Collection: Edward Joseph Logue papers (original) (raw)

Collection

Call Number: MS 959

Scope and Contents

The Edward J. Logue Papers consists of correspondence, memos, reports, designs, photographs, tapes, clippings, printed material and miscellaneous files relating to the private life and professional career of Edward J. Logue lawyer, urban administrator and planner, and educator. The papers date from 1908 to 2005, with the bulk dates being 1949 to 1967. In order to document the phases of Logue's professional career and to accommodate his own filing arrangement, the papers have been organized into ten series and seven additions.

SERIES I. consists of Edward Logue's personal correspondence from 1933-1951, his student papers from Yale University, and legal correspondence and notes from his work with the Yale Employees Union, Local 142, and with M. H. Goldstein, a Philadelphia labor lawyer. These files help to portray the early political attitudes and interests of Logue, and his material relating to union activities at Yale (folders 109-123) provide an interesting view of labor relations at the university during the early postwar years.

The bulk of correspondence falls between 1943-1949. This material is generally routine, although significant correspondents include: the American Veterans Committee, to which Logue was a delegate in the late 1940s; Chester Bowles, whom Logue would serve in India and Connecticut; and M. H. Goldstein, a lawyer who hired Logue directly out of Yale in 1948.

Family correspondence for these years consists of letters with his mother, Resina, and siblings Frank, Gordon, John, and Ellen. The letters of Margaret DeVane Logue are also contained here. They are arranged alphabetically, under her name, and include correspondence with family members and school friends from Smith College. Letters between Edward and Margaret Logue frequently contain comments on topical political developments.

Files from Logue's student days at Yale are organized under the heading "Yale University," and include a number of student papers, course notes, and research materials from law school classes. Student papers often focus on the topics of labor relations and labor organization, and provide a link to Logue's union activities. Logue also compiled a small quantity of printed material and photographs (folders 125-135) on labor and miscellaneous topics.

SERIES II. consists of files from Logue's service in Connecticut state politics during the years 1949-1951. It is divided into two sections: Legal Aid to Governor Bowles and Assistant Legislative Commissioner, State Senate. As an aid to Governor Bowles, Logue drafted bills, helped to prepare the legislative program, and worked on the re-election campaign. In his service to the Democratic majority in the state senate Logue continued to help draft legislative programs while also preparing press releases and materials for Democratic state senators.

This series contains many of the press releases, bills (and drafts), and research materials compiled by Logue. Correspondence files contain routine requests for data and information relating to pertinent legislative matters.

SERIES III. consists of correspondence, memos, photographs, and printed material maintained by Logue while serving in India (1952-1953) as an assistant to Ambassador Chester Bowles. These materials reflect the importance of Logue's role as a foreign service officer on the ambassador's personal staff. Logue was involved with program planning, staff meetings, and the coordination of work with the U.S. Information Agency and the Point Four Program. Logue also worked closely with Ambassador Bowles on the sensitive issue of the Technical Cooperation Association, a U.S. agency whose functions and duties proved to be a source for debate among U.S. and Indian officials. Correspondence files for Wolf Ladejinsky, as well as items in the section of printed materials, reveal an official interest and activity on agricultural matters in India.

Logue compiled copies of Ambassador Bowles' outgoing correspondence with a great many U.S. and Indian figures. Among the correspondents are: Dean Acheson, Sherman Adams, George Allen, John Bailey, William Benton, John Foster Dulles, Dwight Eisenhower, John K. Galbraith, Bourke B. Hickenlooper, Paul Hoffman, Hubert Humphrey, Donald Kennedy, Wolf Ladejinsky, Walter Lippmann, George C. McGhee, Lester Markel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Richard Park, Walter Reuther, Nelson Rockefeller, John Sparkman, and Harry S. Truman. The Truman correspondence includes one incoming letter. In letters with relatives and friends in the United States Logue discussed the nature of U.S.-Indian relations, the accomplishments of Ambassador Bowles, and the political situation in the United States. He did this with individuals such as William Benton, Douglas Ensminger, Hubert Humphrey, Penn Kimball, and Richard Park.

Printed material in this series consists of both United States and Indian publications. Indian materials include reports from agricultural committees and planning commissions as well as studies of provinces such as Hyderabad, Madras, Mysore and Uttar-Pradesh. American publications include items from the Department of State (1951-1953), the U.S. Educational Foundation (1952-1953), and the U.S. Information Service (1950-1953). Unclassified surveys of the Indian press during 1952-1953 (folders 139-144) are also found here. Additional printed material relating to India is also in SERIES V and VI.

SERIES IV. consists of personal correspondence and material, not maintained with Logue's office files, from 1952-1960. This series includes files for the Democratic National Committee (1952) which Logue apparently acquired in 1953 as he immersed himself in local, state, and national politics. All correspondence and items relating directly to Logue's service in New Haven, Connecticut (1954-1961) are organized in SERIES V.

One important topic discussed in this series is the political future of Chester Bowles. Correspondence with William Benton, Chester Bowles, John Bailey, and Eleanor Roosevelt all focus on this topic. Also during this period Logue continued to monitor the status of U.S.-Indian relations through correspondence with Douglas Ensminger and the Ford Foundation. Logue also participated in private political consulting work for the Connecticut Council of Industrial Organizations (CCIO). Correspondence with Mitchell "Mike" Sviridoff and the CCIO (folders 25-29; 109) document Logue's consulting efforts.

Other correspondents of note in this series include Wolf Ladejinsky, Walter Reuther, Eugene Rostow, and Adam Yarmolinsky. Logue consulted with Ladejinsky on the latter's status in the Department of State. Logue also advised Walter Reuther on his 1956 visit to India. Adam Yarmolinsky discussed the possibility of a Washington D.C. position for Logue while Eugene Rostow corresponded with Logue on political matters of common interest.

SERIES V. consists of files relating to Logue's service as executive secretary to Mayor Richard C. Lee (1954-1955) and as development administrator for the New Haven Redevelopment Agency (1955-1961). The great bulk of these files relates to Logue's work as development administrator. This series reveals the scope of New Haven's redevelopment program and the significant role Logue played in that effort. Logue's many duties and responsibilities, some administratively sanctioned and others merely absorbed through mayoral dispensation, are well documented. His complete control and extensive coordinating powers gave New Haven's redevelopment projects a constant, driving force. For a scholarly analysis of New Haven politics at this time, see Raymond E. Wolfinger's Politics of Progress. An early draft of this Ph.D. dissertation, and subsequent book, is arranged in SERIES VIII.

This series is divided into two sections: Office Files and Clippings and Printed Material. Office Files are further arranged into General and Project sub-sections. Office Files - General (1943-1959) contains the bulk of daily memoranda and office material generated and received by the Redevelopment Agency. Office Files - Projects (1943-1961) contains materials relating to specific redevelopment projects. These two sub-sections are not mutually exclusive, however, and both should be consulted for information.

Office Files - General reveals the complex and bureaucratic structure of New Haven's city politics as faced by the New Haven Redevelopment Agency. These files also indicate the multi-faceted responsibilities met by Logue who, as administrative head of the agency, was responsible for the coordination of activities among his staff, the City Plan Commission, the Traffic Department, the Parking Authority, and the Bureau of Environmental Sanitation. Logue also served as chairman of the Code Enforcement Committee and thus held responsibilities for coordinating various building, municipal, and fire codes. A great many city departments, offices, and commissions, and officials are represented through correspondence in these files.

Office Files - General also contains material on a variety of other topics. Files representing action on budgetary and financial matters, redevelopment programs elsewhere, pertinent national and state legislation, local zoning problems, and the re-election campaigns of Mayor Lee are present. The thorough and successful effort to secure federal funds from the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), a major asset to the New Haven program, is documented. Extensive Citizens Action Commission (CAC) files detail the attempt to acquire and maintain public support for the redevelopment program and correspondence with Maurice E. H. Rotival includes material on many of the redevelopment projects he participated in as city planner.

Additional files contain clippings and printed material on redevelopment efforts in the Connecticut cities of Hartford, Meriden, and Waterbury as well as on the municipalities of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. Logue's participation in national organizations is evident in files for the American Municipal Association (AMA), the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), and the National Housing Conference (NHC). Further evidence of Logue's national awareness of urban problems can be seen in files for "Renewal Legislation," which contain material on proposed laws affecting the municipal scene. Chronological files, arranged at the end of theOffice Files-Generalsub-section, contain routine memoranda which may or may not have been filed in the one or more appropriate topical fides.

Office Files-Projects(1943-1961) contains material primarily on redevelopment efforts from 1955-1961, although background information does date to 1943. These files permit a specific redevelopment project, such as the Church Street Redevelopment Project, to be seen in its many components. Correspondence and material detail efforts in planning, land acquisition, litigation, private investment, rehabilitation, relocation, financing, and construction. These files represent the essence of New Haven's redevelopment program, that is, the concrete change in the face of New Haven.

The section ofClippings and Printed Materialcontains newspaper accounts of the New Haven redevelopment program from 1951-1955. These clippings are complemented by scrapbooks in SERIES X and present an overall picture of the effect and progress of renewal efforts. The printed material includes miscellaneous publications relating to the city of New Haven and elsewhere.

SERIES VI. contains correspondence, memos, reports, maps, plans, photographs, printed material, and miscellaneous files compiled by Edward Logue as development administrator for the Boston Redevelopment Authority (B.R.A.), as an urban consultant, and as an educator. This series is divided into the following sections:Agendas and Minutes(1958-1967);Submissions(1966-1967);Office Files(1954-1967); andPrinted Material(1959-1969).

Agendas(1963-1967)and Minutes(1958-1967) details the items of business discussed by the B.R.A. and its board at weekly meetings. Among the types of items given consideration at these meetings were the approval or rejection of specific actions regarding redevelopment projects, i.e., the acquisition of land, the awarding of contracts, and the choice of personnel to head such projects. Many of the individual items are annotated, with the final decision of the board noted. Those files provide a good overview of the scope of Boston's urban renewal during this period. The files are chronologically arranged.

Submissions(folders 34-131) is files of the many proposals presented to the B.R.A. board by Logue and his staff. These files relate directly toAgendas and Minutes, as they involve the items discussed and debated at meetings. These submissions outline in detail the proposals, contracts, and recommendations acted on by the B.R.A. board.

Office Filescontains data on the several redevelopment projects run by the B.R.A., and on the many city, state, and federal offices and agencies which interacted with the B.R.A., and important individuals and organizations whose interests and activities coincided with the B.R.A. The following list represents individual redevelopment projects undertaken by the B.R.A. during these years:

  1. Back Bay
  2. Capital Improvements
  3. Charlestown
  4. Copley Square
  5. Dorchester
  6. Downtown
  7. East Boston
  8. Fenway
  9. Government Center
  10. Inner Belt
  11. Jamaica Plain
  12. Jamaicaway
  13. Madison Park
  14. Mattapan
  15. New York Streets
  16. North Harvard
  17. Pearl Street
  18. Roxbury
  19. South Boston
  20. South End
  21. South Station
  22. Washington Park
  23. Waterfront
  24. Waterfront-Faneuil Hall

Many of these projects represent major headings in the series ofOffice Files. They are further subdivided according to the specific components of the project, such as: general (correspondence and memos), land acquisition, rehabilitation, relocation, and prospective developers. Each project met with its own concerns, however. The files for the Government Center Project, perhaps the most complicated redevelopment project attempted by the B.R.A., include several files for each of the individual lad packages — Parcels 2, 2-E, … 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 … — involved in the project. These files are similar in nature although much larger in quantity than project files for the New Haven Redevelopment Agency in SERIES V.

Arranged alphabetically under the headings "Boston, City of" and "Massachusetts, Commonwealth of" are many of the municipal and state departments with which the B.R.A. interacted. They include the Boston City Council, Finance Commission, Fire Department, Housing Authority, Law Department, Mayor's Office, Public Facilities Department, Public Works Department, Real Property Department, and Traffic and Parking Department. State (commonwealth) departments include: the Department of the Auditor, of Commerce and Development, of Public Works, the Governor's Office, the Massachusetts Port Authority, the Massachusetts Transportation Commission, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, and the Office of the Attorney General.

Other important agencies which worked in conjunction with the B.R.A. were Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD), the Ford Foundation, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), and the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. Ford Foundation files include materials on India, specifically the Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Organization (CMPO) 1962-1964, in addition to information on Boston. Logue was a member of the Ford Foundation's Advisory Committee on Community Development for Calcutta and was familiar with Indian city affairs from his work with Chester Bowles. Included in the CMPO files are copies of confidential Bowles correspondence to Indian officials.

Also organized under the headingOffice Filesis correspondence with individual members of the B.R.A.'s board — James G. Colbert, George P. Condakes, and Francis J. Lally, — and such public figures as Chester Bowles, Edward M. Kennedy, and Richard C. Lee. Under the sub-section "Correspondence, General" are routine B.R.A. letters and memos apparently not appropriate for any topical file (folders 371-384). "Correspondence, Personal" is the sub-section which contains Logue's correspondence with family and friends during these years (folders 385-466). It includes letters with Mrs. Logue, his brothers, and his sister on family matters as well as routine exchanges on holidays and birthdays.

Speech and article files (folders 1204-1225) include materials both by and about Logue. Much of the related correspondence is routine, with requests for Logue to speak and his subsequent replies generating the bulk of this material. Private consulting projects are represented in two groups of files. Logue headed two studies in New York City. The Bedford-Stuyvesant Renewal Project (folders 955-956) was prompted by Robert F. Kennedy, and Mayor John Lindsay initiated the Housing and Neighborhood Improvement Study (folders 958-961).

Another important aspect of Logue's career is represented by files for seminars at colleges and universities and by teaching materials for courses he directed. Three primary examples of seminars at which Logue contributed can be found for Boston College (folders 287-288), Harvard University (folders 716-718), and Princeton University (folders 1046-1048). Teaching materials are organized under the heading "Yale Law School." Logue assisted Professor Quintin Johnstone in grading student papers and exams which argued the legality and propriety of various B.R.A. actions. These student papers have remained part of Logue's files.

Photographs (folders 1012-1033) provide an interesting pictorial component to this series. Logue can be seen delivering speeches, in his office, presenting redevelopment plans and models, and at construction sites with Mayor John Collins. In these photographs both Logue and the B.R.A. assume a physical reality that complements their enormous presence as a force behind the redevelopment of Boston.

Printed Materialconsists of publications produced by the B.R.A., other Boston departments and agencies, and unidentified sources. This section includes studies by the B.R.A. Planning Department, publicity items for individual redevelopment projects, and a major proposal,General Plan for the City of Boston 1965/1975(box 270). Miscellaneous items relating to New Haven and India are also arranged in this section.

SERIES VII. contains files relating to Logue's unsuccessful Democratic primary campaign for mayor of Boston in 1967. Logue was one of several candidates who entered the race when his mentor in Boston, John Collins, decided not to seek re-election. The field of candidates included eventual winner Kevin White, Lousie Day Hicks, John W. Sears, Christopher A. Janella and others. The series is divided into two sections:Campaign FilesandPost-Campaign Files

Campaign Filesincludes correspondence, clippings, issue papers, photographs, tapes, and miscellaneous material relating directly to the 1967 campaign. Voting studies and volunteer/supporter lists provide a limited insight into the campaign effort. There is no indication of the political thinking and strategy of the Logue campaign in these files. Photographs reflect the modern publicity-media aspect of political campaigns, as Logue is pictured greeting voters around Boston, at political functions, with his family, and in formally posed portraits.

Post-Campaign Filesfocuses on Logue's activities in the aftermath of his defeat. The two main areas of interest here involve attempts to erase his campaign deficit through benefit functions and Logue's appointment as visiting Maxwell Professor of Government at Boston University. Logue held the teaching post until his acceptance of the opportunity to head the Urban Development Corporation in 1968.

The mayoral campaign of 1967 was one of the most emotional and hotly-contested races in recent Boston history. This series adds little new information on the campaign, however. There is little or no substantive material on the dominant issues of busing, integration, or the alleged election law violations that dominated the campaign. Even the Logue concept of "scatteration" the total (physical, economic, social, etc.) spreading of minorities within the classes of society, not just in isolated areas and locales, is not enunciated here. The best sources for information on these and other related topics in the papers are the loose clippings here and the scrapbooks in SERIES X, numbers 24-26, which are available on microfilm. The scrapbooks provide a good day-to-day account of the campaign.

SERIES VIII. consists of files pertaining to Logue's service as president and executive officer of the Urban Development Corporation (U.D.C.) of New York state (1968-1975). This series contains the following sections:General-Inactive(1968-1971);Consultants-Inactive(1968-1971);Consultants-General(1969-1972);Consultants-Select(1968-1973);Management Information Systems (MIS)(1968-1971);Personal Correspondence(1968-1973);Personnel-Inactive(1968-1969);Topical Files(1965-1974);Fort Lincoln New Town Project(1967-1969);Washington D.C.(1964-1967); andU.D.C. Clippings(1969-1975).

The most interesting and informative sections in this series areConsultants-Select, Topical Files, Fort Lincoln New Town Project, andU.D.C. Clippings. Among the urban planners, architects, designers, and experts hired as consultants by the U.D.C. were David A. Crane (1968-1972); Eastdil, Inc. (1968-1969); Gibbs and Hill (1970); Robert Gladstone Associates (1968-1970); Mary Hommann (1969-1971); Llewelyn, Davis, Weeks, Forestier-Walker, and Barr (1968-1973); I.M. Pei and Partners (1969); Raymond, May, Parish, and Pine (1968-1972); H. Ralph Taylor (1969-1970); Urhan America Inc. (1968-1969); and William L. C. Wheaton (1970-1972). Files for these individuals and companies represent less than ten per cent of theConsultants-Selectfiles.

Topical Filesconsists of files on a multitude of subjects, municipalities, and special areas of interest to Logue and the U.D.C. These files include correspondence, printed material, clippings, and reports. Important materials for a number of U.D.C. projects are filed under: Adirondack Park, "Boston Financial Housing Partnerships I," Erie County, Lysander New Community, Putnam County, the Regional Plan Association for the Mid-Hudson Area, and the Suffolk County Charter Revision Committee. Files also exist for many of the cities where the U.D.C. undertook projects: Albany, Amherst, Baldwinsville, Binghampton, Buffalo, East Rochester, Kingston, Long Beach, Newburgh, New York City, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, and Utica. New York City files contain detailed material on the topics of Brooklyn, Harlem, Housing, Manhattan, and Welfare Island.

Two other topical files of interest are "Legislation" (folders 187-190), which consists of copies of the acts that established the U.D.C. and "Wolfinger, Raymond E." (folders 228-231). The Wolfinger files consist of a draft of "Politics of Progress" (1969), a twelve chapter work on the New Haven Redevelopment Program. The concluding chapter is missing from this draft, however.

Materials from outside consulting projects were organized as separate sections, and this arrangement has been maintained. TheFort Lincoln New Town Projectfiles document the ambitious attempt to redevelop a National Training School site in northeast Washington D.C. for low-cost, moderate-income, and luxury housing. Logue helped orchestrate planning for this project and was reunited with Thomas C. Appelby worked under Logue in New Haven, and succeeded him there as development administrator, before moving on to the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency. These files contain copies of contracts, correspondence, reports, and color slides which detail Logue's consulting effort quite impressively (folders 232-261).

Far less material is available for another Washington D.C. study Logue participated in immediately prior to the Fort Lincoln Project in 1968. Mayor Walter E. Washington of Washington D.C. engaged a group of twenty urban affairs experts to study the problems of housing in his city. Logue accepted one of the unsalaried positions in the group which reported its non-binding proposals to the mayor. Only scattered clippings and printed material are present in the files (folders 262-264).

The only section in this series which dates beyond 1973 is Urban Development Corporation (U.D.C.)Clippings. These files date from 1969 and extend through December, 1975. They detail many of the individual community and city projects undertaken by the U.D.C. Most importantly, they provide the only information on the resignation of Logue from his U.D.C. post in February 1975. Logue submitted his resignation at the urging of newly-elected governor Hugh Carey, just three weeks before the U.D.C. defaulted on one hundred million dollars worth of bond anticipation notes. The Moreland Act Committee, empowered by Governor Carey, investigated the U.D.C. and its operations that same year. The committee questioned several witnesses including: Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who as Governor of New York had created the U.D.C.; former U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell, who helped Rockefeller design the. U.D.C.; Governor Malcolm Wilson, who succeeded Rockefeller in office; and Logue, himself, who staunchly defended his conduct and the operations of the U.D.C. These files include newspaper accounts of testimonies which appeared in several papers.

As of this date, the bulk of U.D.C. files, approximately sixty feet of material, remains in the possession of Logue. This material is to be added to the collection at a future date. Thus, the U.D.C. files now with the papers permit only a limited view of Logue's involvement in the enterprise. SERIES IX. contains printed material on a wide spectrum of urban topics. Items here include brochures, articles, pamphlets, reports, and miscellany. Specific publications do sometimes parallel topics in other series, but generally this series appears to be a "catch-all" for urban-related materials. This material was originally maintained as a separate entity.

In addition to bibliographies on urban writings, there are files for several cities: Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Toledo. The planning of "new towns" was a professional interest of Logue's (see SERIES VIII: Fort Lincoln New Town Project). Items on similar efforts in the United States and England are arranged here. Printed material relating to the topics of urban business, urban education, urban engineering, urban problems, and urban renewal serve as a brief introduction to popular literature on those subjects.

SERIES X., SCRAPBOOKS, is a microfilmed group of clippings which date from February 1955 to 1969, and complement materials in SERIES V-VIII. The original scrapbooks were numbered vols. 1-30, in a "semi-chronological" arrangement. Volumes 1-5 contain clippings relating to New Haven and the New Haven Redevelopment Agency (February 1955 to May 1959). Volumes 6-23; 27-28 relate to the Boston Redevelopment Authority (1960-1967). These volumes are organized by topic relating to either a specific redevelopment project (Charlestown, Government Center, Washington Park, etc.) or to pertinent social-Political issues such as racial imbalance, schools, or busing. Volumes 7-11 are devoted to miscellaneous clippings on Boston and the B.R.A.(1960-1965). A portion of volume 12 covers Boston and the B.R.A. for 1966-1967.

Scrapbooks 24-26 contain clippings about the mayoral campaign of 1967, with substantial day-to-day coverage from Boston papers. Volumes 27-28 consist of clippings about the from 1968-1969, many of which refer to Logue as the former head of that agency. Scrapbooks 29-30 detail U.D.C. activities in several New York cities and communities from 1968-1969.

These scrapbooks supplement clippings files in SERIES V (1951-1955) and SERIES VIII (1969-1975). The high visibility of Logue as a redevelopment official in three major programs New Haven, Boston, and New York State is evident from the scrapbooks. In an unquantified manner the impact of Logue's work in these programs is obvious, through both the support and criticism apparent in these clippings. The scrapbooks were discarded after filming.

Edward J. Logue donated his papers to Yale in 1980. Other collections which contain Logue material include the papers of Chester Bowles (MsGr 628), Richard Lee (MsGr318), and Frank Logue (MsGr 1178). Additional material relating to Edward Logue and the Yale Employees Union is arranged in YRG 36-A.

Dates

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is available for research with the following exceptions:

Some family correspondence in Accession 2012-M-027 is restricted during Margaret Logue's lifetime.

Original computer files may not be accessed due to their fragility. Researchers must consult access copies.

Original audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy, which is retained by the repository. Researchers wishing to obtain an additional copy for their personal use should consult Copying Services information on the Manuscripts and Archives web site. Copies of commercially produced audiovisual materials contained in this collection cannot be made for researcher use outside of the repository.

Existence and Location of Copies

Scrapbooks, 1955-1969 are available on microfilm (6,117 frames on 8 reels. 35mm.) from Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, at cost. Order no. HM139.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by Edward Joseph Logue has been transferred to Yale University. These materials may be used for non-commercial purposes without seeking permission from Yale University as the copyright holder. For other uses of these materials, please contact beinecke.library@yale.edu.

Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Copyright for interviews in Accession 2008-M-045 is held by the Community Design Center, School of Architecture, Syracuse University.

Copyright for videotape, box 101, in Accession 2012-M-027 is held by the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Edward J. Logue in 1980, 1983, and 1985; Margaret Logue, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2020; Theodore Liebman, 2008; and Eleanor Katz, 2014.

Arrangement

Arranged in ten series and eight additions: I. Personal Correspondence, Legal Papers, and Student Papers, 1931-1951. II. Connecticut State Politics, 1949-1951. III. India, Assistant to Ambassador Chester Bowles, 1951-1952. IV. Personal Correspondence, 1952-1960. V. Executive Secretary, Mayor's Office and Development Administrator, New Haven Redevelopment Authority, 1943-1961. VI. Development administrator, Boston Redevelopment Authority, 1954-1969. VII. Boston mayoral campaign, 1967-1968. VIII. Urban Development Corporation, 1968-1975. IX. Printed material - urban topics, 1951-197. X. Scrapbooks, 1955-1969.

Extent

462.60 Linear Feet (722 containers )

58.4 Megabytes

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.0959

Additional Description

Abstract

The papers consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, designs, photographs, audiovisual materials, clippings, printed material, and miscellanea documenting the personal life and professional career of Edward J. Logue, lawyer, politician, and urban planner and administrator. Urban planning materials detail his activity in New Haven, Boston, and New York state. Student papers document Logue's life as a Yale University undergraduate and law student (1939-1942; 1945-1947). Copies of Ambassador Chester Bowles's correspondence reflect Logue's role in the foreign service and U.S.-Indian relations. Extensive office files for New Haven and Boston redevelopment work (1954-1967) detail Logue's pioneer work in modern urban planning and provide documentation on the political, business, social, and cultural development of these cities. Urban Development Corporation files provide similar documentation for Logue's work in New York state. Boston mayoral files and scrapbooks include additional documentation on Logue's political career, his redevelopment work, and the city of Boston.

Biographical / Historical

Edward J. Logue was born on February 7, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In a distinguished and sometimes controversial career as a lawyer, urban planner and administrator, and educator, Logue has been a leading figure in the areas of city planning and urban redevelopment. Few men have so combined similar degrees of legal training, administrative skills, scholarship, and political expertise toward service in the municipal arena.

Logue was raised in Philadelphia, where his father worked as a real estate assessor for the city. He was the first of four brothers to attend Yale, receiving his B.A. in 1942 and LL.B. in 1947. Brothers John (1944), James Gordon (1945), and Frank (1947) all received their undergraduate education at Yale. It was at Yale that Logue first became politically active. An interest in labor unions led him to serve as General Organizer for the Yale Employees Union, Local 142, of the United Construction Workers. Logue's diligent efforts on behalf of the union won a favorable ruling from the U.S. Conciliation Service of the Labor Department.

After graduation in 1942 Logue enlisted with the Army Air Force. He flew seventeen missions as a bombadier in the European theatre during World War II, and was decorated for his service. Logue returned to Yale after the war and received his law degree in 1947. In June of 1947 he married Margaret DeVane, the daughter of Yale College Dean William Clyde DeVane. They have two children, Kathy and William.

Following marriage Logue returned to his hometown of Philadelphia, where his legal career began in the law office of M. H. Goldstein. By 1949 two opportunities attracted Logue's interest. He received offers to join the staffs of Senator Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota and Governor Chester Bowles of Connecticut. Logue opted for the position in Governor Bowles' office and thus launched his political career. The defeat of Bowles in the 1950 election led Logue to accept the offer of state Democratic Party boss John Bailey (later to become Democratic National Committee leader), who asked Logue to serve as counsel to Democrats in the state senate.

In 1951 Chester Bowles was named Ambassador to India. He quickly cleared the path for Logue to join his staff in New Delhi. Although he remained in India for less than two years (1951-1953), Logue continued to remain an active observer on the Indian situation, largely through his work with the Ford Foundation. The Logues returned from India by way of Ceylon and Japan in time to become parents and to help friend Richard C. Lee campaign for the office of mayor in New Haven, Connecticut.

The newly-elected mayor brought Logue into city hall politics with him, first as executive secretary (1954-1955), then as development administrator (1955-1961) as New Haven undertook one of the most expensive and comprehensive urban renewal programs yet planned. As development administrator for the New Haven Redevelopment Agency from 1955-1960, Logue demonstrated a great acumen for acquiring federal funds to finance and subsidize New Haven's redevelopment projects. His familiarity with federal and state law was most helpful in dealings with organizations such as the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA). By working closely with Mayor Lee and city departments, a coordinated city-wide redevelopment program was implemented to combat the spread of slums, blight, and urban decay which plagued New Haven. The New Haven program soon attracted national attention for its scope -- as the city received more dollars (per capita) than any other municipality -- and for its dynamic leaders.

Logue and Lee recognized the importance of active and continued public support for a successful redevelopment effort. A major component of the redevelopment operation involved the creation and effective use of the Citizens Action Commission (CAC), a body which sought to unify public, business, and government support under the leadership of the mayor's office. This commission, with its following six subcommittees proved an invaluable tool in rallying support and resources to the redevelopment program:

(1) Central Business District (CBD)

(2) Education

(3) Housing

(4) Industrial and Harbor Development

(5) Metropolitan Approach

(6) Recreation, Health and Welfare, Human Relations

Maurice E. H. Rotival was hired as New Haven's planning consultant to produce the specific plans and recommendations of the CAC for further study.

A host of major projects were initiated in the years 1953-1961. Among the official redevelopment projects and programs were:

(1) Church Street Redevelopment Project

(2) Church Street Extension

(3) Oak Street Redevelopment Project

(4) Oak Street Extension

(5) Long Wharf Redevelopment Project

(6) Wooster Square Redevelopment Project

(7) Southern Boulevard Project

(8) Dixwell Renewal Area

(9) Hill Renewal Area

(10) Harbor Dredging

(11) High school construction

(12) Route 5 (Interstate 91) construction

These efforts and others required constant interaction with city departments, including the Bureau of Environmental Sanitation, the City Plan Commission, the Traffic and Parking Department, the Public Works Department, and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Entwined with the administrative responsibilities for renewal were the political realities of the situation. Logue spent a great deal of time and energy both speaking and writing about New Haven's renewal efforts on the local and national scene. Necessities such as city charter revision, the re-election campaigns of Mayor Lee, and community relations also required serious attention. Crucial matters which struck directly at the public's perception of the urban renewal program were the rehabilitation of decaying buildings and neighborhoods, the relocation of displaced businesses, families, and religious sites, slum clearance, land acquisition, the creation of parks and playgrounds, budgets, and taxes. The compilation and distillation of pertinent data on these matters often fell to Logue and his staff.

Edward Logue helped to rebuild much of New Haven during his tenure as development Administrator. Both he and Mayor Lee became recognized experts on urban renewal, and they achieved prominence in such circles as the American Municipal Association (AMA), the Democratic National Committee, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), the National Housing Conference (NHC), and the United States Conference of Mayors. At the same time, Logue was in frequent demand as a speaker and author on the topic of American cities. He lectured at various colleges and universities, including Yale, and contributed essays to publications such as the New York Times Magazine ("Urban Ruin - Or Urban Renewal," November 1958). New Haven was only the first in a series of urban renewal programs for Edward Logue, however.

Beginning in 1960, Mayor John Collins of Boston presented Logue with a powerful challenge. Collins wanted Logue to head his urban redevelopment program in Boston. After much negotiation Logue accepted the offer and ultimately served as development administrator for the Boston Redevelopment Authority (B.R.A.) from 1960-1967. Logue came to Boston politics as an outsider, with a much publicized $30,000 salary.

In Boston, Logue applied many of the same tactics which he effectively initiated in New Haven. On many occasions he reiterated the four underlying principles necessary for a successful renewal program in Boston:

(1) leadership from City Hall

(2) organized citizen support

(3) a dedicated and highly competent staff

(4) coordinated administration

The same dedication, drive, and personal traits which contributed to Logue's success also served to create problems for him. Supporters often described him as "a doer, a brilliant programmer, charming," while critics chose terms such as "nasty, tough, and a megalomaniac." Logue himself accepted the role of "lightning rod" for his urban renewal efforts and the controversy which accompanied them. "When you plan with people it's a two way street," he once said, "You must be reasonable, by which I don't mean agreeable."

Public awareness and reaction to B.R.A. activities (both pro and con) was acute in Boston. With the full support of the mayor and the B.R.A. Board Logue was able to initiate much of what he wanted. Fierce political battles were waged with members of the Boston City Council, however, and clashes over projects, programs, and personalities were frequent.

As in New Haven, Logue advocated a coordinated, simultaneous, all-encompassing renewal program. Among the renewal areas targeted for reform in the General Plan for the City and the Regional Core, 1965-1975 were:

(1) Downtown North

(2) Downtown

(3) South End

(4) Back Bay

(5) Parker Hill-Fenway

(6) Charlestown

(7) East Boston

(8) South Boston

(9) Roxbury-North Dorchester

(10) Jamaica Plain

Logue and the B.R.A. acted to change the face of Boston with major re-development projects in the Government Center, Waterfront, and Downtown Areas. Several modern city landmarks, including the new City Hall, are the results of these efforts. Boston's renewal projects translated into massive land acquisition, rehabilitation, relocation, and development responsibilities for the B.R.A. Logue once again proved quite adept at securing federal funds. Before leaving his position Logue had delivered more than 200 million dollars in federal funds (and an estimated investment of more than 2 billion dollars in private funds) to Boston's redevelopment programs.

Local keys to success involved cooperative efforts with such public agencies as: the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), the Massachusetts Port Authority, and the commonwealth's Department of Public Works. City offices and departments were vital links in the coordinated program Logue attempted to create, and the Police Department, the Real Property Department, and the Finance Commission were three important contributors.

By 1967 Boston's urban renewal program was well underway, and tentative plans for a 1975 World's Fair, Freedom '75, were under consideration. The decision of Mayor John Collins not to seek re-election this same year was a key factor in the eventual campaign of Logue for the Democratic nomination. As with Mayor Lee in New Haven, Logue worked with the total support of Mayor Collins in Boston. Logue had, in fact, declined any kind of tenure, and preferred to work at the discretion of the mayor. There could be no such relationship with a different mayor.

The challenge of running the entire city of Boston was a natural progression for Logue. He resigned from the B.R.A., a move which would have been inevitable with the election of a new city leader, and campaigned strongly for the nomination. A fourth place finish eliminated Logue from consideration. Other challenges were soon forthcoming, however.

Logue continued to speak, write, and teach on urban affairs. He accepted an appointment as Maxwell Professor of Government at Boston University, and he considered private consulting offers. Opportunities to head urban redevelopment programs in other cities across the nation were examined. Logue turned down several such positions, including the post in New York City where he had previously conducted studies on the Bedford-Stuyvesant area and on general housing conditions. He feared that the support and power necessary to successfully operate would be lacking.

Finally, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York convinced Logue to head that state's new Urban Development Corporation (U.D.C.), a state agency created in 1968. The U.D.C. was then described as possessing "the largest collection of urban renewal powers placed in any one public agency in the United States." Logue served the U.D.C. as president and chief executive officer from 1968 to February 1975. His resignation was prompted by the election of Governor Carey and was tendered three weeks before the U.D.C. defaulted on $100 million in bond anticipation notes. Logue defended his organization and his leadership before the Moreland Act Commission, empowered to investigate the U.D.C. The temporary default necessitated an elaborate rescue system by the state legislature, amidst charges and countercharges of failure, mismanagement, and miscalculation leveled by U.D.C. officials, private bankers and investors, and politicians.

Upon leaving the U.D.C. early in 1975, Logue taught at New York University Law School. In 1976 he taught city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania and was a member of the Critical Choice Commission. He maintained a private consulting practice and in September of 1978, "Mr. Urban Renewal," as the New York Times called Logue, was chosen by Mayor Koch to head the South Bronx Development Corporation.

He authored many articles and speeches on urban topics, consulted on redevelopment projects around the world, and taught urban planning seminars at several colleges and universities. Logue died on January 27, 2000, in West Tisbury, Massachusetts.

Edward J. Logue Chronology

1921

Born February 7, 1921, to Resina Fay and Edward J. Logue, in Philadelphia, PA

1942

B.A., Yale University

1942

General Organizer, Yale University Employees, Local 142, United Construction Workers

1942-1945

United States Air Force, Decorated Bombadier with 15th Air Force in Italy

1947

LL.B., Yale University

1947

Delegate to American Veterans Convention

1947

Marriage, June 7, 1947, to Margaret DeVane, daughter of William Clyde DeVane, Dean of Yale College

1948

Law clerk, M.H. Goldstein, Philadelphia, PA

1949-1951

Legal Secretary to Governor Chester Bowles of Connecticut and Assistant Legislative Commissioner, State Senate

1952-1953

Assistant to Chester Bowles, Ambassador to India

1954-1961

Executive Secretary, Mayor's Office and Development Administrator, New Haven Redevelopment Agency

1960

Executive Director, Kennedy Conference on Housing and Urban Renewal, Pittsburg, PA

1961

Visiting lecturer, Yale University (Law School)

1961

Member, Democratic National Committee, Advisory Committee on Urban and Suburban Problems

1961-1967

Development Administrator, Boston Redevelopment Authority

1962

Consultant, Ford Foundation

1962

Member, Ford Foundation, Advisory Committee on Community Development for Calcutta, India

1966

Chairman, New York City Housing and Neighborhood Improvement Study

1967

Member, Bedford-Stuyvesant Renewal and Rehabilitation Project (New York City)

1967

Candidate, Democratic primary election for mayor of Boston

1967-1968

Visiting Maxwell Professor of Government, Boston University

1968-Feb 1975

President and Chief Executive Officer, Urban Development Corporation, New York

1975

New York University, teaching in Law School

1976

University of Pennsylvania, Logue taught courses in city and regional planning

1978

President, South Bronx Redevelopment Organization, Inc.

General

1958-M-009, Box 50, f. “New York National Bank" reported missing in July 2016

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title

Guide to the Edward Joseph Logue Papers

Status

Under Revision

Author

compiled by Staff of Manuscripts and Archives

Date

May 2021

Description rules

Finding Aid Created In Accordance With Manuscripts And Archives Processing Manual

Language of description note

Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

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