Our Purpose
Certificate of Incorporation:
"To promote the collection and preservation of matters of historic value with special emphasis on the Greater New York area; to help the existing Division of Archives of the City of New York, or its successor in interest to reclaim all records of the City of New York and the various villages and towns within Greater New York wherever they may now be found; to rescue all ancient documents dealing with the life in this region (which are now suffering from deterioration and are in danger of destruction); to resurrect all artifacts or memorabilia dealing with the life of the American Indian as it existed in the Greater New York region prior to European settlement; to aid established institutions which provide access to students, visitors and scholars who may wish to learn about the history and background of New York."
-Paul O'Dwyer
Pictures from the Past
William Sherman monument
Tillary street sewer - 1922
coney island boardwalk - 1922
p.s. 47 reading class - 1939
Kennedy Ticker Tape Parade - 1960
Brooklyn Bridge Painters - 1914
Yankee Stadium - 1962
Marriage certificate of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt - 1905
MLK recieves citation from mayor Robert F. Wagner - 1964
Subway exit - 1935-1941
Clinton's Inauguration - 1993
Central Park Zoo - 1913-1914
“To bring together the records of the past and to house them in buildings where they will be preserved for the use of men and women in the future, a Nation must believe in three things. It must believe in the past. It must believe in the future. It must, above all, believe in the capacity of its own people so to learn from the past so that can gain in judgment in creating their own future. Among democracies, I think through all the recorded history of the world, the building of permanent institutions like libraries and museums for the use of all the people flourishes.
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