Kathryn Greenberg papers
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The Kathryn Greenberg papers hold publicity materials, annual reports, photographs, news articles, letters, and other documents related to Greenberg's philanthropic and leadership connections with the Cardozo School of Law, New York Legal Assistance Group, Hospital for Special Surgery, Center on Aging at New York Presbyterian, and other institutions.
Biographical / Historical
Kathryn Adele (Olson) Greenberg was born in Minnesota. She attended the University of Minnesota and graduated from the University of Colorado in 1968, majoring in Art History. She went to Los Angeles for graduate school, then moved to New York City to work on Wall Street.
In 1979, Olson entered Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, graduating cum laude in 1982. She worked for Shea & Gould as a trusts and estates lawyer. In 1987, she married Alan C. ("Ace") Greenberg, the head of the financial firm, Bear Stearns.
In 1988, Kathryn returned to Cardozo Law School as a Supervising Attorney at the Bet Tzedeck Clinic, which provided student lawyers to help low-income people with legal assistance. Seeking to move beyond the resource constraints inherent at Bet Tzedeck, Greenberg left in 1990 to start New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) to provide free legal services for low-income New Yorkers. She remained Chair of the organization until about 2001 when she stepped down.
Greenberg was a member of Cardozo's Board of Directors from 1998-2000 and 2003-2010. She was Chair of the Board from 2004 until she left the position in 2010, becoming Board Chair Emerita. That same year she received Cardozo's Award for Extraordinary Leadership. Along with her husband, Alan (who died in 2014), Greenberg was a philanthropist, donating substantial time and funds to the Cardozo Law School, other educational institutions, medical facilities, and other institutions.
(The above note was based on documents in the collection.)
Arrangement
The files retain the labeling from the original accordion files delivered to N-YHS by Kathryn Greenberg, though the contents have been rehoused into archival folders. The files are arranged roughly by type of institution/philanthropic matter: legal (especially Cardozo Law School), educational (other than Cardozo), and medical/aging.
Scope and Contents
The Kathryn Greenberg papers hold publicity materials, annual reports, photographs, news articles, letters, and other documents related to Greenberg's philanthropic and leadership connections with the Cardozo School of Law, New York Legal Assistance Group, Hospital for Special Surgery, Center on Aging at New York Presbyterian, and other institutions. The container list provides a complete list of the institutions and initiatives involved with a further sense of the content.
Subjects
Organizations
Topics
Access Restrictions
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
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: Kathryn Greenberg papers, MS 3215, New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Kathryn Greenberg, 2022. The acquisition of the Greenberg papers was an initiative of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Institute.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The overall collection was processed by archivist Larry Weimer, and the digital files by archivist Margo Padilla, in 2022.