Victory Hall Association records, 1920-1921.

Links

• View catalog record
• View finding aid (117.68 KB PDF)

Creator

Victory Hall Association.

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division

Extent

• Originals: 13.5 linear feet (31 boxes).
• Copies: 17 microfilm reels.

Access Restrictions

Restricted access; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.

Microfilm must be used in place of original records.

Scope/Contents Notes

Records of the Victory Hall Association consist of dossierfiles and index cards containing basic information on over8,000 men and women from New York City who died in military or civilian service during World War I. Dossier files, which are arranged alphabetically, consist of an index card listing the name of the deceased, rank, military or naval unit, name and address of a relative, a portrait photograph, the Victory Hall Association's correspondence with the family, and in some files, a typedmilitary record prepared by the Association. Correspondence consists primarily of the Association's standard request for a photograph and biographical information about the deceased and the family's reply. Dossier photographs are copy prints prepared from those loaned by the relatives.

Card indexes contain over 8,000 index cards similar to those in the Dossier files arranged in two series, Branch of Service and Location. Branch of Service card file is divided into eleven subseries: Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Customs Intelligence Service, War Workers, Nurses, Allied Forces, French Military, Italian Military, and Miscellaneous. In each subseries the cards are arranged alphabetically by the name of the deceased. Location card file is divided into six subseries, the five boroughs of New York and an "out of town" file of families residing outside the Greater New York area. Index cards are arranged alphabetically within each of the subseries.

Biographical/Historical Note

The Victory Hall Association, Inc. was founded in 1919 to collect subscriptions for the erection of a combined war memorial and convention center, Victory Hall, in New York City. The memorial would contain bronze plaques inscribedwith the names of the war dead, vaults holding copies of their military records, as well as an auditorium, exhibit halls, meeting rooms, and sports facilities. The site selected for the building was an empty lot stretching the entire block bounded by Lexington and Park Avenues in the east and west, and by 42nd and 41st Streets to the north and south. The organization's president, George W. Wingate,led the fight to have the city donate the land for this purpose. The plan was hotly debated during 1920, with the strongest opposition coming from Acting President of the Board of Aldermen, Fiorello LaGuardia, who denounced the idea as a real estate scheme. He refused to let the city give away what was probably the most valuable piece of property in the world. The city eventually sold the property and Victory Hall was never built.

Controlled Access Terms

• Wingate, George Wood, 1840-1928.
• Victory Hall Association.
• Death.
• War memorials -- New York (State) -- New York.
• World War, 1914-1918 -- Casualties -- Statistics.
• World War, 1914-1918 -- Registers of dead.
• World War, 1914-1918 -- Veterans.
• Photographs.