This post is one in a quarterly series in which the New-York Historical Society highlights the collections for which detailed finding aids were published over the prior three months. All collections receive at least a summary description in our catalog, Bobcat. But many collections have such depth or are simply so large or complex that a fuller roadmap to them is warranted. Follow this link to the full text search engine for all N-YHS finding aids.
MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS
Ebenezer Old School Baptist Church Records, 1825–1961 (MS 3131), 1 linear foot
- Meeting minutes, trustees’ minutes, correspondence, financial records, and property deeds of the Ebenezer Old School (or Primitive) Baptist Church, organized in New York City in 1806. For half a century the church met at 154 West 36th Street, Manhattan (1850–1899), and later at 1216 Intervale Avenue, in the Bronx (1909–1925). The collection includes a postcard view of the Intervale Avenue meeting house, and a four-page history of the congregation. The earliest meeting minutes include a list of members (circa 1828–1850).
James Thomas Flexner Papers, 1920s-1990s (MS 220), 58 linear feet
- Drafts, galleys, scrapbooks, typescripts, index cards, research notes, subject files, and correspondence of James Thomas Flexner (1908-2003), the prolific author of twenty-six works on American art, history, and biography. Flexner was perhaps best known for his three-volume History of American Painting (1947-1962), and his four-volume George Washington: A Biography (1965-1972), the final installment of which won the 1973 National Book Award for Biography.
Alan C. Greenberg Scrapbooks, 1978-2014 (MS 3063), 5.5 linear feet
- 21 oversize volumes of documents tracing Alan C. “Ace” Greenberg’s life and career from 1978, when he became the chief executive of the financial firm Bear Stearns, until his death in 2014. The contents range across three general subject areas: the U.S. financial markets landscape of the late 1970s-early 2000s and Greenberg’s role in that market; Greenberg’s philanthropic endeavors and related awards and recognitions; and Greenberg’s social circles and personal interests.
James Hazen Hyde Papers, 1874-1940, 1953 (MS 319), 32 linear feet
- Collection consists of correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, and other papers of James Hazen Hyde (1876-1959). The papers are especially strong in two areas: documentation of Hyde’s efforts at expanding knowledge of French culture in America from circa 1894-1905 through the Cercle Français de l’Université Harvard and the Fédération de l’Alliance Francaise, and documentation of his activities as an expatriate living in France from 1906 to 1941. His correspondence includes a large collection of letters to and from his mother, Annie F. Hyde, from 1891-1921; documentation of Red Cross activities in France during World War I; and Hyde’s ongoing initiatives to expand Franco-American cultural exchange. His correspondence and diaries (which date from 1922-1940) include extensive references to Hyde’s social life, anecdotes and comments about prominent persons, especially diplomats, government officials, military officers, academics, journalists, industrialists, and those from cultural circles from France, the United States, and Britain. Much of the collection is in French.
James Duane Livingston III Family Papers, 1718-1999 (MS 3144), 1.25 linear feet
- Family history narratives, vital records, photographs, and genealogical research documenting the ancestry of James Duane Livingston III (1930-2019), a descendant on his father’s side from Robert Livingston (1654-1728), first lord of Livingston Manor on the Hudson River, and on his mother’s side from the Boullee family, German immigrants to New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada, in the mid-19th century.
Merritt Family Papers, 1800, 1850s–1910s, 1931 (MS 3145), 4 linear feet
- Collection of inscribed books, photograph albums, an autograph album, and a scrapbook, belonging to the Merritt family of Brooklyn and Great Neck, Long Island.
David Alan Richards Legal Papers, 1980, 2005, 2012 (MS 3143), 2 linear feet
- Proceedings handled by real estate lawyer Richards of the 1980 transfer of air rights above Tiffany and Company’s building at 727 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, to neighboring Trump Tower, then under construction, and for the 2005 and 2012 donations of the High Line, the abandoned elevated freight railway on Manhattan’s west side, by its owner, CSX Transportation, Inc., to the City of New York for use as a park.
And 4 more record groups from the ongoing Time, Inc. archives processing project:
- This record group focuses on public appearances made by Marshall Loeb while he was managing editor of Money. As part of his position, Loeb hosted “Your Dollars,” a daily radio show on the CBS Radio Network, and wrote the syndicated column “Your Money.” The record group is primarily scripts for “Your Dollars.” Additionally, there are scripts for Loeb’s other television and radio appearances and transcripts of his speeches and roundtable discussions.
- The Time Inc. Advertising Promotion and Circulation Promotion Files were assembled by the Time Inc. Archives and contain records from the advertising promotion and circulation promotion departments of many Time Inc. publications, including Fortune, Life, and Time. Records include lists of advertisers, advertising promotion files that document the company’s efforts to attract and retain advertisers and sell advertising space in its magazines, and circulation promotion files focusing on increasing Time Inc. magazine circulation and subscriptions, mainly through direct mail.
Time Inc. Books Group Records, 1963-1988, 2015 (MS 3009-RG 28), 28 linear feet
- The Book Division formed out of the Life Book Division in 1961 and was later renamed Time-Life Books. While Time-Life Books was Time Inc.’s main imprint and book publishing department, Time Inc. owned several other book publishing, subscription, or direct marketing ventures and companies, including Little, Brown and Company and the Book-of-the-Month Club, prompting the creation of an executive oversight group. The Books Group Records include office files from the group vice president documenting major changes and decisions for all departments, offices, and subsidiaries within the Books Groups; records from the Books and Arts Associates; samples of series from Time-Life Records, later renamed Time-Life Music; files on the Iran Publishing Project; and files from the Time-Life Travel Club.
Time Inc. Video Group Records, 1934-1989 (MS 3009-RG 41), 113 linear feet
- The Time Inc. Video Group Records contain materials documenting Time Inc.’s work in the cable, film, and television industries. The Video Group oversaw the departments and subsidiaries that worked directly in these industries. Included in this record group are materials created by the staff of Time-Life Films, Time-Life Video, Time-Life Broadcast/Time-Life Broadcast Inc., Time-Life Cable, Home Box Office (HBO), and Manhattan Cable Television (MCTV).
PHOTOGRAPHS AND GRAPHIC MATERIALS
Ari and Helene Bousbib collection of photographs, 1879-1996 (PR 384), 47 linear feet
- The collection consists of a wide variety of entertainment-themed publicity and on-set photography, portraiture, and photojournalism spanning the period from 1879-1996. Subjects depicted include Broadway theatrical productions, Hollywood film actors, artists, authors, aviators, newscasters, politicians, and other pop culture figures. Also depicted are New York sports, political activism, the 1939 World’s Fair, World War II, and other events.
- Family photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and ephemera documenting the lives and careers of Australian-American sisters Rose Stuart Cumming (1887–1968), a groundbreaking interior decorator; Dorothy Cumming (1894–1983), a silent film actress best known for playing the Virgin Mary in Cecil B. DeMille’s “King of Kings” (1927); and Eileen Cumming Cecil (1892–1982), a writer, advertising executive, and designer, who married noted rheumatologist and medical textbook author Dr. Russell LaFayette Cecil (1881–1965). Of note are the photographs of interiors decorated by Rose Cumming, a scrapbook of Florsheim Shoes advertisements by Eileen Cumming Associates, and a booklet of production stills from “King of Kings.” The collection includes a small group of textile samples made by Rose Cumming Chintzes that reproduce some of Rose’s original floral designs.
Patricia Evans collection of New York City photographic slides, 1957, 1959 (PR 407), 1 linear foot
- About 107 color photographic slides, primarily of New York City. The bulk are from 1957; 9 are from 1959. The images include views from the Empire State Building and from a Hudson River ferry, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Central Park, Chrysler Building, the United Nations, an Automat display, and the Battery, Wall Street, and other lower Manhattan locations. About 9 are of Bear Mountain State Park.
This post is by Larry Weimer, Head of Archival Processing, and Holly Deakyne, Time Inc. Project Archivist.
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