Guide to the Records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 Collection No
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NEW YORK CITY MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES 31 CHAMBERS ST., NEW YORK, NY 10007 Guide to the records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 Collection No. 0013 Original processing by unknown archivist, date unknown. Additional processing and description by staff archivist Alexandra M. Hilton, 2015; revised by Alexandra M. Hilton, 2018. NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 John F. Hylan, Mayor of New York, 1918-1925 1 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 Summary Record Group: RG 001.JFH: Office of the Mayor, John F. Hylan Title of the Collection: Office of the Mayor, John F. Hylan records Creator(s): Hylan, John F. (John Francis), 1868-1936; New York (N.Y.). Office of the Mayor Date: 1912-1925, bulk 1918-1925 Abstract: John F. Hylan was the 96th Mayor of New York City from 1918 to 1925. This collection contains the material generated by the daily workings of the Office of the Mayor during his two- term mayoral administration. Collection #: REC 0013 Extent: 267 cubic feet (502 boxes and 34 volumes) Language: English Physical Location: Portions of this collection are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. Requests to view offsite material should be sent to [email protected] at least two weeks prior to your research date to allow for their transfer to 31 Chambers St. Repository: New York City Municipal Archives, Department of Records and Information Services, 31 Chambers St., New York, NY 10007 Access and Use: Collection is open for research. Patrons are required to use microfilm for those series for which it is available. Advance notice is required for using original material. Please contact [email protected] to arrange access. Preferred citation: Identification of item, date; Office of the Mayor, John F. Hylan records, 1918- 1925; REC 0013; Series name; box number; folder number; Municipal Archives, City of New York Processing note: This collection was partially processed by unknown persons at an unknown date. Additional processing and finding aid by staff archivist Alexandra M. Hilton in 2015 with revisions by Alexandra M. Hilton in 2018. 2 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 Key Terms Names Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Company Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company Hylan, John F. (John Francis), 1868-1936 Independent Subway System Interborough Rapid Transit Company New York (N.Y.). Office of the Mayor Tammany Hall (Political organization) Tammany Society, or Columbian Order (New York, N.Y.) Places New York (N.Y.) New York (N.Y.) -- Politics and government – 1898-1951 Subjects Educational change Local transit -- New York (State) -- New York Mayors -- New York (State) -- New York Municipal government -- New York (State) -- New York Municipal services Public radio Subways -- New York (State) -- New York Occupations Government employees Legislators Mayors Material Types Annual reports Business correspondence Municipal ordinances Personal correspondence Proclamations 3 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 Biographical/Historical Information John Francis Hylan (1868-1936) was the 96th Mayor of New York City from 1918 to 1925. He was born on a small, upstate farm in Hunter, New York, in the Catskills, on April 20, 1868. His father was an Irish immigrant and Civil War veteran; he served as a corporal in the 120th New York Infantry. His mother was of French and Welsh descent. Hylan and his siblings spent most of their childhood working on the family farm but were able to attend school for about five months a year. At the age of 19, Hylan moved to New York City. He started out as a railroad track walker for the Brooklyn elevated railroad system. Once he felt financially secure, he returned home to marry his childhood sweetheart, Marion O’Hara, and the two moved to Bushwick. The couple later had one daughter, Virginia. In 1891, he was promoted to a locomotive engineer on the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad (later known as the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT)). At night he took classes at Long Island Business College and New York Law School and would study during the day in the locomotive cab, a habit that allegedly led to his firing after taking a curve too fast, endangering a supervisor near the tracks. While his railroad career was cut short, Hylan passed the bar in 1897 and began a small law practice. In 1906, then-Mayor McClellan appointed him as one of the two city magistrates for the Borough of Brooklyn, until he resigned in 1914 to accept the Governor’s appointment as a county judge in Kings County. It was here that Tammany Hall tapped him as a dark-horse Democratic candidate for Mayor. Newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst, avidly promoted Hylan’s candidacy, as the two were both eager to install municipal ownership of utilities. Hylan won the 1917 election, defeating the reformer candidate and then-Mayor, John P. Mitchel, and won reelection in 1921. Not surprisingly, a particular focus of the Hylan administration was transportation. During Hylan’s first year as Mayor, a Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) train on the Brighton Beach line derailed and left 93 passengers dead. Already financially struggling, the BRT became insolvent, eventually restructuring as the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). Concurrently, the Interborough Rapid Transit System (IRT) was preparing to increase fares to fund track expansion. Hylan, a staunch defender of the five-cent fare, wanted to remove subway transportation from private interests entirely, so he formed a transit commission to begin conceptualizing a city-owned and operated subway system. On March 14, 1925, during his last year in office, the city-run Independent Subway System (ISS or IND) was established with a groundbreaking ceremony for its first line at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 128th Street. A fully city-run subway system was not established for another 15 years when the ISS merged with the BMT and IRT. 4 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 Highlights of his administration include building and repairing schools and hospitals; starting a system of terminal markets to reduce food costs; and securing New York City’s place as the healthiest city for a baby to be born. Plans to modernize and develop the city’s waterfront began. He constructed a long-anticipated boardwalk at Coney Island and opened it with much fanfare. A new Mayor’s Reception Committee began its formal welcoming of notable guests and foreign dignitaries to the city. One of the first municipal radio stations, WNYC, went on air. An expanded Fire Department installed new fire alarm systems and established a Bureau of Fire Investigation to operate 24-hours a day. There was over a 33% decrease in rates of murder, assault, and robbery by the end of Hylan’s administration. In 1925, Hylan sought reelection for a third term, but lost the seat to fellow Tammany man and New York State Senator, James J. Walker. He attempted to secure the mayoralty once more in 1929 but ultimately withdrew. In 1930, Mayor Walker, in his second term, appointed Hylan to the Children’s Court bench. On January 12, 1936, after a brief illness, John F. Hylan died at his home in Forest Hills, Queens. He is buried in St. John Cemetery, Middle Village. Bibliography Feinman, Mark S. 1999, 2000. "History of the Independent Subway." nycsubway.org. https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/History_of_the_Independent_Subway. Hylan, John F. 1922. Autobiography of John Francis Hylan, Mayor of New York. Authorized ed. New York: The Rotary Press. Hylan, John F. 1925. "Important Public Improvements and Achievements by the Municipal and Borough Governments of the City of New York, 1918-1925." New York City. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1936. "City's Flags at Half-Mast for Ex-Mayor Hylan - Rites Slated for Wednesday." January 13. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1906. "Hylan and Geismar Win." October 25. The New York Times. 1917. "Tammany's Candidate for Mayor." August 19. 5 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 Scope and Content Note This collection consists of the records produced by the mayoral administration of John F. Hylan. The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence sent and received by the Mayor's office from City departments and agencies related to the daily work of the agencies, as well as correspondence to and from the Mayor's Office to members of the general public. A series of subject files reflect a wide range of post-World War I public interest issues and highlight some of the concerns addressed by the administration. Materials include brochures, clippings, correspondence, ephemera, financial documents, legislative files, memoranda, official messages, orders, press releases, proceedings, proclamations, reports, resolutions, scrapbooks, speeches, and transcripts. Arrangement The John F. Hylan records are divided into six series: Series I: Departmental Correspondence Received Series II: Departmental Correspondence Sent Series III: Subject Files Series IV: General Correspondence Received Series V: General Correspondence Sent Series VI: Scrapbooks 6 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 7 NYC Municipal Archives Guide to the records of Mayor John F. Hylan, 1918-1925 Container List Series I: Departmental correspondence received Date(s): 1917-1925, bulk 1918-1925 Extent: 82 cubic feet in 164 boxes Scope and Content: This series consists of the departmental correspondence received by the Office of the Mayor during the Hylan administration. The material details the daily work of city agencies and contains letters, memoranda, reports and financial records, amongst others. Correspondence also exists between the courts and various local and state governmental bodies.