archives.nypl.org -- American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society records (original) (raw)

Collection includes minutes of trustees' monthly meetings, and of annual meetings of the Society, 1911-1971; annual reports, 1898-1926; record books, 1898-1926, containing additional minutes, correspondence of secretaries and presidents, reports, New York State legislative documents, clippings, printed material, blueprints, maps, and photographs; minutes, reports, correspondence, and other records, 1911-1939, of committees that administered sites under the Society's custodianship; miscellaneous financial documents, 1930s-1960s; general files, 1930s-1960s, consisting largely of correspondence; issues of the Society's bulletin, Scenic and Historic America, 1929-1938; two books, A Narrative of the Life of Mary Jemison, and Philipse Manor Hall at Yonkers, N.Y., published by the Society, containing heavy annotations for the 1925 editions; and minutes, correspondence and other documents, 1924-1939, of the State Council of Parks (N.Y.), on which the Society was represented. Robert Moses was chairman of the Council and some of his correspondence is included. Scenic and historic sites treated include Letchworth Park, Stony Point Battlefield Reservation, John Boyd Thatcher Park, John William Draper Park, Hamilton Grange, and Philipse Manor Hall, all located in New York State and under the custodianship of the Society.|||Also discussed are Niagara Falls, Palisades Interstate Park, the Octagon House in Washington, D.C., the Morris-Jumel Mansion in New York City, Storm King Mountain (site of the Consolidated Edison power plant in upstate New York), and post-World War I reconstruction in France.

The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society records are arranged in eleven series:

• 1911-1971
  Five boxes
  Minutes, 1911-1971 (typed, with published minutes for 1911-1927), of regular monthly meetings of the Society's Board of Trustees and annual meetings of the Society. Minutes of various committees are included.
• 1898-1926
  Nine boxes
  The series consists of seventeen record books, numbered one through eighteen. There is no gap in the records although volume 18 is missing. The volumes contain minutes of trustees' monthly meetings, annual meetings, and meetings of various committees; lists of officers and trustees; by-laws and charters; correspondence of secretaries and presidents (including the founder and first president, Andrew H. Green); reports; New York State legislative documents; clippings; circulars; brochures; dues and membership forms; blueprints, maps, photographs showing scenic and historic sites with which the Society was concerned; and accounts. These relate to the administration of sites under the Society's custodianship, sites not under its custodianship, but with which it was concerned, and a wide variety of other Society matters.
• 1900-1939
  Four boxes
  Committees were charged with the oversight of the administration of scenic and historic sites for which the Society was acting as custodian. Records consists of committee minutes; monthly reports form park directors, superintendents, or caretakers; and related correspondence, photographs, maps, blueprints, visitor statistics, legal documents, and printed material. Generally, these relate to the maintenance and operation of the sites and, to a lesser extent, to the acquisition of sites. Some records from other, similar, committees can be found scattered throughout the collection.
• 1930s-1960s
  Six boxes
  These files are arranged alphabetically by subject and consist largely of correspondence. Clippings, printed materials, and miscellaneous documents are also included. The files concern a wide variety of topics of concern to the Society.
• 1951-1968
  One box
  This series consists of files found with the heading "reserve" on the folders. These files contain basically the same types of documents on the same general range of topics as the general files.
• 1930s-1960s
  Four boxes
  This series contains auditors' reports, drafts of financial statements, ca. 1959-1960s; and miscellaneous correspondence, accounts, notes, tax documents, bills, and invoices, ca. 1930s-1960s. These relate to contributions to the Society, purchases made by and from the Society, taxes, city and federal tax-exempt status, and general financial matters. Two mailing books, listing recipients of insured mail, 1965-1966, are also included.
• 1895-1927
  Five boxes
  The series includes published annual reports, 1896-1925; typescript annual reports, 1926-1927. The report form 1922 is missing. More annual reports can be found scattered throughout the collection. At the front of the first volume is material from 1895 including a memorial to the New York State legislature from the Society's trustees; act of incorporation; by-laws; minutes of an April 6, 1895 meeting at which the first president, Andrew H. Green, and officers were elected.
  A complete run of the annual reports is available in the Library on microfilm *ZAN-H349 [1st]-30th; [1896]-1930.
• 1929-1938
  One box
  Nine issues of the Society's bulletin, which came out several times a year, 1929-1938.
• One box
  The series contains two books: A Narrative of the Life of Mary Jemison: the white woman of the Genessee, by James Everett Seaver (New York: American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 1918) and Philipse Manor Hall at Yonkers, N.Y. : the site, the building, and its occupants by Edward Hagaman Hall (New York: American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, 1912). Both volumes contain many revisions made in preparation for their 1925 editions. The 1925 edition would be the 22nd edition of the Mary Jemison book and the second edition of the Philipse Manor Hall book.
• 1924-1930
  Two boxes
  The State Council of Parks, a New York State body, was composed of representatives of New York State park commissions, the State Historian's office, the Conservation Commission, and the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. Robert Moses, as President of the Long Island Park Commission, was chairman of the Council during the period of these records.
  Included are minutes, with related correspondence (including letters to and from Moses), reports, New York State legislative documents, clippings, accounts, and printed material.
• One box and one oversized folder
  The series consists of an embosser, a plate from a framed portrait of Andrew H. Green, and a copy of a photographic portrait of Green.