In the bible of civic reform, the Citizens Union of the City of New York begat the Bureau of City Betterment. The Bureau of City Betterment begat the Bureau of Municipal Research. And the Bureau of Municipal Research begat the Institute of Public Administration, Luther Gulick and a new science of efficient, effective, honest, professional […]

The following blogpost with illustrations was written by Aaron Horvath, a Stanford University doctoral candidate who visited Baruch College’s Newman Library Archives in November to research the early governmental reforms of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research and the Institute of Public Administration. We are grateful for his input and gratified he found the […]

No it’s not the beginning of a joke, or a softball contest. Journalists are widely distrusted these days. Librarians are respected. For the whys and wherefores, we’re turning this post over to the respected journalism think tank, the Poynter Institute. (As a Distinguished Lecturer in the Baruch College Library Archives and 45-year veteran of The […]

You all know what this is, right? Of course, it’s a New York City subway Fare Decoder Circuit,– Heavy Duty Type, circa 1952. Don’t feel bad if you can’t make much sense of it — we can’t either. So what’s the point? Bear with us. The diagram comes from a 65-year-old report of the Mayor’s […]

  Say you’re a hardworking member of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research 103 years ago. You’re ready for a summer vacation. What do you do to take a break from work? Naturally, you work. Sure, you’re away to have fun. But don’t forget to take the opportunity to “broaden your civic outlook.” One […]