New York Community Trust records
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Abstract
The New York Community Trust records document the history of this public charity from its founding in 1924 through the present. The bulk of NYCT's archives consist of meeting materials, including agendas, minutes, resolutions, proposals, statistics, and other information relevant to grants and grantmaking. The records also include annual reports, press releases, speeches, newsletters, and photographs.
Biographical / Historical
The New York Community Trust (NYCT) was founded in 1924 based on the Cleveland Foundation, created in 1914 by banker Frederick Goff. Goff envisioned a pool of charitable resources for the betterment of the city. The community foundation model has allowed banks and trust companies to work with professional grantmakers to ensure that funds stay relevant and respond to the challenges of the day.
NYCT is a public charity that serves New York City's five boroughs as well as Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk Counties through its divisions in Long Island and Westchester. Community Funds, Inc. is NYCT's nonprofit corporate affiliate that holds and invests funds established by donors.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into five series:
• Series I: Meeting records, 1919-2024 (RESTRICTED)
• Series 2: Funds, grants, investments, 1921-2020 (RESTRICTED)
• Series 3: Historical materials, 1919-2024 (PARTIALLY RESTRICTED)
• Series 4: Program materials, approximately 1967-2022
• Series 5: Media and marketing, 1923-2024
Any gaps in series numeration are intentional.
Scope and Contents
Records in the NYCT archive span 1919-2024. The bulk of NYCT's records consist of meeting materials. These materials contain reports, memoranda, proposals, statistics, data, and other information relevant to grants and grantmaking. The meeting dockets contain agendas, minutes, resolutions, and materials distributed to committees before their meetings.
NYCT's history can be accessed in the annual reports, press articles, press releases, speeches, newsletters, and printed materials retained in the archives.
Unfortunately, much NYCT historical material was lost on October 17, 1984 when a fire at Cirker's, 505 West 55th Street, destroyed 171 cartons of NYCT records.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
Access Restrictions
Public access to many records is restricted for 50 years following the date the document was created, with the exception of public-facing documents such as newsletters and annual reports, which are unrestricted. Restricted access documents are denoted (RESTRICTED) below.
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New York Historical, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org.
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: New York Community Trust Records, MS 3246, The New York Historical.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of the New York Community Trust, 2025.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The NYCT records were organized in 2022 by Lois Kauffman, Certified Archivist, who processed the collection. All boxes and file folders used in processing this collection are acid-free. Thermal paper and newsprint have been photocopied and the deteriorating originals have been disposed. While processing the collection, the archivist noted no signs of mold, pest infestation, or conservation concerns other than the deteriorating newsprint and thermal paper. Note: there are 3 small notebooks which are fragile and contain yellowing newsprint glued to some pages. These notebooks are located in Series 3/Historical Materials/3.1 NYCT History/Box 6.