Records of Town Hall
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Abstract
The Town Hall, a musical venue in New York City, has its roots in late 19th century political activism. Founded as the League for Political Education, the Town Hall served primarily as a forum for political speakers in the early 20th century before shifting focus to performance midcentury. It merged with NYU in 1958 and remained under the university's control until 1978. Its records contain administrative and legal files, photographs, event programs and publications including newsletters and volumes dedicated to prominent individuals. Outside publications related to the League for Political Education's founders are included as are documents relating to the merger with NYU.
Historical Note
The Town Hall Inc. was organized as the League for Political Education in 1894 by six prominent New York women after a suffrage measure was defeated in the New York State Legislature. The purpose of the league was to educate the public about the issue by holding educational programs and lectures. The events were held at small rented venues. The League for Political Education gave birth to offshoot groups such as the Economic Club and Civic Forum. In 1904 the League became incorporated and changed its name to the Board of Trustees of the League for Political Education.
The building of an auditorium for the League for Political Education began in 1919 as the organization outgrew its small venues and sought a permanent home. The structure, which also included office space, was designed by architecture firm McKim, Mead and White. It opened January 1921 at 123 W. 43rd Street. It was dubbed the Town Meeting Hall.
Soon after the doors opened to lecturers and audiences, it was realized the auditorium had exceptional acoustics. And so the Town Meeting Hall became a venue for musical performance as well as political expression. Independent groups such as the New York University Club also rented space from the organization.
In 1930 the League for Political Education purchased the adjacent the building at 125 W. 43rd Street for its Town Hall Annex for more space. It subsequently sold the building in 1959. The league began hosting and broadcasting its "America's Town Meeting of the Air" radio lecture series in 1935. The series ran until 1956 and provided a forum for political and cultural experts to discuss current events issues.
The organization changed its name to The Town Hall, Inc. in 1937 to reflect its expanding programming. In the late 1950s Town Hall experienced a decline. It merged with New York University in 1958 and came under the jurisdiction of the Division of General Education (now the School of Continuing Education) until 1978 when the university divested itself from the organization.
Town Hall remains primarily a musical venue focusing on jazz and arts education.
Arrangement
This collection has been arranged into nine series: Administrative files; Legal files; Publications; Programs; Clippings; Portraits/photographs; Audiovisual; Related materials; Oversize material. The Programs series has been divided into three subseries: Town Hall Opening; Lectures/courses; Performance.
Original order was maintained in the Administrative files and Legal files series. These series were extant when the University Archives received the collection and were largely kept intact. Materials belonging in the other series were removed and placed within the appropriate series. The order of the files in these series was preserved from a previous arrangement. The seven other series were culled from the entirety of the collection and were derived from a reorganization of the material.
Programs and Clippings are arranged chronologically. Portraits/photographs are arranged alphabetically.
Original order was maintained in the Administrative files and Legal files series. These series were extant when the University Archives received the collection and were largely kept intact. Materials belonging in the other series were removed and placed within the appropriate series. The order of the files in these series was preserved from a previous arrangement. The seven other series were culled from the entirety of the collection and were derived from a reorganization of the material.
Programs and clippings are arranged chronologically. Portraits/photographs are arranged alphabetically.
This collection has been arranged into nine series:
Missing Title
- Series I: Administrative Files
- Series II: Legal Files
- Series III: Publications
- Series IV: Programs
- Series V: Clippings
- Series VI: Portraits/Photographs
- Series VII: Audiovisual
- Series VIII: Related Materials
- Series IX: Oversize Materials
The Programs series has been divided into three subseries: Town Hall Opening; Lectures/courses; Performance.
Scope and Contents note
The administrative series in this collection contains files on Town Hall's buildings as well as some budget and fundraising material. The collection includes legal correspondence and papers such certificates of occupancy, trademark, mortgage and tax documents. A variety of programs from more than 70 years of lectures and performances held at Town Hall are included in this collection. It also contains photographs of Town Hall performers and early members, and clippings and internally produced materials related to the history of the organization. The Town Hall disseminated several publications including a newsletter, The Town Crier; Enduring Names, biographies of notable individuals who had endowed lecture series at Town Hall; and other promotional publications. Issues of these publications can be found in the collection. Correspondence from Town Hall Director Lawrence Zucker from 1981 to 1985, audio reels of lectures, and bound biographies of League of Political Education founders are included in the papers as well.
The collection also includes four scrapbooks. Two contain materials related to the production of "America's Town Meeting of the Air," a political forum broadcasted from Town Hall for more than 20 years, the third is comprised of membership materials and the fourth contains League of Political Education material from the beginning of the 20th century.
Some materials relate to events, such as "America's Town Meeting of the Air." They also address topics including Town Hall's 1958 merger with NYU, the purchase of 123 West 43rd Street and the purchase and sale of the adjacent Town Hall Annex and construction projects.
Notes related to a 1978 survey of the collection that were found among the Town Hall papers have been included in this collection. They are in Series VIII - Related Materials.
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Conditions Governing Access
Certain items in this collection are fragile and may require special handling or intervention from archives staff.
Contact the University Archives for specific access restrictions.
Institutional records of New York University are closed for a period of 20 years from the date of their creation (the date on which each document was written). Board of Trustees records are similarly closed for 35 years from the date of creation. The opening date for files spanning several years will be 20 years from the most recent date. Access will be given to material already 20 years old contained within a collection that is not yet open when such material can be isolated from the rest of the collection.
Materials related to personnel, faculty grievances, job searches and all files with information that falls under the University's Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) policy are permanently restricted.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
New York University Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-2646
Fax: (212) 995-4225
E-mail: university-archives@nyu.edu
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); Records of Town Hall, 1900-1985; RG 37.25; box number; folder number; New York University Archives , New York University Libraries.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Access to audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room.
Separated Materials note
Photographs of Town Hall have been removed to New York University Archives' photo collection under Non-NYU Subjects.
Provenance
This collection was transferred by Dorothy Swanson, Head of Special Collections at Elmer Holmes Bobst Library.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Processing decisions made prior to 2024 have not been documented.
In September 2024, oversized photographs in Series VI - Portraits/Photographs were rehoused into two flat boxes (Box 6 and 27) and appropriately sized folders. Original folder titles were transfered to the new folders. Two photographs were removed from their original picture frames and placed into archival folders.