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Guide to the Robert Price Papers
1930s-2012 (bulk 1958-1965)
 MS 3130

New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
(212) 873-3400


New-York Historical Society

Collection processed by Joseph Ditta

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on March 29, 2023
English using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Descriptive Summary

Creator: Price, Robert, 1932-2016
Title: Robert Price papers
Dates [inclusive]: 1930s-2012 (bulk 1958-1965)
Abstract: Papers of attorney, businessman, and political strategist Robert Price (1932–2016), who successfully managed John V. Lindsay's election to U.S. Congress as the representative from New York's 17th district (1958), and subsequent reelections to the same seat (1960, 1962, 1964), as well as Lindsay's first run for mayor of New York City (1965). Under Lindsay, Price served as the youngest deputy mayor in New York history. Price also engineered the sole victory of Nelson A. Rockefeller's otherwise unsuccessful bids for the presidency—the Republican nomination of the 1964 Oregon primary. The collection contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, posters, flyers, ephemera, lapel pins and buttons, and other paraphernalia from each of the campaigns above, and includes material documenting Price's personal and business interests.
Quantity: 8 Linear feet in 8 record cartons and 2 oversize folders.
Language: .
Call Phrase: MS 3130

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Biographical / Historical

Robert Price was born in the Bronx, New York, on August 27, 1932, to Eastern European Jewish immigrants Solomon and Frances (Berger) Price. Robert graduated from Bronx High School of Science in 1950 and later attended New York University (A.B., 1953). After serving as corporal in the U.S. Army (1953–1955), Price married Margery Beth Weiner on December 18, 1955. They would have two children: Eileen Marcia Price (later Farbman), born 1960, and Steven Price, born 1962.

After marrying, Price worked as an assistant in the legal department of R. H. Macy & Company while attending Columbia University's School of Law. He took an LL.B. from Columbia in 1958 and passed the New York State bar that same year. He worked briefly (1958–1959) as a law clerk to Judge Archie Owen Dawson of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and as Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (1959–1960), before forming a law partnership with Theodore R. Kupferman in 1960.

By then Price had entered the world of political strategy. In 1958 John V. Lindsay, who sought election to Congress as the representative from New York's 17th district (on Manhattan's Upper East Side, so-called the "Silk Stocking District" for its affluence), recruited Price from the New York Young Republican Club to manage his campaign. Lindsay won the election and three subsequent reelections to the same seat in 1960, 1962, and 1964.

In 1964 Lindsay "lent" Robert Price to New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller to manage the latter's bid for the Republican nomination for president. Through Price's skill, Rockefeller, who had been running fourth in the Oregon polls, won that state's May 15 primary, eliminating Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. from the race and suddenly becoming a threat to rival Barry Goldwater in the upcoming California primary. Rockefeller wished to retain Price for the duration, but Lindsay needed him for his own reelection to Congress in November 1964, and so refused Price's services to Rockefeller.

John Lindsay decided to run for Mayor of New York City in 1965, and once again tapped Robert Price to get him elected. This he did, and Lindsay became the City's 103rd mayor on January 1, 1966. In reward Lindsay appointed Price his deputy, making him, at thirty-three, the youngest deputy mayor in New York history. Although his tenure was brief—from January to November 1966—Price negotiated an end to the 13-day transit strike that met the Lindsay administration on its first day. Price also killed Robert Moses's ill-met proposal to build an 8-lane highway, the Lower Manhattan Expressway (LOMEX) through Little Italy and Soho to connect the Holland Tunnel with the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges.

Robert Price effectively left politics in 1966, beginning work that year as Executive Vice President, then Director, of the Dreyfus Corporation, and Investment Officer for the Dreyfus Fund. Between 1969 and 1972 he was President then Chairman of the Board of Price Capital Corporation (later called Highland Capital Corporation). Next he served as Vice President and General Partner of Lazard Frères & Co., Investment Bankers, from 1972 through 1978. The following year he founded Price Communications Corporation, which, by 1985, owned and operated three television and eleven radio stations, and had purchased New York Law Journal. In 1992, with his son, Steven, Price founded PriCellular Corp., a rural cellular carrier. The company went public in 1994 and in 1998 was acquired by American Cellular Corp. for $1.4 billion.

Robert Price died in Manhattan on April 15, 2016, aged eighty-three. His son, the philanthropist Steven Price, is executive chairman of Townsquare Media, an American radio network and media company, and a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team.

See Sam Roberts, "Robert Price, Strategist for Lindsay and Rockefeller, Dies at 83," New York Times, April 22, 2016.

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Scope and Contents

The strength of the Robert Price Papers lies in the correspondence, newspaper clippings, posters, flyers, ephemera, lapel pins and buttons, and other paraphernalia from each of the political campaigns Price managed for John V. Lindsay: his initial run for Congress, as Representative from New York's 17th district in 1958, and reelections to the same seat in 1960, 1962, and 1964; and Lindsay's run for Mayor of New York City in 1965. (Price had effectively left politics for the business sphere by the time of Lindsay's bid for reelection in 1969, so he did not manage that campaign.) See Series I.

In 1964 Price engineered the sole victory of Nelson A. Rockefeller's otherwise unsuccessful bids for the presidency—the Republican nomination of the 1964 Oregon primary. The collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, flyers, ephemera, and other paraphernalia centered on Rockefeller's Oregon win, as well as his later service to Richard M. Nixon during Nixon's campaign for reelection in 1972. See Series II.

Robert Price's brief time as deputy mayor of New York City—from January to November, 1966—is represented by biographical press releases, some correspondence, and a few speeches. See Series III, which includes a wealth of campaign samples—e.g., ephemera, buttons, lapel pins, nail files, bumper stickers, and other paraphernalia—produced by public candidates other than John V. Lindsay or Nelson A. Rockefeller, from New York and elsewhere (see Box 4, Folders 2–17, and Box 8c). Of note is the program (with accompanying admission ticket) for the Democratic Party's 1962 fundraising gala at Madison Square Garden, where Marilyn Monroe infamously sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy (see Box 4, Folder 13). Also in Series III is a portable, mechanical Shoup Voting Machine Corporation sample of the type of lever voting machine common at New York polling places before their replacement by electronic scanners (see Box 8d).

The collection provides spotty coverage of Robert Price's evolving professional career outside the political sphere, from his days as a law clerk serving Judge Archie Owen Dawson of United States District Court, Southern District of New York, to his law partnership with Theodore R. Kupferman, through his days with the Dreyfus Fund (investment firm) and Lazard Frères & Co. (investment bankers), and his own Price Capital Corporation and Price Communications Corporation. See Series IV.

Personal material--e.g., correspondence, tax and financial records, résumés, and newspaper compositions--of Robert Price and his wife, Margery, their daughter Eileen (Price) Farbman, and son, Steven Price, rounds out the collection. See Series V.

Arrangement

The collection is organized in five series:

Series I. John V. Lindsay political campaigns, 1958–1971

Series II. Nelson A. Rockefeller political campaigns, 1961–1974

Series III. Other political activities & material, 1930s–2012

Series IV. Price professional, 1958–1990

Series V. Price personal, 1953–2003

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Access Points

Subject Names

  • Lindsay, John V. (John Vliet)
  • Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979

Document Type

  • Buttons (information artifacts)
  • Campaign paraphernalia
  • Ephemera.
  • Letters (correspondence)
  • Political posters
  • Press clippings.

Subject Topics

  • Campaign management -- New York (State) -- New York
  • Legislators -- United States
  • Mayors -- New York (State) -- New York.
  • Nominations for office
  • Political campaigns -- United States -- History -- 20th century
  • Political candidates -- New York (State) -- New York
  • Presidential candidates -- United States
  • Primaries

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Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers.

Use Restrictions

This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder. Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 20 exposures of stable, unbound material per day.

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as: "Robert Price Papers, MS 3130, New-York Historical Society."

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Steven Price, June 2018.

Processing Information

Archivist Joseph Ditta arranged and described this collection in April-May 2019.

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Container List

Series I. John V. Lindsay political campaigns, 1958-1971

Scope and Contents

Series I includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, posters, flyers, ephemera, lapel pins and buttons, and other paraphernalia from each of John V. Lindsay's campaigns to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 17th district (1958, 1960, 1962, and 1964), and from his initial campaign (1965) to become Mayor of New York City.

Arrangement

Series I is divided in two chronologically organized sub-series:

Sub-series I.A. Lindsay congressional campaigns, 1958–1964

Sub-series I.B. Lindsay mayoral campaign & miscellaneous, 1965-1971

Sub-series I.A. Lindsay congressional campaigns, 1958-1964

Scope and Contents

John V. Lindsay was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 17th district, in office January 3, 1959 – December 31, 1965. The 17th district corresponded to Manhattan's Upper East Side, an area derided by some as the "Silk Stocking District" for its affluence. Robert Price managed Lindsay's initial election campaign (1958) and each of his subsequent reelections (1960, 1962, and 1964). Series I.A includes material from each campaign, such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, posters, flyers, ephemera, lapel pins and buttons, and other paraphernalia.

Arrangement

Material is organized chronologically.
Container 1 Container 2   Title Date
Offsite-Box: 1 Folder : 1-3 1958 Congressional campaign (elected November 4, 1958) [3 folders]
 1958
Offsite-Box: 1 Folder : 4-9 1960 Congressional campaign (reelected November 8, 1960) [6 folders]
 1959-1960
Offsite-Box: 1 Folder : 10-13 1962 Congressional campaign (reelected November 6, 1962) [4 folders]
 1961-1962
Offsite-Box: 1 Folder : 14-18 1964 Congressional campaign (reelected November 3, 1964 [5 folders]
 1963-1964
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 1-6 1958-1964 Congressional campaigns. Loose material. [6 folders]
 [1958-1964]
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 7 1958-1964 Congressional campaigns. Photographs
 [1958-1964]
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 8 1958-1964 Congressional campaigns. Balloons

Scope and Contents

Orange, yellow, and blue balloons stamped in black "LINDSAY FOR CONGRESS."

Restricted

RESTRICTED due to deteriorated condition. Do not remove from protective enclosure.

[1958-1964]
Oversize: large 1958-1964 Congressional campaigns. Posters [6 items]

Scope and Contents

ELECT / JOHN LINDSAY / [portrait] / REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE / FOR CONGRESS / VOTE ROW A [1 copy]

VOTE FOR / GOVERNOR ROCKEFELLER'S TEAM! / FOR CONGRESS - 17TH DISTRICT / JOHN LINDSAY / FOR CONGRESS - 19TH DISTRICT / RICHARD S. ALDRICH / FOR STATE SENATOR / JOSEPH PINTO / FOR ASSEMBLYMAN / PAUL J. CURRAN / VOTE ROW "A" ALL THE WAY [1 copy]

RE-ELECT / CONGRESSMAN JOHN V. / [portrait] / LINDSAY / OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVANT / VOTE ROW A [4 copies]

[1958-1964]
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8a 1958-1964 Congressional campaigns. Buttons & lapel pins [20 items]

Scope and Contents

LINDSAY (gold lettering on red background; plastic) [10 copies]

LINDSAY (white lettering on blue background; metal) [1 copy]

Re-Elect Lindsay to Congress (small) [2 copies]

Re-Elect Lindsay to Congress (medium) [4 copies]

Back Up Lindsay Vote Column A on Election Day [2 copies]

I'M JOHN LINDSAY (black lettering on yellow background) [1 copy]

[1958-1964]
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8a 1958-1964 Congressional campaigns. Medal [5 copies]

Scope and Contents

Obverse: image of U.S. Capitol surrounded by "17th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT NEW YORK / JOHN V. LINDSAY."

Reverse: "WITH APPRECIATION AND WARM REGARD" followed by facsimile signature "John V. Lindsay M.C."

[1958-1964]
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8a 1958-1964 Congressional campaigns. Ball-point pens [19 items]

Scope and Contents

Blue and white ball-point pen with black text: "With Best Wishes / Congressman / John V. Lindsay / 17th Congressional District" [17 copies]

Gold tone ball-point pen with facsimile signature: "John V. Lindsay" [2 copies]

[1958-1964]
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8a 1958-1964 Congressional campaigns. Ink stamp

Scope and Contents

COMMITTEE FOR JOHN V. LINDSAY.

 [1958-1964]

Sub-series I.B. Lindsay mayoral campaign & miscellaneous, 1965-1971

Scope and Contents

John V. Lindsay served as the 103rd Mayor of New York City, in office January 1, 1966 – December 31, 1973. Price managed Lindsay's initial run for mayor in 1965. As a reward for the win, Lindsay appointed Price deputy mayor (at age 33 he was the youngest deputy mayor in the City's history). Price had effectively left politics for the business sphere by the time of the Lindsay's bid for reelection in 1969, so he was not involved with that campaign. Like Series I.A, Series I.B includes a mix of correspondence, newspaper clippings, posters, flyers, ephemera, lapel pins and buttons, and other paraphernalia.

Arrangement

Material is organized chronologically.
Container 1 Container 2   Title Date
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 9-18 1965 Mayoral campaign (elected November 2, 1965) [10 folders]
 1965
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 19 1965 Mayoral campaign. FCC complaint

Scope and Contents

Robert Price alleged that station personnel at WNBC-TV, Channel 4, New York, committed prejudicial acts against John Lindsay's mayoral campaign. For instance, one Lindsay television spot lacked sound, but the commercial preceding it and a Beame advertisement following it were audible.

1965 September - November
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 20-23 1965 Mayoral campaign. Loose material [4 folders]
 [1965]
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 24 1965 Mayoral campaign. Periodical clippings [folder 1 of 7]

Scope and Contents

James M. Perry, "The New Politics: Selling Lindsay Retail," New York Magazine, April 29, 1965.

1965
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 25 1965 Mayoral campaign. Periodical clippings [folder 2 of 7]

Scope and Contents

Warren Weaver Jr., "Big Gamble of John Vliet Lindsay," New York Times Magazine, May 23, 1965 [article torn from issue, but retains cover photograph of Lindsay].

Richard Armstrong, "Second Man at City Hall" [profile of Robert Price],  New York Times Magazine, December 26, 1965.

1965
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 26 1965 Mayoral campaign. Periodical clippings [folder 3 of 7]

Scope and Contents

"Why the G.O.P. is Smiling Again: Lindsay is Running," LIFE, May 28, 1965.

1965
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 27 1965 Mayoral campaign. Periodical clippings [folder 4 of 7]

Scope and Contents

"GOP Hope--LINDSAY OF N.Y.," Newsweek, May 31, 1965.

1965
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 28 1965 Mayoral campaign. Periodical clippings [folder 5 of 7]

Scope and Contents

"Lindsay on the Line," Newsweek, July 12, 1965.

1965
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 29 1965 Mayoral campaign. Periodical clippings [folder 6 of 7]

Scope and Contents

Noel E. Parmentel Jr., "John V. Lindsay: Less Than Meets the Eye," Esquire, October [1965].

1965
Offsite-Box: 2 Folder : 30 1965 Mayoral campaign. Periodical clippings [folder 7 of 7]

Scope and Contents

"Why City Government Must be Nonpartisan," LOOK, October 19, 1965.

1965
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 1 1965 Mayoral campaign. Ephemera
 1965
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 2 1965 Mayoral campaign. Balloons

Scope and Contents

Orange, yellow, green, blue, and pink balloons stamped in black "LINDSAY FOR MAYOR."

Restricted

RESTRICTED due to deteriorated condition. Do not remove from protective enclosure.

1965
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 3 1965 Mayoral campaign. Dashboard placards & license plate covers [4 items]

Scope and Contents

dashboard placards: OFFICIAL LINDSAY FOR MAYOR [2 copies]

license plate covers: LINDSAY FOR MAYOR [2 versions: neon orange & black; blue & white]

1965
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 4 1965 Mayoral campaign. Record album

Scope and Contents

Vinyl, 33 & 1/3-RPM disc--"The Lindsay Record"--issued by Columbia Special Products. Side 1: "Everything's Coming Up Roses;" "Why Should it Be;" "What can I do for New York;" and "The Small Business People." Side 2: "Why I want to be mayor;" "What are we going to do for the City of New York." In a pictorial sleeve with Lindsay's portrait on front and his voting record on back.

Restricted

Until this record has been preservation reformatted, it may not be played. In any case, the New-York Historical Society lacks the required playback equipment. Researchers may consult the album sleeve for its information.

1965
Oversize: large 1965 Mayoral campaign. Posters [4 items]

Scope and Contents

Milton Mollen / FOR COMPTROLLER / [portrait] / Elect Lindsay/Mollen/Costello [1 copy]

Dirty air. / Dirty lungs. / Dirty laundry. / He'll do / something / about air pollution/ ELECT / JOHN / LINDSAY / MAYOR / Vote the Lindsay Team / Lindsay-Mollen-Costello [1 copy, on stiff cardboard]

"He is fresh and everyone else is tired." / VOTE FOR / JOHN LINDSAY / FOR MAYOR [full length portrait in two parts]

1965
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8b 1965 Mayoral campaign. Buttons & lapel pins [96 items]

Scope and Contents

The Best News Since La Guardia / Lindsay for Mayor / [Bob Price name tag] [1 copy]

DEMOCRATS FOR LINDSAY [1 copy]

IF LINDSAY WERE MAYOR I'D MOVE BACK TO NEW YORK [2 copies]

LINDSAY FOR MAYOR (blue lettering on white background; small) [44 copies]

LINDSAY FOR MAYOR (blue lettering on white background; medium) [4 copies]

LINDSAY FOR MAYOR (with portrait; small) [6 copies]

LINDSAY FOR MAYOR (with portrait; large) [5 copies]

LINDSAY FOR MAYOR STAFF [1 copy]

LINDSAY STAFF (gold pinback) [3 copies]

PARA / VIVA / LINDSAY / SI SI SI / ALCALDE [For / Life / Lindsay / Yes Yes Yes / Mayor] [9 copies]

PRESS / LINDSAY [5 copies]

RADIO / LINDSAY [4 copies]

TV / LINDSAY [1 copy]

STOP / THINK / GO / LINDSAY [10 copies]

 1965
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8d 1965 Mayoral campaign. Buttons & lapel pins. Oversize

Scope and Contents

Let's Clean-Up the Mess In Our City / Vote the LINDSAY Team / Linday for Mayor / Costello for President of the City Council / Mollen for Comptroller [1 copy]

1965
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8c 1965 Mayoral campaign. Television spots

Scope and Contents

One reel of 10mm [?] film labeled "4 JVL TV spots 10 seconds each":

1. "Rundown Schools"
2. "Looted Stores"
3. "Air Pollution"
4. "Slum Scene"

See Box 2, Folder 19, for documentation of Robert Price's complaint to the FCC that WNBC-TV, Channel 4, New York, among other allegations of favoritism, deliberately sabotaged the airing of Lindsay's spots.

Restricted

Until this film has been preservation reformatted, it may not be played. In any case, the New-York Historical Society lacks the required playback equipment.

1965
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 5 Lindsay miscellaneous

Scope and Contents

A small amount of Lindsay-related newspaper clippings and press releases dating from after Robert Price's time as Deputy Mayor. Includes a press release naming Robert W. Sweet as Price's successor.

1966-1971

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Series II. Nelson A. Rockefeller political campaigns, 1961-1974

Scope and Contents

Series II includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, flyers, ephemera, and other paraphernalia centered on Rockefeller's 1964 Oregon primary victory, as well as his later service to Richard M. Nixon during Nixon's campaign for reelection in 1972.

Arrangement

Material is organized chronologically.
Container 1 Container 2   Title Date
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 6 Rockefeller. General
 1961-1963
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 7 1964 Oregon Republican Presidential Primary (May 15, 1964)
 1964
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 8 1964 Oregon Republican Presidential Primary. Advertisements
 1964
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 9-10 1964 Oregon Republican Presidential Primary. Canvassing [2 folders]

Scope and Contents

Includes telephone scripts and door-to-door canvasser's instruction sheets.

 1964
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 11 1964 Oregon Republican Presidential Primary. Returned mailings

Scope and Contents

Sixteen returned mailing envelopes (postmarked 21-22 April 1964), most still sealed, some empty, and a few open to reveal "Win With Rockefeller" brochures and a letter from William E. Walsh, State Chairman, Rockefeller for President Committee.

1964
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 12-16 1964 Oregon Republican Presidential Primary. Clippings [5 folders]
 1964
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 17-19 Rockefeller. Ephemera [3 folders]
 1964
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 20-21 Rockefeller. Nixon re-election [2 folders]

Scope and Contents

Includes drafts of Rockefeller's speech nominating Richard M. Nixon at the Republican National Convention in Miami, August 22, 1972.

1972
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 22 Rockefeller. General
 1973-1974
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 23 Rockefeller material loaned to Cary Reich

Scope and Contents

Cary Reich (1949-1998) was the author of The Life of Nelson A. Rockefeller: Worlds to Conquer, 1908-1958 (New York: Doubleday, 1996). Includes a letter from Reich thanking Price for loan of the material.

1964-1973

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Series III. Other political activities & material, 1930s-2012

Scope and Contents

Series III holds scant material from Robert Price's time as deputy mayor of New York City (January–November, 1966): biographical press releases, some correspondence, and a few speeches. Of interest for their rarity are the campaign samples—e.g., ephemera, buttons, lapel pins, nail files, bumper stickers, and other paraphernalia—produced by public candidates other than John V. Lindsay or Nelson A. Rockefeller, from New York and elsewhere (see Box 4, Folders 2–17, and Box 8c). Series III includes a program and ticket for the Democratic Party's 1962 fundraising gala at Madison Square Garden at which Marilyn Monroe infamously sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy (see Box 4, Folder 13). Also in Series III is a portable, mechanical Shoup Voting Machine Corporation sample of the type of lever voting machine common at New York polling places before their replacement by electronic scanners (see Box 8d).

Arrangement

Material is organized chronologically, except for the campaign samples, ephemera, and paraphernalia, which are grouped after the topic-specific folders.

Container 1 Container 2   Title Date
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 24 Republican Club of the 9th Assembly District
 1957-1963
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 25 Deputy Mayor. Biographical
 1965
Offsite-Box: 3 Folder : 26 Deputy Mayor. Correspondence
 1966
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 1 Deputy Mayor. Speech: "John Lindsay and the Urban Adventure"

Scope and Contents

Remarks before the Manhattan Chapter of the Brandeis University National Women's Committee, Waldorf-Astoria.

1966 April 18
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 2 Deputy Mayor. Speech: Statement before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly (Quinine)

Scope and Contents

In 1966 the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly began an investigation into what it called "a fantastic rise" in the price of quinine after members of Congress received numerous complaints from constituents who used quindine, a quinine derivative prescribed for irregular heartbeats. Although he was then Deputy Mayor of New York City, Robert Price was called to testify before the subcommittee because his law firm, Kupferman & Price, was general counsel in 1961–1962 to a small public company, Hexagon Laboratories, Inc., which had sought to obtain surplus United States quinine. At the same time, Dutch interests had bought most of the surplus for 20 cents an ounce and were (in 1966) selling it to pharmaceutical companies for $2 an ounce.

1966 May 16
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 3 Deputy Mayor. Speech: "Is City Government Obsolete?"

Scope and Contents

Remarks before the Governor's Conference on Decisions for Progress, Olympic Hotel, Seattle, Washington.

1966 June 4
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 4 Deputy Mayor. Speech: "Coming Political Struggle" (notes)
 undated
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 5 Abraham Lincoln quotation & correspondence

Scope and Contents

Multiple copies of an Abraham Lincoln quotation: "If I were trying to read, much less answer all the attacks made on me, this shop might well be closed for any other business. I do the best I know how, the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me will not amount to anything. If the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference." With carbon copies of letters by which Robert Price sent the quotation to various officials and businessmen throughout the United States.

1968
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 6 Richard Nixon cabinet

Scope and Contents

Issues of TIME (December 20, 1968) and  Newsweek (December 23, 1968) profiling the incoming cabinet of President Richard Nixon.

1968
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 7 Op-Eds
 1974-2012
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 8 Gerald Ford

Scope and Contents

Material exploring Robert Price's possible involvement in the political activities of the 38th President after his term's end.

1975-2000
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 9 Jimmy Carter

Scope and Contents

Newspaper clippings regarding Robert Price's possible appointment to a special counsel post to supervise a federal investigation of President Carter's family peanut business. The Carter family business received loans totalling $7 million from the National Bank of Georgia authorized by former federal Budget Director Bert Lance.

1979
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 10-11 Donald Rumsfeld [2 folders]

Scope and Contents

Donald H. Rumsfeld, United States Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, briefly sought the Republican nomination for president in 1988.

1980-1986
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 12 Campaign samples. New York [folder 1 of 4]

Scope and Contents

Jack BALTZELL and Alice SACHS

Bruce BARTON

Lester BAUM

LaFollette BECKER

Frederic S. BERMAN

Matthew H. BRANDENBURG

Charles D. BREITEL

John R. BROOK

Frederick BRYAN

John J. BURNS

John M. BURNS

Samuel C. CANTOR

William A. CARROLL

Samuel C. COLEMAN

Robert T. CONNOR

Edward CORSI

John ELLIS

Burton M. FINE

1930s-1960s
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 13 Campaign samples. New York [folder 2 of 4]

Scope and Contents

Charles GOLD

Dick GREGORY

Jacob GRUMET

W. Averell HARRIMAN

Burton G. HECHT

Stanley M. ISAACS

Jacob "Jack" JAVITS

Jules J. JUSTIN

Ken KEATING

KENNEDY-JOHNSON

John F. KENNEDY [Ticket and program to JFK's birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden, May 19, 1962.]

Robert F. KENNEDY

Edward I. KOCH

Theodore KUPFERMAN

John LAMULA

Louis J. LEFKOWITZ

Herbert H. LEHMAN

Arthur LEVITT

Charles D. LIEBER

J. Edward LUMBARD

James A. LUNDY

1930s-1960s
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 14 Campaign samples. New York [folder 3 of 4]

Scope and Contents

Tom MALLEE

George J. MINTZER

Francis T. MURPHY Jr.

William H. McINTYRE

New York State Supreme Court

Richard M. NIXON

William F. PASSANNANTE

Samuel R. PIERCE Jr.

Henry V. POOR

Ogden REID

John H. RAY

Gilbert A. ROBINSON

William F. RYAN

1930s-1960s
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 15 Campaign samples. New York [folder 4 of 4]

Scope and Contents

Warren L. SCHNUR

Paul R. SCREVANE

Benjamin SHALLECK

Maxwell SHAPIRO

William S. SHEA

Daniel STEINER

Robert K. STRAUS

Gerald H. ULLMAN

James B. WALKER Jr.

Fred WARDER

Malcolm WILSON

1930s-1960s
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 16 Campaign samples. Non-New York

Scope and Contents

William H. AYRES

E. Y. BERRY

Hamer BUDGE

Charles E. CHAMBERLAIN

Louis W. COLLIER

Edward J. DERWINSKI

Samuel L. DEVINE

Doug ELLIOTT

Samuel N. FRIEDEL

Cecil HARDEN

Joe HOLT

Craig HOSMER

Richard J. HUGHES

Melvin R. LAIRD

Glen LIPSCOMB

George Cabot LODGE

Charles McC. MATHIAS

James P. MITCHELL

F. Bradford MORSE

Hjalmar C. NYGAARD

Albert H. QUIE

Richard RICHARDS

Milnor ROBERTS [33 & 1/3-RPM floppy record]

William SCRANTON

Abner W. SIBAL

John K. TABOR

Stan TUPPER

George VAVOULIS

Wheelock WHITNEY

Bob WILSON

Wendell WYATT

J. Arthur YOUNGER

1950s-1960s
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 17 Campaign samples. Bumper stickers [8 items]

Scope and Contents

CONNOR FOR CONGRESS [2 copies]

GOLDWATER / MILLER

JOHNSON / HUMPHREY FOR THE USA

KENNEDY U.S. SENATOR [Robert F. Kennedy]

RE-ELECT VAVOULIS MAYOR [George Vavoulis] [3 copies]

1960s
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8c Campaign samples. Bottle stoppers [2 items]

Scope and Contents

"Colorful Plastic Bottle Caps for your opened soft drink bottles. They will keep your beverages fresh and sparkling for weeks." Apparently customizable, the two examples present are printed with "The Winchester Bank" and "SAKRETE." Perhaps Robert Price considered using bottle caps as a form of campaign advertisement.

undated
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8c Campaign samples. Buttons & lapel pins [18 items]

Scope and Contents

For Congress AKERS 17th District

CONNOR for Congress [3 copies]

GOLDWATER

I / HATE / BARRY [Goldwater]

IRM

Bill MILLER [with portrait]

Bill MILLER for Veep

New York State Citizens Committee

NIXON

NIXON '60 Now!

Relax

Bill SCRANTON

SCRANTON for President

Elect SCREVANE Mayor

STEVENSON

Bill VANDEN HEUVEL for Congress

undated
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8c Campaign samples. Ink stamp

Scope and Contents

PAY TO THE ORDER OF / FIRST NATIONAL CITY BANK / PARK AVENUE - 46th STREET BRANCH / Committe For New York Government Candidates.

undated
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8c Campaign samples. Nail files [4 items]

Scope and Contents

Elect / JOHN W. HAHN / Councilman

Re-Elect / Wm. H. HESS / to Congress

Re-Elect / TOM V. MOORHEAD / State Senator

SAY / I'M FOR NIXON / VOTE REPUBLICAN

undated
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8c Convention pins, ribbons, etc. [10 items]

Scope and Contents

Honorary Assistant Sergeant at Arms / 1948 / Philadelphia Republican National Convention [lapel ribbon]

St. Olaf College Political Emphasis Week 1962

Delegate Republican State Convention Sept. 18-19, 1962, Buffalo, New York [lapel ribbon]

New York Republican State Committee Guest

N Y COUNTY [with Republican elephant]

Republican National Convention San Francisco 1964 "Bob Price" [name tag]

Republican National Convention San Francisco 1964 "Radio - T.V." [name tag]

Delegate San Francisco 1964 / Air Transport Association Flying Elephant Club [key]

[pink envelope printed "KEY" holding 2 small keys]

1948-1964
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 18 Publications. Campaign Technique Manual
 circa 1960s-1970s
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 19 Publications. Democratic County Handbook
 circa 1960s
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 20 Publications. Republican Party, National
 circa 1950s-1960s
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 21 Publications. Republican Party, New York
 circa 1958-1964
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 22 Publications. Voter registration guides & ephemera
 circa 1952-1960
Offsite-Box: 8 Box : 8d Shoup Voting Machine Corporation sample

Scope and Contents

A portable, mechanical sample of the type of lever voting machine common at New York polling places before the introduction of electronic scanners. The Shoup Voting Machine Corporation, founded in 1905 by Samuel R. Shoup, eventually came to be called Advanced Voting Solutions, Inc., before going out of business in 2015.

undated

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Series IV. Price professional, 1958-1990

Scope and Contents

Series IV contains material spanning Robert Price's evolving professional career, from his days as a law clerk serving Judge Archie Owen Dawson of United States District Court, Southern District of New York, to his law partnership with Theodore R. Kupferman, through his days with the Dreyfus Fund (investment firm) and Lazard Frères & Co. (investment bankers), and his own Price Capital Corporation and Price Communications Corporation. Coverage is spotty.

Arrangement

Material is organized chronologically.
Container 1 Container 2   Title Date
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 23 Robert Price, "Monetary Remedies Under the Untied States Copyright Code"

Scope and Contents

Published in Fordham Law Review, vol. 27, no. 4 (Winter 1958–59), 555–578. [Folder contains complete issue and offprint.]

1958-1959
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 24 Robert Price, "The Admissibility of Wiretap Evidence in the Federal Courts"

Scope and Contents

Published in University of Miami Law Review, vol. 14 (1959), 57–71. [Folder contains offprint.]

1959
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 25-26 United States District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York [2 folders]

Scope and Contents

Robert Price served as law clerk to Judge Archie Owen Dawson, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, 1958–1959, and as Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, 1959–1960.

1958-1959
Offsite-Box: 4 Folder : 27-29 United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit [3 folders]
 1959-1960
Offsite-Box: 5 Folder : 1 Kupferman & Price

Scope and Contents

Law partnership of Robert Price and Theodore R. Kupferman; dissolved in 1965 when Price was appointed Deputy Mayor of New York City. [Attorney and New York City council member Theodore Kupferman (1920-2003) would succeed to John Lindsay's vacated seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 17th district, serving February 8, 1966 – January 3, 1969.]

1960-1965
Offsite-Box: 5 Folder : 2 Columbia Broadcasting System [CBS] annual report
 1960
Offsite-Box: 5 Folder : 3 Atlantic States Industries
 1964
Offsite-Box: 5 Folder : 4-5 United States Jaycees [Junior Chamber of Commerce] award [2 folders]

Scope and Contents

Robert Price was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of America for 1966 by the United States Jaycees, affiliated with Junior Chamber International, a leadership training and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. Price's fellow honorees included future United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph A. Califano Jr., and political activist Ralph Nader.

1966-1967
Offsite-Box: 5 Folder : 6-11 Dreyfus Fund [6 folders]

Scope and Contents

Robert Price was Executive Vice President and a Director of the Dreyfus Corporation and Investment Officer for the Dreyfus Fund, 1966-1969.

1966-1969
Offsite-Box: 5 Folder : 12-16 Price Capital Corporation. General [5 folders]

Scope and Contents

Robert Price was President then Chairman of the Board of Price Capital Corporation (later called Highland Capital Corporation), 1969-1972.

1969-1971
Offsite-Box: 5 Folder : 17-24 Lazard Frères & Co. [8 folders]

Scope and Contents

Robert Price was Vice President and General Partner of Lazard Frères & Co., Investment Bankers, 1972-1978.

1972-1982
Offsite-Box: 5 Folder : 25 Lane Bryant

Scope and Contents

Robert Price was elected to the board of directors of Lane Bryant, the women's clothing store chain, in 1977.

1977
Offsite-Box: 5 Folder : 26 Intarome Fragrance Corporation
 1978-1986
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 1-2 Price Communications Corporation [2 folders]

Scope and Contents

Robert Price was founder and president of Price Communications Corporation. By 1985 PCC owned and operated 3 television and 11 radio stations, and, in that year, purchased the New York Law Journal.

1979-1989
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 3 WPCK AM / WIRK FM
 1983-1984
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 4-5 Telemation, Inc. / TLM Corporation [2 folders]
 1986-1990

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Series V. Price personal, 1953-2003

Scope and Contents

Series V includes personal material (e.g., correspondence, tax and financial records, résumés, and newspaper compositions) of Robert Price and his wife, Margery, their daughter Eileen (Price) Farbman, and son, Steven Price.

Arrangement

Series V is divided in three chronologically organized sub-series:

Sub-series V.A. Robert Price, 1953–2003

Sub-series V.B. Eileen (Price) Farbman, 1977–1987

Sub-series V.C. Steven Price, 1975–1988

Sub-series V.A. Robert Price, 1953-2003
Container 1 Container 2   Title Date
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 6 Address / telephone book
 undated
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 7 Columbia University School of Law
 1953-1984
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 8 Park Lane Dairy

Scope and Contents

Material documenting the sale of Robert Price's father Solomon's grocery business, the Park Lane Dairy (594 Fort Washington Avenue, Manhattan), to the Gristedes supermarket chain.

1954-1961
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 9 Art

Scope and Contents

Documentation of two artworks owned by Price: Everett Shinn's "Roman Amphitheatre" [sic] (1959-1965) and Rembrandt's etching "The Bathers" (1972).

1959-1965, 1972
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 10 Robert Price résumés
 circa 1960s-1981
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 11 Photographs
 1963-1964, undated
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 12 Robert & Margery Price. Tax information
 1993
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 13 Robert Price. Charitable contributions
 1996
Offsite-Box: 6 Folder : 14-20 Robert Price. Taxes [7 folders]
 1998
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 1-3 Price Family Foundation. Taxes [3 folders]
 1998-2001
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 4 Checkbook balancer

Scope and Contents

A small, mechanical adding machine, with stylus, designed to fit in a checkbook. Produced by the Diamond Check Division of Diamond International Corporation beginning in 1972. For more information refer to the example held by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

circa 1972
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 5 Bank statements, canceled checks. Citibank
 1986-1989
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 6 Bank statements, canceled checks. Citibank
 2001-2003
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 7 Bank statements, canceled checks. Chase
 2002-2003
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 8 Miscellaneous
 1953-1984, undated

Sub-series V.B. Eileen (Price) Farbman, 1977-1987
Container 1 Container 2   Title Date
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 9 Eileen Price résumés, college admissions, etc.
 1977-circa 1983
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 10 Steven & Eileen Farbman tax papers
 1987

Sub-series V.C. Steven Price, 1975-1988
Container 1 Container 2   Title Date
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 11 Bar Mitzvah Haftarah
 1975 March 1
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 12 Newspaper profile

Scope and Contents

David C. Berliner, "Children's Express: News Kids on the Block," Washington Post, January 7, 1977.

1977 January 7
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 13 Middle East trip
 1978
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 14 Steven Price résumés
 circa 1981-1984
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 15 Department of Defense internship
 1982
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 16 Articles written for New York Times
 1980-1983
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 17 Articles written for Brown Daily Herald
 1981-1983
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 18 Brochure: "Can you picture Brown without its student newspaper?"
 circa 1984
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 19 Articles written for Gainesville Sun
 1983 June-August
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 20 Brown University
 1981-1984
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 21 Brown University Commencement
 1984
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 22 Columbia University School of Law
 1984, 1988
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 23 Goldman Sachs
 1984
Offsite-Box: 7 Folder : 24 Taxes
 1988

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