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Creator
Logan, Andy
Call number
MssCol 4826
Physical description
33 linear ft. (79 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation

Andy Logan Papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

The Andy Logan Papers document the career of the journalist best known for writings published in The New Yorker magazine from 1942 through the 1990s. The collection consists of correspondence, notes, typescripts, galley proofs, research files, news clippings and printed matter.

Biographical/historical information

Journalist Isabel Ann "Andy" Logan was born February 6, 1920 in Cleveland, Ohio. She was raised in Lakewood, Ohio and Candler, North Carolina. Logan attended Swarthmore College (B.A. 1942) and immediately after graduation was hired by The New Yorker magazine as a "Talk of the Town" reporter. Her early, unsigned pieces for that column chronicled daily life in wartime New York City. In later years, Logan wrote articles about the Nuremberg war crime trials, essays on New York City history and politics, biographical profiles and an annual review of Christmas toys.

In 1943, Logan married Charles S. Lyon, a lawyer who served as deputy chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crime trials. Lyon was later a United States assistant attorney general and a professor at the New York University School of Law. The couple had seven children.

Andy Logan authored two books, The Man Who Robbed the Robber Barons (1965) and Against the Evidence; the Becker-Rosenthal Affair (1970), both concerned with criminal scandals in Gilded Age New York City.

In 1969, The New Yorker inaugurated Logan's "Around City Hall" column, which focused on local politics and the mayoralty. In her meticulously researched essays for the column, Logan documented five successive mayoral administrations. At the end of her career Logan was recognized by The New York Times as "the dean of the City Hall press corps." Andy Logan died in New York City on November 21, 2000.

Scope and arrangement

The Andy Logan Papers document the career of the journalist best known for writings published in The New Yorker magazine from 1942 through the 1990s. The collection spans the years 1923-2000, and consists of correspondence, notes, typescripts, galley proofs, research files, news clippings and printed matter. The bulk of this material relates to Logan's extensive research for her "Around City Hall" column about New York City politics during the 1960s-1990s. There are also notes and research material for Logan's books The Man Who Robbed the Robber Barons (1965) and Against the Evidence; the Becker-Rosenthal Affair (1970), and a small series of professional papers of Logan's husband, lawyer and legal educator Charles S. Lyon.

The Andy Logan papers are arranged in four series:

  • Series I. Correspondence
    1940s-1990s
    3 boxes

    Andy Logan's correspondence files contain primarily incoming letters, postcards and miscellaneous enclosures. The material is arranged alphabetically by author, and includes items received by Logan from professional colleagues, friends and readers. Among those represented are Lillian Ross, William Shawn and E. B. White. Several folders labeled "Miscellaneous" contain mostly letters from New Yorker readers concerning Logan's "Around City Hall" essays. There are some additional items of correspondence filed in Series II with papers relating to writings by Logan. This includes some editorial correspondence and fan mail regarding Logan's books.

  • Series II. Writings
    1939 - 1990s
    43 boxes
  • Series III. Subject Files
    1935 - 2000
    25 boxes

    Filed here are news clippings, notes, typescripts and printed materials assembled by Andy Logan in the course of her research for numerous writing projects, primarily "Around City Hall." The alphabetically arranged files cover individuals, organizations, and general topics. There are also some biographical materials regarding Logan, editorial and administrative records documenting her career at The New Yorker, and papers relating to her membership on the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College.

  • Series IV. Charles S. Lyon
    1923 - 1990s
    3 boxes

    Andy Logan's husband Charles S. Lyon was a lawyer who served as deputy chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crime trials. He was later a United States assistant attorney general and a professor at the New York University School of Law. The bulk of this series documents his career at NYU, and includes writings, correspondence, course syllabi and papers on grading reform. There are also a few pieces of correspondence relating to Lyon's work at Nuremberg.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Emily Lyon, 2001, 2002.

Processing information

Compiled by Jim Moske; machine-readable finding aid created by Jim Moske.

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328