Original Calligraphic Tribute to Newbold Morris, Signed by Seventy-One Board Members, Staff, and Residents of the Henry Street Settlement, ca 1955

Original illuminated document on parchment; hand-lettered in italic with gilt illuminations at upper left and right margins; signed beneath work by the calligrapher, "E. von E." (unidentified). With original signatures of 71 board members and staff of the Henry Street Settlement. Mild soil at margins; Near Fine.

A handsome, hand-lettered tribute to outgoing President of the Board of the Henry Street Settlement Newbold Morris. Morris (1902-1966) was an important figure in Henry Street history, assuming the board presidency soon after the reorganization of the Settlement under Director Helen Hall, in 1944. Morris also played a prominent role in New York City planning and politics during the Robert Moses era; he was among the more prominent members of the New York Planning Commission; was President of the City Council from 1938 to 1945 and an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor in 1945 and 1949. Later, in 1961, Morris achieved some notoriety as the City Parks Commissioner, when he rejected the permits of hundreds of folk musicians who had been performing in Washington Square Park, sparking the so-called "Beatnik Riot," one of the opening salvos of Sixties countercultural activism.

The document is undated, but expresses appeciation for Morris's "completion of a decade of service," placing it in the vicinity of 1954-5. Beneath the calligraphic portion, the document has been signed by seventy-one individuals, including fellow board-members, staff, and residents. These include a host of prominent mid-century New York figures, beginning with Hall herself and including the prominent civic leader Nicholas Kelley; choreographer Alwin Nikolais; economist Mary Keyserling; painter Jack Levine; long-time Henry Street youth worker Ralph Tefferteller, and many others. A unique and visually attractive artifact, marking the mid-century apex of one of the most successful and long-lived social welfare projects in New York.