Loading...
Creator
Daly, Victor
Call number
Sc MG 428
Physical description
4.0 linear feet (4 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Victor Daly papers, Sc MG 428, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

The Victor Daly Papers reflect Daly's efforts with the United States Employment Service to integrate previously segregated occupations as well as his activities as an officer of the American Bridge Association. In addition to biographical information about Daly, including published articles, the collection contains his novel Not Only War, published in 1932 as well as short stories. There are also journal and newspaper articles written by him regarding employment opportunities for minorities. Daly's many speeches about youth employment presented at high schools, universities, radio stations and organizations in the Washington, D. C. and Baltimore area can be found in the collection, beginning in 1941 through the 1960s.

Biographical/historical information

Victor R. Daly was a founding member of the American Bridge Association (ABA), a Black membership organization for bridge card playing tournaments, and an official with the United States Employment Service (USES), Department of Labor, for the District of Columbia. In the 1920s and early 1930s he wrote the novel Not Only War and several short stories, developing the theme of the African American war experience. Daly joined the Department of Labor in 1934 in Washington, D. C. and used his position with the USES to help create job opportunities for Black people in a variety of previously segregated occupations. He retired from government employ in 1967.

In 1932 Daly was one of thirty-six founding members of the American Bridge Association, organized by Blacks because of race prejudice and exclusion from membership and competition in the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). Despite attempts by Daly and others to break the color line, the refusal of membership in the ACBL continued for decades. By creating their own organization, African Americans were able to compete in national tournaments.

Daly served as Eastern vice president of the ABA from 1941 until 1943, and was its national president from 1949 until 1964. During this period he devoted most of his energy to improving relations with and breaking down racial barriers within the ACBL. One of Daly's accomplishments was the acceptance of ABA by the American Hotel Association to stage its two annual national tournaments. Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (New York, N.Y.) was the first of the major hotels to accept Black guests. Following this lead, other professional Black organizations that hold annual conventions in various parts of the country were able to find accommodation in some of the country's top hotels. Daly died in 1986.

Scope and arrangement

The Victor Daly Papers reflect Daly's efforts with the United States Employment Service to integrate previously segregated occupations as well as his activities as an officer of the American Bridge Association. In addition to biographical information about Victor Daly including published articles, the collection contains his novel Not Only War, published in 1932 as well as short stories. There are also journal and newspaper articles written by him regarding employment opportunities for minorities. Daly's many speeches about youth employment presented at high schools, universities, radio stations and organizations in the Washington, D. C. and Baltimore area can be found in the collection, beginning in 1941 through the 1960s. The American Bridge Association is represented by minutes, a general correspondence file, and information about the ABA's national tournaments and its various regional sections. There are players' handbooks, as well as minutes and reports of executive and national board meetings and treasurer's reports, 1961-1986. The General Correspondence File, 1944-1980, contains information about official ABA business such as board and committee appointments, correspondence with other presidents and officers, and integration with the American Contract Bridge League and the ACBL's Washington Bridge Unit. Daly's correspondence with Albert Morehead, a friend and the bridge editor of The New York Times, is included. Also in the collection are Daly's editorials and messages that appeared in the press and other media as well as files discussing arrangements for accommodations in major hotels during national tournaments, a responsibility Daly assumed from 1945 to 1980. There are files for the Time and Place Committee, which planned the upcoming national tournaments. Other files contain information about the national tournaments and ABA bridge clubs located in various geographic regions throughout the nation. The collection concludes with a number of news clippings about the ABA and Victor Daly.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift, Lenore B. Daly, June 1991

Processing information

Processed by Janice Quinter in 2007.

Separated material

Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.

Related Material

American Bridge Association records also located in the Manuscripts Archives and Rare Books Division at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor