- unittitle
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{"value"=>"Founding Members' records"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"3 linear feet (6 boxes)"}
- repository
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{"value"=>"The <span class=\"corpname\">New York Public Library Archives.</span> <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">5th Avenue and 42nd Street, New York, New York 10018-2788</span></div>"}
- abstract
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{"value"=>"Records of three founding members of The New York Public Library Board of Trustees: John L. Cadwalader, Lewis Cass Ledyard and George Lockhart Rives. Records document the founding and early years of The Library."}
- langmaterial
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{"value"=>"English"}
- prefercite
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{"value"=>"<p>Board of Trustees Founding Members Records, The New York Public Library Archives, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.</p>"}
- bioghist
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{"value"=>"<p>The Board of Trustees, the governing body of The Library, was established in 1895 by an agreement that consolidated the Astor and Lenox Libraries and the Tilden Foundation to form The New York Public Library. Initially there were twenty-one trustees, with seven being appointed by each of the three institutions that had been merged to form The Library. Trustees had no set terms of office; they served on the Board until they resigned, died, or were removed by a vote of the other trustees. New trustees were elected by the current members of the Board. Following the consolidation of The New York Public Library and The New York Free Circulating Library in 1901, the number of trustees was expanded to twenty-five. This included three New York City officials as ex-officio members: the Mayor, the Comptroller, and the President of the Board of Alderman.</p> <p>John Cadwalader, Lewis Cass Ledyard and George Lockhart Rives were the three most powerful members of the Board of Trustees during the first two decades of The New York Public Library. All three served on the original Committee on Consolidation of the Astor, Lenox and Tilden Libraries, Cadwalader as an Astor Library trustee, Ledyard as a Tilden trustee, and Rives as a Lenox Library trustee. All were on the Executive Committee and served at various times as President of the Board of Trustees. Rives served also as Secretary from 1895 to 1902.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Born at Trenton, New Jersey on November 17, 1836 to a family prominent in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, John Lambert Cadwalader received his B.A. from Princeton in 1856 and, in 1860, his LL.B from Harvard Law School. Cadwalader marked his 1869 arrival to New York by a brief association with the offices of Dorman B. Eaton and was active in founding the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Nominated to Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State in 1874, shortly after his term expired, Cadwalader returned to New York to form a partnership, his definitive professional alliance, with Charles E. Strong.</p> <p>Inaugurating a lengthy alliance with New York's public libraries, on November 5, 1879, Cadwalader was elected a member of the Board for the Astor Library. After the consolidation of the Astor with the Lenox Library and Tilden Trust on May 23 1895, he served as a member of the NYPL executive committee until his death in 1914. Cadwalader's profound interest in art was expressed by his involvement with the Art Committee and the Advisory Committee on Prints. His legacy of service to NYPL is typified by his tenure as First Vice-President (1909-1912) and his incumbency as President from 1912-1914.</p> <p>Cadwalader shouldered a vital share of the work in effecting consolidation between the Astor and Lenox Libraries and the Tilden Trust. He proved to be of particular efficacy in unraveling legal and financial problems. For example, he drafted the consolidation agreement, created compromise resolutions,and arranged with members of the New York State Assembly to have a special consolidation bill passed. Cadwalader also negotiated with the heirs of Henrietta Lenox, who retained a vital share in Library property. From December 1895, Cadwalader played a pivotal role in the site acquisition, planning and construction of the Central Building. Besides effecting key negotiations for appropriations with the city, Cadwalader lent his aesthetic sense to design considerations, including the front statuary and various inscriptions. Cadwalader is usually credited with bringing John Shaw Billings, NYPL's first Director, to The Library. Also, while instrumental in taking over the work of the Free Circulating Libraries and other smaller endeavors funded by public money, he furthered arrangements with the city upon the funds of the Carnegie Library Bill.</p> <p>The creation and development of the Print Department held a keen interest for Cadwalader. His will provided a gift of his entire personal collection of 360 eighteenth-century mezzotint engravings as well as a $50,000 bequest for print acquisitions. Reflecting another abiding concern, his will also bequeathed a sum devoted towards increases in the salaries of the Reference Department.</p>"}
- scopecontent
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{"value"=>"<p>The Founding Members Records consist of handwritten, typewritten and printed documents and span the years 1895 to 1930. They include John Cadwalader's correspondence, 1895-1914 and his general files, 1904-1913; Lewis Cass Ledyard's correspondence, 1897-1930; and George Rives' files, 1904-1916. Items include incoming and outgoing correspondence, interoffice memoranda, NYPL Executive Board memoranda, drafts of Board of Trustee minutes, budgets, clippings, receipts, bills, and reports of various NYPL committees generated during the day-to-day operations of The Library during its early years. The records document the founding of The New York Public Library and illuminate a wide range of Library affairs, as well as the careers of its trustees and staff.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Founding Members' records are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/nypla/4931#c639946'>Series I. John L. Cadwalader</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1895-1914</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The records of NYPL Trustee John Cadwalader consist of two subseries, described below.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/nypla/4931#c640068'>Series II. Lewis Cass Ledyard</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1897-1930</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Chronologically arranged correspondence files contain information on Library administration and operations. There is also substantial documentation of NYPL's sale of Lenox Library properties, including the site at 5th Avenue between 70th and 71st Streets.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/nypla/4931#c640080'>Series III. George Lockhart Rives</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1904-1916</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Alphabetically arranged files contain information on the NYPL Central Building project, Reference Department collections, Circulation Department branch libraries and other administrative matters.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
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{"value"=>"<p>The Founding Members Records are arranged in three series: I. John L. Cadwalader, 1895-1914; II. Lewis Cass Ledyard, 1897-1930; III. George Lockhart Rives, 1904-1916.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- accessrestrict
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{"value"=>"<p>Access to the collection is restricted to qualified scholars and researchers through the Office of Special Collections, Room 316.</p>"}
- unitid
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{"value"=>"MssArc 4931", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"4931", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
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{"value"=>"1895-1930", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1895/1930"}
{"value"=>"1895-1915", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1895/1915"}
- physloc
-
{"value"=>"RG 5", "type"=>"local_call", "supress_display"=>true}
- date_inclusive_start
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1895
- date_inclusive_end
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1930
- origination
-
{"value"=>"New York Public Library. Board of Trustees", "type"=>"corpname"}
- acqinfo
-
{"accession_number"=>"ARC"}
{"materials"=>"Records"}
- userestrict
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{"value"=>"<p>All rights reserved. Permission to quote must be obtained in writing from the New York Public Library</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p></p>", "type"=>"host"}
- keydate
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1895
- processinfo
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{"value"=>"<p>Compiled by Caleb Derven and Robert Sink; revised by Jim Moske; machine-readable finding aid created by Jim Moske.</p>"}
- date_start
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1895
- date_end
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1930
- date_bulk_start
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1895
- date_bulk_end
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1915