Carol Bellamy Papers
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Abstract
Carol Bellamy served as President of the New York City Council from 1978-85. Ms. Bellamy is additionally an alumna of New York University Law School. Carol Bellamy served two terms as New York City Council President - from 1978 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1985. The Council President is the second-highest office in the city government, subordinate only to the Mayor. Ms. Bellamy was the first woman elected to city-wide office in New York. During her terms in office, Ms. Bellamy served on several city committees and task forces, including acting as chairman of the city's Urban Action Development Grant (UDAG) Committee, and serving on UDAG task forces on childhood immunization and employee health benefits. In addition, Ms. Bellamy was one of 14 members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. At the national level, Ms. Bellamy was elected to the Board of the National League of Cities, which represents 15,000 cities across the country. In 1985, Ms. Bellamy ran unsuccessfully for the office of Mayor against incumbent Ed Koch. She campaigned on the Democratic and Liberal lines for the election primary, and on the Liberal line for the general election. As of 1986, Ms. Bellamy was employed at Morgan Stanley Co. as a Vice President. The Carol Bellamy Papers consist chiefly of her public papers (speeches, testimony, schedules, press releases) and clippings, feature articles, and background information used in developing and supporting the positions reflected in her speeches and public statements. Also included are correspondence and statements on issues of concern to the City Council President's Office, and materials pertaining to city finances, mass transit, and women's issues.
Biographical Note
Carol Bellamy served as President of the New York City Council from 1978-85. Ms. Bellamy is additionally an alumna of New York University Law School. Carol Bellamy served two terms as New York City Council President - from 1978 to 1981 and from 1981 to 1985. The Council President is the second-highest office in the city government, subordinate only to the Mayor. Ms. Bellamy was the first woman elected to city-wide office in New York.
As New York City Council President, Ms. Bellamy was a member of the Board of Estimate, which approves all major city expenditures, analyzes the city budget, and reviews the productivity and management of city agencies. During her first term she held four votes on the Board; this number decreased to two in her second term. As Council President, she also presided over Council meetings but did not vote except in the event of a tie. Ms. Bellamy was New York City's ombudsman, and in this capacity oversaw city-wide information and service planning programs, investigation of citizen complaints, and review of service delivery by city agencies. In addition, the Council President serves as Acting Mayor in the event of a mayoral vacancy.
As Council President, Ms. Bellamy also showed great concern in the area of social services and was outspoken on such issues as care services for the elderly, the mentally ill, and foster children; also on teen pregnancy, health care costs, and women's issues. Such topics as access to family planning, working conditions for women, and availability of daycare were among her concerns.
During her terms in office, Ms. Bellamy served on several city committees and task forces, including acting as chairman of the city's Urban Action Development Grant (UDAG) Committee, and serving on UDAG task forces on childhood immunization and employee health benefits. In addition, Ms. Bellamy was one of 14 members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. At the national level, Ms. Bellamy was elected to the Board of the National League of Cities, which represents 15,000 cities across the country.
In 1985, Ms. Bellamy ran unsuccessfully for the office of Mayor against incumbent Ed Koch. She campaigned on the Democratic and Liberal lines for the election primary, and on the Liberal line for the general election. As of 1986, Ms. Bellamy was employed at Morgan Stanley Co. as a Vice President.
Arrangement note
The collection is comprised of approximately 30 linear feet of materials and is organized (loosely) into 5 series; however, the materials comprising the Carol Bellamy Papers have been processed AT THE BOX LEVEL ONLY
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- Series I: Press Releases, Press Advisories, Press Office List of Files
- Series II: Stories/Articles, Schedules
- Series III: Speeches and Press
- Series IV: New Yorker Magazine
- Series V: Press Clippings
Scope and Content Note
The Carol Bellamy Papers consist chiefly of her public papers (speeches, testimony, schedules, press releases) and clippings, feature articles, and background information used in developing and supporting the positions reflected in her speeches and public statements. Also included are correspondence and statements on issues of concern to the City Council President's Office, and materials pertaining to city finances, mass transit, and women's issues.
Ms. Bellamy's speeches concern public education, city transportation, city finances, health care, women's issues, minority issues, child care availability and facilities, budgets, crime, economic development, environmental issues, concerns of the Jewish community, housing, human rights, anti-nuclear concerns, child welfare, employment, federal aid, and immigration issues.
Ms. Bellamy was invited to give her speeches to organizations such as colleges, high schools, the Federation of Jewish Women's Organizations, conferences, Bar Associations, senior citizens' groups, Democratic National Party Conference panels, the Democratic National Convention, and various women's organizations.
The bulk of Ms. Bellamy's speeches pertain to social and quality-of-life issues such as legislation impacting women, women's employment and job-training, maternity leave, flextime, and female entrepreneurship. The escalating teen pregnancy rate and subsequent high school dropout rate were also of great concern. To address these issues, Ms. Bellamy successfully fought for city funding for experimental, school-based infant care centers in high schools that would allow young mothers to continue their secondary education. She succeeded in targeting $250,000 for two pilot day-care programs at city high schools, and she budgeted additional aid to city-run family planning clinics. She supported sex education and vocational and career counseling, and she advocated support for the continuation of availability of legal abortion. She proposed a tax incentive to encourage businesses to establish on-site day-care facilities. To foster corporate involvement, Ms. Bellamy collaborated with the NYC Department of Health to simplify and streamline licensing procedures for day-care centers and to eliminate antiquated and outmoded requirements.
Ms. Bellamy addressed the issue of better health care for the elderly, such as home health services for homebound seniors, adult day-care services, and foster care for adults. Ms. Bellamy's priorities also included services for the mentally ill; to this end, she lobbied for the reallocation of underutilized funds to provide for a full range of community services for the chronically mentally ill - both the homeless and those housed in SRO hotels. As a result of Ms. Bellamy's efforts, there are now state-funded mental health services available at city shelters and SRO hotels.
Of particular interest are the texts of speeches that were never publicly delivered; the reasons these speeches were not given are unclear. These include reports and surveys from 1978 to 1984, such as "Real Estate Speculation in the South Bronx: a case study of Thomas Cuevas and affiliates" (1978) concerning profits from redevelopment, and "Hill Burton Uncompensated Care"(1980), a state-wide compliance survey on provision of low-cost or free services.
In addition there are background papers such as "City Council President's Adoption Research Project"(1980), a working paper on "Adolescent Pregnancy and Prevention" (1980), and a paper entitled "Thoughts on a Progressive Agenda for the 1980's."
The speeches are the most substantial and insightful part of the collection, as they demonstrate Ms. Bellamy's priorities and concerns during the course of her administration. The archive will be of interest to those researching public administration, municipal politics, social work, and women's history.
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Access Restrictions
Materials are open without restrictions. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Use Restrictions
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, which was created by Carol Bellamy, was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); Carol Bellamy Papers; MSS 071; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.
Provenance
Carol Bellamy, New York City Council President from 1978 to 1985, donated her personal papers to Fales Library at New York University on January 3, 1986.
Separated Material
There is no information about materials that are associated by provenance to the described materials that have been physically separated or removed.
