining to conduct another census.

Noble’s analysis included the statement that part of the difference can be attributed to the “...matter of common observation that many thousands of people of the City of New York give up their abodes in June of each year for vacation or recreation abroad or in the surrounding country, and many thousands more go to service with them...” Noble also observed “There is also a natural increase of population in one fourth of a year.” At that time, the arrival of new immigrants, many thousands per month, could account for the greater population recorded by the City in October, compared to the federal count in June. Mayor Grant’s second request resulted in another denial with a similar eight-page attachment.

Lower East Side street, ca. 1890. Department of Sanitation Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

It is important for researchers to note that Mayor Grant’s outgoing correspondence in this matter will be found in the “letterpress” volumes. Maintained as a separate series, outgoing correspondence from mayoral offices during the latter part of the nineteenth century is in the form of carbon copies on thin onion-skin paper bound into volumes. There are approximately 160 volumes in the series; each volume is generally indexed by the name of the correspondent, or subject. Collection Guides provides further information and an inventory of the series.

The whereabouts of Mayor Grant’s “police” census within New York City government offices after 1890 is not known. Likewise, there is no documentation of when the Municipal Archives received the census volumes, but it has been part of the collection since at least the early 1970s. There is also no information about the 113 missing volumes.

The fate of the federal 1890 census is known, however. In 1921, a fire in the basement of the Commerce Building in Washington, D.C. damaged hundreds of thousands of pages. Although the charred pages were salvaged, in December 1932, the Chief Clerk of the Bureau of the Census submitted a record disposal application to the Librarian of Congress that included what remained of the 1890 census record. On February 21, 1933, Congress authorized destruction. [1]

High view looking north from 23rd Street up Broadway, ca. 1890. William T. Colbron, photographer. DeGregario Family Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The Digitization Project

In 2022, the Peck Stackpoole Foundation awarded the Municipal Archives a grant to determine the feasibility of digitizing the census collection. Based on productivity achieved during the pilot, the Foundation awarded a second grant in 2024 to complete digitization.

The Municipal Archives employed a digitization technician, Marie Cyprien, to complete the task. In accordance with Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) recommendations, Ms. Cyprien captured the images using an overhead camera. She converted the raw images to other formats via batch processing. She created preservation format TIFF files and applied file-naming standards according to Municipal Archives standards.

Completed in December 2024, digitization of the 894 ledgers in the 1890 New York City Police Census collection resulted in 77,844 images. Ms. Cyprien also completed the necessary collection rehousing into 39 custom boxes, barcoding, and labeling the volumes.

The 1890 Police Census

239 East 114th Street, home of the “Marks” family, with children “Leo and Adolph,” better known as Chico and Harpo, of the Marx Brothers. Julius, aka “Groucho” Marx, was just missed in the census as he was born at this address on October 2, 1890. 1890 census, NYC Municipal Archives.

The 1890 New York City Police Census produced 1008 volumes; 894 volumes are still extant. Each volume lists the population of one election district in New York County. A map of the election district boundary can be found on the last page of each volume. Prior to the consolidation of New York City in 1898, the boundary of New York County was contiguous with the island of Manhattan, plus annexed districts of what is now the Bronx. The 1890 census includes the western portion of the Bronx that was annexed in 1874, but not the eastern portion annexed in 1895. As Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island would not be boroughs of the city until 1898, they are not included in the census.


New York City police officers conducted the census. The handwritten entries record election district, assembly district, police precinct, name of the police officer/enumerator, and the address, name, gender, and age of each resident. There is no indication of the relationship of one person to another, occupations, or other demographic information.

Significance of the collection

Loss of the federal 1890 census makes the City’s version uniquely valuable in bridging the gap in demographic information between 1880 and 1900. Immigration to the United States surged during that period; in 1890, newcomers comprised 42 percent of New York City’s total population. The census is particularly useful in documenting children. Due to language barriers and differing cultural traditions, many families failed to report the births of their children to the City’s Health Department. The 1890 police census can be used to identify the names and approximate date of birth for the estimated 15-20 percent of children without civil birth records.

Next Steps

The Municipal Archives Collection Guides describes the census record and provides a link to the digital images. Interested persons are invited to visit From The Page  for information about the recently launched project to transcribe and index the1890 census. Look for future For the Record articles that will describe how to use this essential research resource.

1. Manhattan Mistabulation: The Story of the 1890 New York City Police Census, By Andy Mccarthy, Librarian II, New York Public Library, May 10, 2019.

It’s Presidents Day

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

New York City government offices, including the Municipal Archives, close on the third Monday in February for Presidents Day. Banks, schools, the United States Post Office, and the New York Stock Exchange also observe the holiday.

Archives collections document some presidential moments in the City’s history, highlighted in For the Record articles.

In 2024, For the Record traced the residences of President George Washington in George Washington in New York: The First Presidential Mansion.

In 1968, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the Uniform Holiday Bill that set specific Mondays to celebrate Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day as well as establishing Columbus Day as a Federal Holiday, effective in 1971. The goal was to establish a minimum of five three-day weekends for federal workers. As Johnson stated in his approval message, “The bill that we sign today will help Americans to enjoy more fully the country that is their magnificent heritage. It will also aid the work of Government and bring new efficiency to our economy.”

President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, was never a national holiday but was a State holiday in many places, including New York. In 2018, the For the Record article Bodies in Transit displayed an entry about the assassinated President Lincoln as an example.

Presidents Day officially celebrates Washington’s birth, which was made a federal holiday in 1885, and is still named Washington’s birthday for federal workers. As noted above, some states and municipalities mark both births, closing government offices on Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12, and Presidents Day on the third Monday. Conversely, it is business-as-usual in ten states that do not mark Presidents Day as a holiday. Clever marketers coined the term Presidents Day in the 1980s to combine the commemorations.

Another recent blog described President Jimmy Carter’s history with the City: New York and President Jimmy Carter.

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.

The Presidents featured in these For the Record posts made significant contributions to the nation. Let us honor their work during this holiday weekend.