Digitizing the David N. Dinkins Mayoral Photograph Collection

Over the past year, the Municipal Archives has been busy working on the photograph collection of the Mayor David N. Dinkins administration that will be available on our digital platform, Preservica. As the archivist leading this project, I’ve been processing and digitizing both black-and-white and color 35mm photographic negatives and photographic prints. Shooting and scanning various mediums is standard practice and at this point, almost second nature. However, this particular collection is unique in the sense that I am also processing while simultaneously digitizing.

Mayor David N. Dinkins speaks at ribbon cutting ceremony for new low income HPD [Housing Preservation and Development] Housing Cooperative Apartments, March 3, 1992. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Contrary to typical archival workflows in which records are digitized after a collection has been processed, this project combines multiple roles into one: creating an inventory, rehousing material, shooting and editing images, collecting and remediating metadata, and preparing content for publishing. There are various benefits to this method of archiving that I will describe in more detail below. But first, let’s take a quick look at former Mayor David N. Dinkins.

Headshot of Mayor David N. Dinkins taken at press conference: New Tenant for 7 World Trade Center, March 8, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

David Dinkins was New York City’s first Black mayor, serving in that office from 1990 to 1993. While this in itself is a noteworthy accomplishment, he had a long career in public service and achieved many firsts.

Born on July 10, 1927 in Trenton, New Jersey, Dinkins was one of the first Black members of the United States Marine Corps. He graduated from Howard University and then from Brooklyn Law School. Before his time as mayor, he served in the New York State Assembly and then was appointed as the City Clerk, when, notably, Dinkins transferred the City’s records of New Amsterdam to the Municipal Archives. He then served as the Manhattan Borough President from 1986 to 1989. Dinkins was a founding member of the Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus of New York State, the Council of Black Elected Democrats of New York State, and One Hundred Black Men. He passed away on November 23, 2020.

Press Conference: Mondello Verdict, May 18, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor David N. Dinkins meets with a group of high school students participating in Operation Understanding, August 2, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Some of David Dinkins’ most notable policies include changing the composition of the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) to be fully independent of the NYPD (which contributed to a Police Benevolent Association-backed riot of 4,000 off-duty cops on September 16, 1992), obtaining funding to increase the size of the NYPD and begin the decades-long reduction in crime rates, signing a long-term lease with the United States Tennis Association National Tennis Center to host the U.S. Open (one of the city’s top revenue sources), revitalizing neglected housing in Harlem, South Bronx, and Brooklyn, and creating a housing program for New Yorkers experiencing houselessness. Many identify Dinkins’ controversial response to the 1991 Crown Heights Uprisings as a primary reason for his reelection defeat by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Mayor David N. Dinkins speaks at 17th Annual Foster Grandparents Recognition Program with Mrs. Joyce Dinkins, May 31, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor David N. Dinkins speaks at Bill Signing Ceremony with Governor Mario M. Cuomo, Battery Park, May 22, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

How does the Municipal Archives capture and preserve this particular mayor and time in New York City’s history?

Mayor David N. Dinkins plays Tennis With Jennifer Capriati, August 21, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Standard archival practice typically involves multiple but distinct steps carried out by different archivists at different times. After a collection is accepted and added into the archives (a process called accession and appraisal), an archivist will process the collection. This involves conducting an inventory of the records, organizing items based on the creator’s original order, and rehousing anything that may need new folders or boxes. When this activity is complete, an archivist will digitize selected images. From there, a digital archivist will remediate all the textual information (metadata like names, dates, and locations), create digital filenames, and upload everything into a preservation software or collections management system for long-term storage.

Mayor David N. Dinkins speaks at groundbreaking ceremony for P.S. [Public School] / I.S. [Intermediate School] 217, The Roosevelt Island School, to be built by The New York City School Construction Authority, April 30, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Photograph of the Dinkins Collection in the stacks at 31 Chambers Street.

But that is not what we decided to do for this collection. Rather, we chose to combine the aforementioned steps so that one person (yours truly) is performing them all at once, with the guidance and input of colleagues in Digital Programs, Conservation, Collections Management, Reference, and Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI). The benefit to this method includes maintaining consistency throughout the entire process so that everything from the camera set-up to the filenames is standardized and ready to go.

Before taking you through my workflow, I’ll shed some light on the scope and content of this soon-to-be-published collection, which contains 139 ½ cubic foot boxes. Each box contains labeled folders filled with photographic negatives, photographic prints, corresponding paperwork, and sometimes (though rarely) ephemera, which all relate to a specific event from the Dinkins administration. Some examples include Dinkins’ swearing-in ceremony, Nelson and Winnie Mandela’s visit to New York City, the Puerto Rican Day Parade, and of course numerous courtesy calls and press conferences.

Mayor David N. Dinkins and Joyce Dinkins at the swearing-in ceremony, January 1, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Nelson and Winnie Mandela at City Hall, June 20, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Students and staff at Medgar Evars College greet Nelson and Winnie Mandela, June 20, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Nelson Mandela takes photograph with boxers Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson; June 22, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor David N. Dinkins hosts a reception in honor of Asian American business leaders, July 24, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor David N. Dinkins marches in the Puerto Rican Day Parade, June 10, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

The materials arrived at the archives with some descriptive information attached, which makes processing a whole lot easier than when you have little or no context. We received a spreadsheet inventory filled out by members of Dinkins’ office, identifying events, dates, times, notable persons, locations, and other relevant information about each folder.

What happens between receiving the collection and getting the photographs up and viewable onto our website? Quite a lot actually.

Photograph of an open ½ cubic foot box.

First, I take a quick look at each box (working with five at a time), ensuring the folders are in order by date and time. Some boxes are overstuffed which can damage the materials by bending or warping them. Others are under-stuffed, which can also lead to damage by causing items to fold over themselves. In these instances, I either add or remove folders so that they are snug but not too tight in each box. After this, I update the pre-existing inventory with new folder and box numbers.

Photograph of a negative contact sheet.

Photograph of a negative sleeve.

Photograph of the author shooting a film strip in the darkroom at 31 Chambers Street.

After I have completed processing five boxes, I begin to shoot them using a DT Atom camera, a lightbox, a negative carrier, and Capture One photo-editing software. The negatives come in sleeves with contact sheets attached. Most of the time, someone from the mayor’s office already chose which images to be printed by marking a frame with a red wax pencil. This of course makes my job easier as I simply follow their guidance. However, many times contact sheets are unmarked, so the decision is left to me. This requires a surprising amount of time, as I try to be intentional and thoughtful about which images are important to have online.

To streamline this process, I created a list of criteria. This includes:

• Clarity/quality: Is the frame out of focus? Is the negative strip damaged? Are people’s eyes closed? etc.

• Content: Frames that show multiple and new people not yet captured.

• DEI concerns: Ensuring a wide diversity of individuals captured.

• Historical context: Any visible text, signage, architecture, etc.

• Format: A combination of candid and portraits/color and black-and-white.

Mayor David N. Dinkins demonstrates the accessibility of the city’s subways for people with disabilities, June 29, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Aerial view of Manhattan skyline, April 9, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

After shooting each sleeve, I change the image names to the official filenames that will appear on our storage server and in Preservica (a seemingly miniscule yet critical task that ensures the longevity, consistency, and user accessibility of our digital materials). The filenames include information about the collection number, series number, box number, and item number. For example, the filename REC0037_13_001_001_01_01 tells us that the collection is REC0037, that the series is 13 (which identifies that it’s photographs), that the box number is 1, that the negative sheet is 1 (there are usually more than one per folder), and that the frame is 1.

Next, comes editing and exporting the images. The Municipal Archives adheres to the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI), so editing is fairly basic, as too much can interfere with these standards. Most importantly, I straighten and crop each shot so that there is only one image per frame. Some negatives are damaged by environmental factors like time and improper handling. In these cases, I may adjust levels or exposure to ensure clarity. This is particularly true for color images.

Screenshot of Capture One photo-editing software

After editing, I export the files into TIFF images. TIFFS are the highest resolution files (unlike JPGS or PNGS which are lower resolution) and therefore used for preservation-quality master copies. This only takes several minutes, but moving the files onto our storage server can take up to an hour due to their size and volume.

When the photographs are ready, I begin to enter the metadata from the original inventory as well as additional information I’ve collected into a Dublin Core spreadsheet. Dublin Core is the archival standard that we use for all collections (aside from audiovisual and moving image collections which require unique standards). Dublin Core is used to ensure the format of each information field, like title, date, and location, is consistent and ready for our digital preservation archivists to ingest into Preservica.

Mayor David N. Dinkins accompanies the tenant patrol of the New York Housing Authority’s Brevoort House on its evening rounds, September 24, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor David N. Dinkins hosts a lawn party in honor of the children of New York City, June 8, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Announcing the ASCAP [American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers] Foundation's Louis Armstrong Fund with Cab Calloway, August 18, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Although most of the metadata has already been collected by members of the Dinkins Photo staff at the time of creation, some information may need editing. This includes adding the first names of women (who are often described as Mrs. [insert husband’s name]), problematic and archaic terminology (the archives intentionally keeps original language and we contextualize and update wording within [brackets]), spelling out acronyms, and editing grammatical and spelling errors.

There are a lot of people captured in these images whose names are not in the documentation and who we can’t easily identify. To tackle this issue, we have created a pilot project to crowd-source information from members of former Mayor Dinkins administration. Who better to name and describe the individuals featured than the individuals themselves! We will report on this part of the project in a future blog.

Mayor David N. Dinkins testifies before House Subcommittee on bills to expand Medicaid coverage for HIV III [Human Immunodeficiency Virus] and to provide residential drug treatment for pregnant women, September 10, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work required in an archival digitization project. With the overwhelming amount of online media to which many of us are now accustomed, this might be surprising. But, but hopefully this blog can shed light on why “digitizing everything” is simply unrealistic. After all, these projects involve a high cost of labor, time, and funding. All that being said, while this work can be meticulous, repetitive, and invisible, there is definitely fun to be had. Below I’ve included some of my favorite images. We’re still in the beginning part of this project, having digitized 25 boxes with about 120 boxes remaining.

Winnie Mandela and Dinkins at a private luncheon at United States Coast Guard Building, June 20, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Audience watches Nelson Mandela receive a key to the City Of New York, June 20, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor David N. Dinkins speaks at a rally of 400 junior and senior high school students, June 18, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Lawn party in honor of the children of New York City, June 8, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

ASCAP [American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers] Foundation's Louis Armstrong Fund with Cab Calloway, August 18, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Joyce Dinkins hosts a party for children enrolled in New York City's Early Childhood Program with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy, July 6, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor David N. Dinkins greets school children at Bill Signing Ceremony, Battery Park, May 22, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

David and Joyce Dinkins at the private swearing in, January 1, 1990. Joan Vitale Strong, photographer. Mayor Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

100 Years of WNYC

Since 2015, the Municipal Archives has participated in the annual New York City Photoville festival. Photoville is a citywide two-week pop-up exhibit. The main venue is directly under the Brooklyn Bridge at the corner of Water and New Dock Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn. This year, it runs from June 1-16, 2024. For the core exhibits, each Photoville participant transforms a shipping container into a temporary gallery. Our exhibit this year celebrates 100 years of WNYC.

---

Municipal Building with WNYC radio antennae, July 18, 1924. Photo by Eugene de Salignac. NYC Municipal Archives.

From 1924 until 1997, WNYC radio was owned and operated by the City of New York for “Instruction, Enlightenment, and Entertainment.” WNYC turns 100 this year, and its history is intimately related to both City government and the NYC Municipal Archives. From the first broadcast on July 8, 1924, preserved in photographs by Eugene de Salignac, to historic broadcasts (both radio and television), the Municipal Archives is the repository of much of WNYC’s historical audio and video programs. The rest of its history has been preserved by the New York Public Radio Archives, founded in 2000. Its archivist, Andy Lanset, has spent more than two decades gathering ephemera, equipment, and lost recordings. He has been awarded several collaborative grants to digitize the recordings housed in the Municipal Archives and New York Public Radio.

WNYC’s first day on the air, July 8, 1924. (Earlier in the day - first broadcast at night) Grover A. Whalen, WNYC’s founder, (in tux) is joined by Public Address Operators Bert L. Davies and Frank Orth (seated) who is operating a wave meter. Photo by Eugene de Salignac. Department of Bridges/Plant and Structures collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Grover Whalen, Commissioner of the Department of Plant & Structures launched WNYC Radio on July 8, 1924. Through their original programming and recordings made at City Hall events and press conferences, WNYC Radio reporters, engineers and producers captured a wide range of important cultural and political personalities. John Glenn and John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, Josephine Baker and Bob Dylan, astronauts and politicians, artists, musicians and poets all made appearances on WNYC. The founder of the Municipal Archives, librarian Rebecca Rankin, even had her own radio program on WNYC.

WNYC’s first issued program guide, The Masterwork Hour, December 1935. WNYC collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Over time, WNYC Radio grew into both AM and FM stations, as well as a television station that enhanced the civic life of New Yorkers. In 1996, the City sold WNYC TV to a commercial entity. WNYC AM and FM continue today as the core of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization that also includes WQXR, WQXW, New Jersey Public Radio, Gothamist and The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space.

Although the station was a very public presence in New York and often groundbreaking in programming and technology, it was not always beloved. Mayor John Francis Hylan used the station as a tool to attack his opponents, which led to a 1925 lawsuit and a judgement that WNYC could not be used for propaganda. His successor, Mayor James J. Walker, considered shutting it down, but it survived despite public calls for its elimination, including from mayoral candidate Fiorello H. La Guardia. Mayor La Guardia appointed Seymour N. Siegal as Assistant Program Director to “shut the joint down.” Instead, Siegel returned with a report on how the station could be improved. He saw value in the station as a means to make government more transparent and to educate the public on issues of health and safety. Siegel got a stay of execution from La Guardia as the station was put on probation and a broadcasting panel of experts from the networks studied the situation and eventually reported back to La Guardia with recommendations for what was needed to keep the station going.

WPA Federal Art Project poster by Frank Greco circa 1939 (colorized). NYC Municipal Archives.

WNYC Radio Map, ca. 1937. A.G. Lorimer artist. WNYC Archive Collections. https://www.wnyc.org/story/123806-artist-and-architect-a-g-lorimer

Original can from the WNYC Film Unit. WNYC collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Meanwhile by the mid-to-late 1930s, the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided funding which underwrote half of the programming. It also supported construction of new studios for the station in the Municipal Building and a new transmitter in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. WPA artists even contributed murals and artwork for the studios. La Guardia changed his attitude and saw the station as an educational and cultural tool and began to use it as a way to talk directly to the people of the City. He also separated WNYC from the Department of Plant & Structures and created a new mayoral agency, the Municipal Broadcasting System, with Morris S. Novik as its director.

Title card from “Baby Knows Best,” a WNYC-TV production, ca. 1950s. WNYC collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

WNYC-TV cameraman in City Hall, ca. 1962. Photographer unknown. WNYC collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Ralph McDaniels, creator of Video Music Box, on the cover of Wavelength, 1989. WNYC Archive Collections.

After World War II, Siegel, fresh from five years in the Navy, became the second director. Siegel continued to develop new educational programming for the station, and in 1949 he created the WNYC film unit to develop short educational films for the new medium of television. By 1962, WNYC-TV had its own television channel, the first municipal TV station in the nation. Facing massive budget cuts, Siegel turned in his resignation in 1971. The 1970s were not kind to WNYC, and in 1975 it held its first on-air membership drive to raise money. In 1979 the WNYC Foundation was formed with the idea of eventual independence from the City. In the 1980s, WNYC-TV broke new ground, with the first LGBT TV news series, Our Time, which premiered in 1983, and Video Music Box, which was launched by a young employee, Ralph McDaniels, in 1984. It was the first TV program to regularly air rap videos.

Staff on the roof of the Municipal Building for the 53rd Anniversary of WNYC, July 1977. Photograph by Sal de Rosa. WNYC Archive Collections.

Nelson Mandela receiving the key to the city from Mayor Dinkins, June 20, 1990. NYC Municipal Archives. https://www.wnyc.org/story/mandela-in-new-york/

FM Transmitter on top of World Trade Center, 1986. Photograph by Lisa Clifford. NYC Municipal Archives.

After a tumultuous review, Mayor Guiliani announced the sale of WNYC AM & FM licenses to the WNYC Foundation in 1995. WNYC-TV was to be sold at auction to commercial bidders. June 30, 1996, was the last broadcast of WNYC-TV, and on January 27, 1997, WNYC AM & FM were officially on their own. Of course, it took a little while to move out of the ‘attic.’ It was not until June 2008 that WNYC transferred the studios from the tower of the Municipal Building to the current Varick Street location.

More challenges awaited WNYC. In September 2001, WNYC lost its FM transmitter in the collapse of the north tower of the World Trade Center. The AM station continued to broadcast using a telephone land-line patch. In August 2003, the northeast blackout plunged the city into darkness, but the station stayed on the air with candlelight and emergency generators. In 2012, the WNYC-AM transmitter site in the new Jersey Meadowlands was damaged by Hurricane Sandy, taking it off the air. And in March 2020, WNYC had to set up home studios for its hosts as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down offices. Independence for WNYC also meant the launching of new magazine programing, podcasting, and a bevy of Peabody and other awards for programming including work by the producers of Radiolab, Studio 360, On the Media, Soundcheck and others.

Recovery efforts at Ground Zero, September 2001. Photographer unknown, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Masterwork Bulletin, May-June 1971. WNYC Archive Collections.

Fitting 100 years of this history into a 20-foot-long shipping container presented a challenge. An easy solution would have been to just illustrate some part of the station’s history, but that did not seem to be fitting for this momentous birthday. The early years of WNYC were well photographed by Eugene de Salignac, agency photographer, but the Municipal Archives had few photos from the 1970s and 1980s. Luckily WNYC engineer Alfred Tropea had taken some beautiful color slides of the Greenpoint transmitter site and WNYC operations. And the WNYC program guides started to include more colorful covers with photographs of some hosts. Although Photoville centers on photography, we knew to tell the story we would need to use archival photographs, ephemera, and audio clips to celebrate WNYC’s history and importance to the City of New York. Even then, the story is too broad to tell fully. The exhibit had to be an immersive experience, with audio and visual components, so we settled on using four panels, each with a collage of images. A timeline underneath each panel marks highlights in the station’s history. An audio montage accompanies the visual panels:

Brian Lehrer broadcasting from his home, March 2020. Wayne Schulmister/WNYC Engineering.

Not everything made the cut, and the reasons are rather random. The great blues musician Huddie ‘Leadbelly’ Ledbetter was a hugely important presence for WNYC in the 1940s, but the audio was hard to fit in. Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie were also cut, but Bob Dylan’s first radio broadcast went in. Rebecca Rankin, despite her importance to the Municipal Archives, was cut from the exhibit, but stayed in the audio. For Photoville we wanted to include a panel discussion on modern photography with Edward Steichen, Margaret Bourke-White, Walker Evans, Irving Penn, and Ben Shahn from 1950 but it was hard to find a good short clip. Instead, we went with a rare interview with Diane Arbus, recorded shortly before her death in 1971. A 1961 Malcom X interview was left out and Martin Luther King, Jr. was included simply because the Malcolm X interview was not an official WNYC broadcast and the 1964 King event was an important City celebration. We had wanted to include something on gay rights in the wake of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, but we found a better clip of an ACT UP demonstration for more funding for the AIDS crisis, which happened to be recorded by a young reporter named Andy Lanset.

WNYC Transmitter building, Greenpoint, ca. 1980s. Photograph by Alfred Tropea, WNYC Archive Collections.

---

WNYC audio and WNYC-TV/Film collections are available from the NYC Municipal Archives and from the New York Public Radio Archive.

To learn more about WNYC’s history, follow Andy Lanset’s New York Public Radio History Notes Newsletter. Here are some highlights in addition to the links in this article.

1. The night WNYC became real: www.wnyc.org/story/wnycs-first-official-broadcast

2. WNYC and the Federal WPA:  www.wnyc.org/story/wnycs-wpa-murals

3. The Plan and Promise of WNYC: www.wnyc.org/story/new-york-citys-silver-jubilee-plan-and-promise-wnyc

4. Morris Novik and a Model of Public Radio: www.wnyc.org/story/218821-morris-s-novik-public-radio-pioneer

5. WNYC’s ID – Hope for the World: www.wnyc.org/story/where-7-million-people-live-peace-and-enjoy-benefits-democracy

6. Lead Belly on WNYC Throughout the 1940s: www.wnyc.org/story/king-twelve-string-guitar-wnyc-regular-through-1940s

7. Christie Bonsack and Early WNYC: www.wnyc.org/story/christie-bohnsack-wnycs-first-director

8. WNYC – The Station that Dodged Bullets: www.wnyc.org/story/wnyc-station-dodged-bullets

9. WNYC’s Journey to Independence: www.wnyc.org/story/going-public-story-wnycs-journey-independence

10. WNYC – Visions of a Flagship Station for a Cultural Network: www.wnyc.org/story/1937-vision-wnyc-flagship-station-non-commercial-cultural-network

100 Years of WNYC, Audio montage, list of clips

1. Re-enactment of first 1924 WNYC broadcast, 1948

2. Sweet Georgia Brown, Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra, 1925

3. Col. Lindbergh Tickertape Parade Reception, June 13, 1927

4. Emergency Relief Committee Orchestra, 1931

5. Station sign-off, December 1931

6. Rebecca Rankin, Municipal Librarian, 1938

7. News broadcast, 1938

8. World’s Fair station ID, 1939

9. Pearl Harbor attack broadcast, December 7, 1941

10. Mayor La Guardia war-time Talk to the People, January 2, 1944

11. Mayor LaGuardia reads the comics during newspaper strike, July 8, 1945

12. Audio from City of Magic, WNYC-TV/Film, 1949

13. AM and FM Station ID, January 11, 1950

14. Bert the Turtle, Duck and Cover, ca. 1952

15. Audio from This is the Municipal Broadcasting System, WNYC-TV/Film, 1953

16. Eleanor Roosevelt DJs Elvis Presley’s song Ready Teddy, February 6, 1957

17. Last run of the 3rd Avenue El, May 12, 1955

18. Footloose in Greenwich Village, May 6, 1960

19. Bob Dylan’s first radio appearance, October 29, 1961

20. John Glenn, first American to orbit the earth, February 20, 1962

21. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Gulf of Tonkin announcement, August 4, 1964

22. Martin Luther King, Jr. welcome at City Hall, December 17, 1964

23. Station ID, 1963

24. Diane Arbus, interviewed for Viewpoints of Women by Richard Pyatt, September 2, 1971

25. Shirley Chisholm announces run for presidency, January 25, 1972

26. WNYC Golden Anniversary, Mayor Abraham D. Beame reading proclamation, July 8, 1974

27. Mayor Ed Koch town hall in Jackson Heights, June 1, 1979

28. Transit Strike, April 3, 1980

29. “Voices of Disarmament” rally, June 14, 1982

30. Vito Russo’s Our Time: Episode 1 - Lesbian & Gay History, February 16, 1983

31. Philip Glass interviewed on New Sounds by John Schaefer, January 6, 1985

32. ACT UP demonstration at City Hall, Andy Lanset reporting, March 28, 1989

33. Ladysmith Black Mambazo, August 30, 1987

34. Mayor David N. Dinkins and Nelson Mandela in New York, June 20, 1990

35. Snap!, The Power, Video Music Box with Ralph McDaniels, WNYC-TV, September 14, 1990

36. Audio from Heart of the City with John F. Kennedy, Jr., March 2, 1994

37. WNYC Independence Celebration, January 27, 1997

38. Kurt Vonnegut, Reporter for the Afterlife, 1998

39. World Trade Center montage, September 11, 2001

40. Brooke Gladstone, On the Media, December 20, 2002

41. Blackout announcement, August 14, 2003

42. David Garland, NYPR takeover of WQXR, October 8, 2009

43. RadioLab intro, February 20, 2010

44. John Schaefer, Soundcheck live from The Greene Space, December 15, 2011

45. Hurricane Sandy aircheck, October 29, 2012

46. Brian Lehrer Show, first broadcast from his apartment due to COVID-19, March 16, 2020

47. Protests, September 4, 2020

48. All of It, Allison Stewart, October 21, 2021

49. New Yorker Radio Hour, May 11, 2024

50. Notes From America with Kai Wright, May 19, 2024

51. Morning Edition, Michael Hill with Andy Lanset on the Anniversary of WNYC, July 8, 2023

Mayor David N. Dinkins, A Photo Medley

New Yorkers went to the polls on election day, November 7, 1989, and elected David N. Dinkins as the City’s first black Mayor. Inaugurated on January 1, 1990, Dinkins served one term, through December 31, 1993.

Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong, Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Collections of mayoral photographs in the Municipal Archives date to the administration of Fiorello LaGuardia. This week’s blog is a picture essay, highlighting images from the Dinkins mayoralty.

Mayor Dinkins’ staff included photographers who documented his daily activities and the surrounding environment. The pictures begin with the January 1, 1990 inauguration ceremony and continue through his next-to-last-day in office, on December 30, 1993, when he held an Open House at City Hall.

As required by the City Charter, the Municipal Archives accessioned the collection of prints and negatives, along with the paper records in 1994. They constitute approximately 35,000 images, and total 70 cubic feet.

Although the activities of earlier mayors were documented by city photographers, the practice of employing full-time dedicated photographers to document mayoral activities began with the administration of Mayor Koch in 1977. Koch’s photograph collection is also maintained in the Municipal Archives.

Mayor Dinkins’ photographers, Joan Vitale Strong, Diane Bondereff, and Ed Reed continued the same system as devised by Mayor Koch’s chief photographer, Holly Wemple. The process began with a request from a mayoral staffer, usually a person in the press office, submitting a form to the “Mayor’s Photo Unit.” The form specified the name, date, time, and place of the event as well as the intended use of the photographs, i.e. publication, or “personal.”

The photographers used 35mm SLR cameras. Although the bulk of the pictures were shot on black and white film, some of the more important events, such as the reception and ticker-tape parade for South African leader Nelson Mandela, were also documented in color.

The photographs taken at each event are filed in individual folders labeled with the date and subject. The folders contain negatives of the pictures, cut into strips, stored in archival sleeves; contact sheets; and often, prints of selected images in a variety of sizes. The photographers generally chose one or two of the best shots—usually the most flattering of the Mayor—to be printed and distributed to newspapers and/or other persons who appear in the pictures.

The folders also contain other useful information and related paperwork such as press releases, memos with further details about the event, background information, and the names of media outlets where prints were sent for publication.

The bulk of the pictures in the collection document “meet-and-greet" events and press conferences at City Hall and Gracie Mansion. The photographers also accompanied the Mayor on visits and appearances he made throughout the city.

Mayor Dinkins was visiting Japan when the first bombing took place at the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993. He toured the site on March 1, and three weeks later he invited students from P.S. 91 to visit with him in City Hall. The class, one of several public school groups visiting the World Trade Center during the February 26th bomb blast, was stuck in an elevator for nearly six hours.

Mayor David Dinkins and First Deputy Mayor Norman Steisel tour the site of the World Trade Center explosion, March 1, 1993. Photographer: Diane Bondareff. Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.  

Mayor David Dinkins speaks with a class from P.S. 91, City Hall, March 24, 1993. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong. Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. 

A tennis enthusiast, Mayor Dinkins negotiated an agreement with the United States Tennis Association that kept the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament at Flushing-Meadows. Mayor David N. Dinkins with John McEnroe (left) and Arthur Ashe (right), at the U.S. National Tennis Center, Queens, April 22, 1992. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong. Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor Dinkins’ establishment of the “Safe Streets, Safe City,” program was one of the highlights of his administration. Mayor Dinkins receives a gift from Loisaida Inc. at a visit to a youth center expanded with funding from the new program, Lower Eastside Action Program, December 6, 1990. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong, Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor David N. Dinkins celebrates the “Earth’s Birthday Party” with Carly Simon and a party of pre-schoolers who each released a butterfly that they had raised from caterpillars. April 20, 1990. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong, Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor Dinkins announces accessible bus and transit options with Anne Emerman, Commissioner of the Office for People with Disabilities, at the 125th Street subway station, June 29, 1990. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong, Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor Dinkins pays a courtesy call with Dalai Lama of Tibet, the Regent Hotel, September 11, 1990. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong, Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor Dinkins jams with Paul Simon at a press conference announcing free summer concerts, City Hall, July 28, 1991. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong, Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor Dinkins meets with graduates of the Volunteers of American Sidewalk Santa “school,” City Hall, December 24, 1990. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong, Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Mayor Dinkins helps serve Christmas dinner to members of the Grand Central Partnership Multi-Service Center, a drop-in site for the homeless, Grand Central Terminal, December 24, 1991. Photographer: Ed Reed, Mayor David Dinkins Photograph Collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Thank you, Mayor Dinkins

For two weeks at the end of every summer, tennis fans around the world look to the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow Park, Queens, for the annual US Open Tennis Tournament. And unlike most major sporting events that have been postponed, cancelled or drastically altered this year, the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, will take place, just as it always does, with one big exception—there will be no fans in attendance at the stadium. In a normal year, up to 50,000 spectators pack the arena each day of the tournament and generate an estimated $750 million in economic activity. 

Often chided in the press for his devotion to the game, it is Mayor David N. Dinkins we must thank for a hard-fought and farsighted deal he negotiated with the United States Tennis Association in 1993 that ensured the prestigious US Open Tennis Tournament would stay in New York City for at least twenty-five and potentially ninety-nine years.  

Mayor Dinkins with tennis champion Jennifer Capriati and Parks Commissioner Betsy Gotbaum in Central Park, August 21, 1990. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong. Mayor David N. Dinkins Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Tennis has a long history in New York City.  An English import, tennis courts first appeared in Staten Island 1874. By the early 1890s, tennis enthusiasts had 125 courts to choose from in Manhattan’s Central Park. The West Side Tennis Club which began in 1892 on Central Park West, migrated to 238th Street and Broadway in 1898, to 117th Street and Morningside Drive in 1902, and to Forest Hills, Queens in 1914. The West Side club in Forest Hills was the site of the United States Open tennis championships from 1915 to 1920 and again from 1924 to 1977. 

U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, men’s singles championship game, Forest Hills Stadium, Queens, N.Y., September 1937. WPA Federal Writers’ Project Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

By the 1970s, the USTA had tired of the lack of space and amenities at the exclusive Forest Hills club. In 1977 they moved a short distance in Queens to Flushing Meadow Park and agreed to reconfigure a 1964 World’s Fair-era arena that had been re-named for jazz legend and Queens resident Louis Armstrong in the early 1970s. Although the USTA continued to host the U.S. Open over the next decade there were rumblings of possibly moving the prestigious event out of New York City.

Soon after his inauguration as Mayor on January 1, 1990, Dinkins, a long-time tennis fan, along with Parks Department officials and the City’s Economic Development Corporation began negotiations with the USTA for a new deal. Formally announced in February 1991, it called for the USTA to build a new 23,500-seat stadium, renovate the existing Louis Armstrong Stadium, and create 38 new outdoor tennis courts. In return, the city would allow the association to enlarge its footprint in Flushing Meadow Park by an additional 21.6 acres to a total of 46.5 acres. The USTA would also create an $8 million endowment fund to finance improvements to the park.   

Tennis champions Arthur Ashe (left) and John McEnroe (right) join Mayor Dinkins to announce an agreement between the city and the United States Tennis Association that will keep the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament at the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, April 22, 1992. Photographer: Joan Vitale Strong. Mayor David N. Dinkins Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Not surprisingly, the proposal met with opposition; the taking of city park land for a private enterprise seemed the most significant of the complaints. But Dinkins persevered, and after another year of negotiations, he announced an agreement that would guarantee the U.S. Open tournament would remain in New York for at least for at least twenty-five and potentially ninety-nine years. Plus, the city would receive $400,000 a month in rent and a percentage of the center’s gross revenue. The USTA upped their investment to $172 million for the new 23,500-seat stadium adjacent to the existing arena. Construction would be financed by bonds issued through the Industrial Development Agency.

By all accounts it was a complex agreement, but as Carl Weisbrod, president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation observed to the New York Post: “To me, this an extremely good deal for New York City.” It would be another year before Dinkins and his administration received the needed approvals from the City Council, the State Legislature, and local Community Boards in Queens so the deal could be finalized. 

Mayor Dinkins and Billie Jean King at the TeamTennis clinic in Central Park, New York, August 20, 1992. Photographer: Edward Reed. Mayor David N. Dinkins Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.

Finally, on December 22, 1993, within days of his departure from City Hall, Mayor Dinkins inked his signature on the agreement. By then, Mayor-elect Rudolph Giuliani had voiced disapproval and urged the Mayor not to sign the long-term pact. But Dinkins went ahead anyway, remarking at the signing ceremony, “There are those who would say I should wait for him [Giuliani] to sign a 99-year lease.” Why?  So he can sign a 98-year lease?”

The new stadium, named for the late Arthur Ashe, the first African-American U.S. Open champion, opened on August 25, 1997. Dozens of past U.S. Open champions, including Pete Sampras, Monica Seles, Chris Evert, Rod Laver and John McEnroe were serenaded by Whitney Houston at the gala dedication ceremony. Every local politician attended:  all but one—Mayor Giuliani.  Still piqued by Dinkins’ refusal to defer to his demand  not to sign the agreement, Giuliani refused the USTA’s invitation to speak at the dedication. “I’m not going,” the Mayor said, explaining that it was the only way he could protest the 1993 lease singed by Mayor Dinkins over his protests just before the change of administrations.    

Once again, the Municipal Library’s vertical files help tell this story of what proved to be significant victory for Mayor Dinkins during a troubled administration. As Dinkins biographer Chris McNickle wrote in The Power of the Mayor: “The agreement Dinkins struck at the very end of his term with the United States Tennis Association to keep the U.S. Open in New York has served the city and tennis fans everywhere to this day, bringing prestige, national television coverage, and tourist dollars to the city every fall.”

Thank you, Mayor Dinkins.

https://www.archives.nyc/dinkins-gallery