- unitid
-
{"value"=>"23870", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"b21114549", "type"=>"local_b"}
{"value"=>"MssCol 23870", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1977-2001", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1977/2001"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Geoffrey Biddle Alphabet City papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2.91 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"10 boxes, 1 volume, 1 oversized folder", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"id"=>"MSS", "value"=>"Manuscripts and Archives Division"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Geoffrey Biddle is a photographer whose book <span class=\"title\">Alphabet City</span> (published 1992) documented the Puerto Rican community on New York City's Lower East Side in the late 1970s. This collection contains photographs taken in the Alphabet City neighborhood in the late 1970s and 1980s, including but not limited to those published in <span class=\"title\">Alphabet City</span>. The collection also contains sound recordings and partial transcripts of the interviews that Biddle conducted in 1988 and 1989 for use in the book, and correspondence and reference material related to the Lower East Side and the development and publication of the book."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Geoffrey Biddle Alphabet City papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Biddle, Geoffrey", "type"=>"persname", "role"=>"creator"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Geoffrey Biddle is a photographer who has been active since the 1970s. In the late 1970s, Biddle began to document the Puerto Rican community on New York City's Lower East Side, in the neighborhood known as Loisaida or Alphabet City. At the time, the area was known for a flourishing illegal drug trade and high levels of violent crime and unemployment. The photographs won an award for best photo essay from the Missouri School of Journalism in 1987.</p> <p>During the 1980s, Biddle developed a book centering around the photographs. In 1988 and 1989, he visited subjects of his 1970s photographs – including those in prison and those who had moved to Puerto Rico – and conducted interviews with them. The resulting book contains 46 of Biddle's photographs from the 1970s, juxtaposed with text from the later interviews and new photographic portraits. <span class=\"title\">Alphabet City</span> was published by the University of California Press in 1992, with an introduction by Miguel Algarín.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Geoffrey Biddle Alphabet City papers primarily concern the publication and creation of the book <span class=\"title\">Alphabet City</span>. The collection contains photographs, recordings, correspondence, clippings, notes, book mock-ups, and other materials related to New York City's Lower East Side in the late 1970s and the 1980s.</p> <p>Photographs include prints and contact sheets of the images published in the book, as well as other photographs that Biddle took in New York City during the period. Interviews that Biddle conducted with <span class=\"title\">Alphabet City</span>'s subjects in 1988 and 1989 are represented by sound recordings and partial transcripts. Sound materials are unavailable pending digitization.</p> <p>Correspondence and research files include letters to and from people featured in the book; correspondence with publishers (primarily academic ones) who ultimately rejected the book; and clippings and notes that Biddle made regarding the project that became <span class=\"title\">Alphabet City</span>, as well as other New York-based photography projects.</p> <p>The development of the concept, text, and layout of <span class=\"title\">Alphabet City</span> is documented through correspondence with staff at the University of California Press; drafts and mock-ups of the book; galleys; and Biddle's notes on content and design.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Purchased from Geoffrey Biddle, 2016.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"type"=>"processing", "value"=>"<p>Compiled by <span class=\"name\">Kit Fluker</span>, <span class=\"date\">2016</span>.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Sound materials are unavailable pending digitization.</p>"}
- dsc_type
-
combined
- date_start
-
1977
- keydate
-
1977
- date_end
-
2001
- date_inclusive_start
-
1977
- date_inclusive_end
-
2001
- extent_statement
-
2.91 linear feet (10 boxes, 1 volume, 1 oversized folder)