John and Ann Garvey Papers
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Creator
Extent
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Language of Materials
Abstract
Ann and her late husband John Garvey were educators and active members of the New York City Irish American community. The couple were also past presidents and founding members of the American Irish Teachers Association (AITA). The Garveys focused much of their organizing on educational initiatives to increase and improve the teaching of Irish and Irish American culture and history. The John and Ann Garvey Papers document the Garveys' teaching through organizational newsletters (the majority of which are from the AITA), conference programs, as well as agendas, meeting notes, and correspondence from various committee meetings. The collection also documents the Garveys engagement with Irish American organizations through photographs, newspaper articles, and programs for conventions and other annual events. Organizations such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the United Irish Counties Association of New York, and various County Mayo-centered social organizations (especially the Mayo Society of New York) are particularly well represented.
Biographical Note for John Garvey
John J. Garvey (d. 2018) was an Irish American educator who held numerous leadership positions in the Irish American community. Garvey worked the bulk of his professional career in the New York City public school system with over three decades at P.S. 85. He focused much of his attention on educational outreach programs for new immigrants, as well as improving the treatment of Irish and Irish American history in curriculum. A native of County Mayo, Garvey studied at St. Muredach's College in Ballina (County Mayo) and Patrician College in Ballyfin (County Laois). He later earned a B.A. from Fordham University in Marketing and Management and a M.A. in Distributive Education from New York University.
Garvey was a president and founding member of the Irish American Teachers Association, a historian and president of the Mayo Society of New York, a member of the Board of Directors for the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, and a chair of the Irish American Heritage and Culture Committee (New York City Board of Education). He was also an essay judge for the St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee essay competition, a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (Division 4), and a member of the Bronx Gaelic League.
Source:
Emerald Isle Immigration Center. "In Memory of John J. Garvey." https://eiic.org/blog/in-memory-of-john-j-garvey/ (retrieved September 11, 2020).
Biographical Note for Ann Garvey
Ann Garvey is an Irish American educator who has held numerous leadership positions in the Irish American community. She has held positions as a lecturer at New York University's Graduate School of Education and as an Educational Evaluator with the New York City Board of Education. Garvey is the past president of the American Irish Teachers Association (AITA), during which time she led the organization's campaign to include curriculum on Ireland's Great Hunger (commonly referred to as Ireland's Famine) in New York State's Human Rights Curriculum law, which mandated the study of this historical moment throughout the state. Alongside her husband John, Ann organized campaigns for the United States Postal Service to issue a commemorative stamp for the Great Hunger. In 1998, Ann was named Irish Woman of the Year by the Irish American Heritage and Culture Committee (New York City Board of Education) for her contributions.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into three series, all of which are arranged alphabetically:
Series I: Education
Series II: County Mayo
Series III: Irish American Organizations
Scope and Contents
The John and Ann Garvey Papers, dated approximately 1935-2024, consist of materials documenting the couple's work as educators and their engagement with numerous Irish American organizations in the Greater New York City area. Materials documenting the Garveys teaching include organizational newsletters (the majority of which are from the American Irish Teachers Association), conference programs, as well as agendas, meeting notes, and correspondence from various committee meetings. These materials focus almost exclusively on organizations and education initiatives devoted to increasing and improving the teaching of Irish and Irish American culture and history, such as a proposed curriculum on the Irish Famine/Great Hunger. The collection also documents the Garveys engagement with Irish American organizations through photographs, newspaper articles, and programs for conventions and other annual events. Organizations like the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the United Irish Counties Association of New York, and various County Mayo-centered social organizations (especially the Mayo Society of New York) are particularly well represented.
Subjects
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; John and Ann Garvey Papers; AIA 088; box number; folder number or item identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Ann Garvey in March 2020, with a further accretions donated in October 2021 and November 2024; the accession numbers associated with these gifts are 2020.024, 2021.063, and 2025.017.
Custodial History
One box of the 2025 accretion shipped by the donor was not received, and a claim was reported to the shipping vendor. The vendor marked the box as "unfound" and filed the claim as lost.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Appraisal
The repository kept three "Ceart Vótála" buttons; duplicates beyond this amount were returned to the donor. One t-shirt advocating the initiative to include the Irish Famine/Great Hunger in New York State's human rights curriculum was also appraised out of the collection.
Publications, photocopies of newspaper clippings, and duplicate event programs from the 2021 accretion were appraised out of the collection upon its arrival.
The following materials were appraised out of the 2025 accretion by the curator: duplicate materials, a plaque from the St. Patrick's Day Parade Celebration Committee to the Mayo Society, and Ann Garvey's notes from a student evaluation. Publications were appraised out of this accretion, with titles and issues not already represented in the Library's holdings accessioned into the Archives of Irish America Newspapers and Periodicals Collection (AIA 004). One DVD copy of Through Triumph and Tragedy: 50 Years of the F.D.N.Y. Pipes and Drums was appraised out of the collection due to copyright concerns; the cover art has been retained as an artifact. Blank letterhead was retained as evidence of the organizational leadership listed on the left-side.
About this Guide
Processing Information
At the time of accessioning, materials were rehoused in archival boxes and folders, maintaining their original order. The collection's existing series structure is original to the creator.
In the fall of 2022, accession 2021.063 was processed and described by an archivist. Original titles were retained when possible. Loose photographs were placed in acid free sleeves. Materials from this accession were intellectually incorporated into their appropriate series. One audiocassette was found during processing. It was assigned an AV unique identifier and placed in a shared audiovisual materials box.
In February 2025, an accretion of materials was rehoused in archival boxes and folders, and intellectually integrated into the collection's existing series structure. These materials are physically located in Boxes 38-44. One DVD was forensically imaged, analyzed, and appraised out of the collection by the curator due to copyright concerns.
