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Creator
Community Council of Greater New York
Call number
MssCol 618
Physical description
23.6 linear feet (52 boxes, 10 volumes)
Preferred Citation

Community Council of Greater New York records. Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.

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

The Community Council of Greater New York was a city-wide voluntary organization of public and private agencies that provided social services to New York City residents. The collection holds clippings, correspondence, memorandums, minutes, photographs, reports and printed matter.

Biographical/historical information

The Community Council of Greater New York (CCGNY) was established in 1925 to organize the social services that had been offered to New Yorkers by social welfare agencies.

The Council became a citywide voluntary organization of agencies operating around four main divisions: family welfare, child welfare, health and recreation, and education and neighborhood activities. During the following decades, the Council would expand their work to meet long-term and emerging issues. For example, the Council updated the sanitary code for nurseries and similar places for young adolescents in the 1930s, organized local communities for the United States Committee for the Care of European Children during World War II, issued standards for nursing homes, and established a camping division for the Children's Welfare Federation during the 1950s.

In the 1920s, Community Council Information and Services (formerly the Central Information Bureau) became the designated department to distribute information about social services. It became apparent over time that a database was needed to keep better track of the human resource agencies providing services to New York City's residents. In 1980, a test project known as the Service Agency Information System (SAIS) was developed as a centralized computer system. The Greater New York Fund, the City's Human Resources Agency, and the Council initiated the system. In 1984, the accounting firm Price-Waterhouse evaluated the SAIS and found that the system lacked cost-effectiveness and accountability for the money being invested. The firm's report focused on the SAIS only, not the work of the council. In response, the Council recommended an additional study to evaluate the database (not available in the records).

In the 1960s, upon the recommendation of the Mayor's Advisory Committee on the Aged, the Council established the Citizen's Committee on Aging. This committee became important and influential with regard to issues that faced the aging including access to health care; Medicaid; protective services; and city, state and federal aid for the elderly. Representatives came from across the metropolitan area, and included union representatives and city officials.

During the late 1970s, the Council established groups for social policies affected by federal and state budget cuts. The Council administratively placed these groups under the Community Council Social Policy as follows: the New York City Coalition for a Fair Federal Budget, the Social Policy Consultants Group, and the Social Policy Team.

The New York City Coalition for a Fair Federal Budget represented over ninety organizations. The Council distributed the meeting's agendas. The Coalition held rallies, met with elected officials, and urged New Yorkers to fight against the budget cuts. As part of their work for the Coalition, the Council published Impact, a newsletter used to inform the public about the effects of budget cuts on social services for their community.

The Council also established the Social Policy Consultants Group to coalesce New York City's voluntary and public agencies to fight for the funding of social services issues such as child welfare legislation, the criminal justice system, and the federal budget.

The New York Coalition for a Fair Federal Budget and the Social Policy Consultants Group were both advocating against the defunding of social services. Some organizations were members of both groups. The Social Policy Consultants and the Social Policy Team appear to have been think tank groups. The Social Policy Team existed for little more than a year, so their impact for advocacy was not fully demonstrated. Around 1988, the Council became defunct. Prior to their demise, this organization continued to be at the forefront of developing plans and coordinating efforts on behalf of social services for the citizens of New York City.

Scope and arrangement

The Community Council of Greater New York records, dated 1920s to 1988 (bulk dates 1950s-1980s), reflect the advocacy work of the organization and consists of clippings, correspondence, memorandums, microfilm, minutes, photographs, reports and printed matter. The Community Council Committees files and the Citizens Committee on Aging files are the bulk of the collection.

The Council arranged the Community Council Committee files in three chronological groups roughly reflecting each decade of service. Occasionally a single committee may be represented in more than one group. Committees represented in these files include the Access to Medicaid Committee, the Committee on Adoption, the Coalition of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) Title VI Non-Profit Sponsors, and the Unmarried Mother Study.

The amount of material for each committee varies with files that include the names of committee members and groups on the committees, check-lists of attendees at the committee meetings, financial information, internal memorandums, copies of letters to and from elected officials on specific committee issues, letters, legal briefs, proposals, task force reports, and statistical information.

The Citizens Committee on Aging represents the single dominant committee in the collection. The files hold minutes that document the multiple non-profit organizations in attendance at the meetings. Issues of concern across the decade included health cuts as it affected the aged; Medicaid; and local, state and federal regulations with regard to the aging. The files also include the Legislative subcommittees.

Files under Aging, Miscellaneous hold committee records and related files designated for specific aging issues such as the correspondence on aging. Committees represented include the Ad Hoc Committee on Social Security and the Home Care Advisory Committee.

Community Council History files document the history of the organization and contain annual reports of the organization, a thesis entitled The History of the Community Council by Stephen David; a file designated "historical documents" that holds memorandums on council issues, financial data, and minutes of the Welfare Council; and planning details for the 40th anniversary luncheon of the Council. The historical documents for the 40th anniversary luncheon include the names of the attendees and guest speakers, press releases, and preparatory information for the event. There are no photographs of the luncheon.

The Community Council Miscellaneous Projects contain files on projects and reports including advocacy projects, a proposal from the Ethnic Association and Services to the New Immigrant group consisting of a study on how ethnic associations are meeting the needs of new immigrants, nursing home reports, and Staff Cabinet minutes of the Council. These minutes are in conjunction with other minutes in the collection and offer insight into the administration of the Council.

The Community Council Information Services files hold primarily minutes, a detailed report on services offered in the New York metropolitan area, reports on the Service Agency Information System (SAIS), and general statistical information.

Community Council Social Policy files hold the files of the New York City Coalition for a Fair Federal Budget, the Social Policy Consultants Group, and the Social Policy Team. The records indicate that these groups worked together to achieve their objectives.

The New York City Coalition files contain agendas for their meetings regarding the federal budget cuts. They also consist of records illustrating how the federal cuts hurt human services, such as files concerning services for the poor, news clippings on budget cuts for Medicaid, information on the Congressional agenda for Social Security, copies of advocacy letters to New York State Senators, general letters sent to elected officials to fight government budget cuts, and several copies of the publication Impact.

The Social Policy Consultants Group also holds files reflective of their work to bring together legislative, policy, and advocates staff of New York City's voluntary and public agencies around social service issues. Their agenda appears to overlap with the New York City Coalition. Many meetings agendas focused on the impact of reduced funding for human services. While the budget cuts imposed by the federal and state government received much attention, the Group also focused on the criminal justice system. Position papers, reports and clippings indicate that the Group supported reforming the criminal justice system because of its negative impact on minority groups

Contract files are primarily reports from the Council to the New York State legislature sent as a requirement to receive project funding relating to social services projects. There are some contract files between the Council and private agencies that provided funding as well. The files also hold reports, correspondence between the Council and the funding agency; memorandums, reports on issues such as health, and position papers on human services issues.

Photographs are official portraits of the honorary presidents and the presidents of the Council and commercial pictures of individuals photographed for Better Times, the Council's weekly newspaper.

There is some printed matter consisting of pamphlets that are a sampling of the publications issued by the Council. Scrapbooks of clippings document the Council as it appeared in newspapers and other publications.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by committee name, file type, topic, or format.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Community Council of Greater New York, 1990.

Processing information

Compiled by Valerie Wingfield, 2015

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

Conditions Governing Use

The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information about obtaining permission to publish, contact the Manuscripts and Archives Division at manuscripts@nypl.org.