Praeger Department of Parks survey and photographs: Praeger Department of Parks survey and photographs: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids

Call Number

V1974.003

Date

1934-1935, inclusive

Creator

Praeger, Emil

Extent

3 Linear Feet

in three record cartons.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The Praeger Department of Parks survey and photographs document every park, playground, and gore in New York City at the time of the study, as well as undeveloped land owned by the parks department. The survey and photographs show the parks of New York City on the eve of improvements and development funded by the Works Progress Administration.

Historical note

In 1934, Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia united each of the five New York City borough parks departments under a new city-wide Department of Parks. That year, under the direction of commissioner Robert Moses, the department conducted a study titled "Comprehensive Survey of the Parks and Playgrounds in New York City," documenting all public spaces in the city overseen by the parks department. The study was conducted by Emil Praeger (1892-1973), chief engineer for the Department of Parks.

Sources:

"Emil Prager, 81, Engineer, Is Dead." New York Times, October 17, 1973, 44.
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. "Online Historic Tour: Robert Moses and the Modern Park System (1929-1965)." Accessed May 11, 2011. http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_history/historic_tour/history_robert_moses_modern.html

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by borough. Within each borough, the folders are arranged alphabetically by park name.

Scope and Contents

The Praeger Department of Parks survey and photographs date from 1934-1935 and measure 3 linear feet. The Praeger survey, titled "Comprehensive Survey of the Parks and Playgrounds in New York City," documents every park, playground, and gore in New York City at the time of the study, as well as undeveloped land owned by the parks department. The survey and photographs show the parks of New York City on the eve of improvements and development funded by the Works Progress Administration.

For each property, the survey includes a description of the park with location, acreage, state of development, neighborhood population information, proposed improvements to the park, and future development possibilities. Accompanying each park survey is a ledger detailing material, equipment, and labor needs for proposed improvements, as well as an architectural drawing of the park and its features. Photographs provide visual documentation of the state of the parks, as well as major thoroughfares near parks. Each image in the collection is identified by park name, neighborhood, and cross streets.

The collection is arranged by borough, then alphabetically by park name. Photographs of Brooklyn parks are available in the library's image database. The collection covers parks in 36 Brooklyn neighborhoods with 231 images.

Subjects

Genres

Photographs; Land surveys

Topics

Parks -- New York (State) -- New York; Landscape photography -- New York (State) -- New York; Playgrounds -- New York (State) -- New York

Places

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.); Manhattan (New York, N.Y.); Staten Island (New York, N.Y.) -- Maps; Queens (New York, N.Y.); Bronx (New York, N.Y.); New York (N.Y.)

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Praeger Department of Parks survey and photographs, V1974.003, Box number, Object ID number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source and date of acquisition for this collection are unknown. This collection was accessioned in 1974.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

The collection's digital surrogates should be used in place of the originals whenever possible.

Existence and Location of Copies

Item-level description and digital versions of Brooklyn images from the collection are available for searching via the image database in the library under the object ID prefix V1974.3.

Collection processed by

Weatherly Stephan

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-04-01 21:23:22 +0000.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Sponsor Note

This collection was originally processed and described as part of the project, "Uncovering the Secrets of Brooklyn's 19th Century Past: Creation to Consolidation," funded by the Council on Library and Information Resources, with additional support from The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Revisions to this Guide

April 2024: Revised by Dee Bowers to include Brooklyn park names and their neighborhoods

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society