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| Excerpt of Child's Letter to Mayor Lindsay - Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives |
About:
Established in 1982 at LaGuardia Community College/ CUNY with a mission to collect, preserve, and make available primary materials documenting the social and political history of New York City. We hold nearly 5,000 cubic feet of archival records and 3,200 reels of microfilm with almost 100,000 photographs and 2,000,000 documents available on our website.
Showing posts with label Main Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Main Street. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Letters to Mayor Lindsay: Children Respond to the 1966 New York City Transit Strike
Children from all over New York City, and around the country
wrote to Mayor Lindsay during his first year in office. The new mayor was, after all, a highly
visible man, a strikingly tall and energetic figure. Many simply asked for a picture or
autograph. But more than any other
subject, children wrote to the mayor about the 12 day transit strike, the worst
in the city’s history. Many witnessed it
in their daily lives. Others saw it on
television. Some talked about it in
classrooms as far away as Massachusetts.
Here is a selection of their letters.
On January 1, 1966, as John V. Lindsay took the oath of
office as New York City’s 103rd mayor, transit workers all over the
city, led by Mike Quill, walked off the job.
Our video about the 1966 transit strike uses
contemporary newsreel footage to explore the strike through the experience of
adults: the mayor and commuters walking to work; long lines; and crowded
highways. Children’s letters to the
mayor offer a different perspective.
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