Paul Davidoff papers

Collection — Box: 27

Identifier: 4250

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Includes student papers; files documenting his early work as a city planner; lecture notes, correspondence, and subject files from the University of Pennsylvania and Hunter College; campaign materials from the 1968 election; and alphabetical subject files and project files of correspondence, reports, studies, clippings, and publications of the Suburban Action Institute and the Metropolitan Action Institute. Subjects include equality in access to suburban housing, exclusionary zoning policies and laws, creation of non-profit mechanisms for building mixed-income housing in suburban communities, discriminatory federal funding suits in Hartford, Conn. and elsewhere; discriminatory zoning cases including Madison and Mahwah, N.J., and Brookhaven, N.Y.; the role of large corporations in abetting discriminatory practices, including action against RCA; the creation of accessory apartments in single-family housing units; inclusionary revitalization; a study of the civil rights impact of Westway; and projects in Port Arthur, Texas, Hoboken, N.J., the lower east side of New York City, Smith Haven Mall in Yonkers, and Starrett City in Brooklyn.

Also includes correspondence, reports, and legal papers pertain to a landmark suit against the Philadelphia suburb of Mount Laurel, N.J. Also, books published by Suburban Action and Metropolitan Action as well as articles by and about Paul Davidoff and his wife Linda, also a city planner.

Also publications and offprints of Paul Davidoff and a selection of Davidoff's course outlines for teaching urban planning.

Dates

1951-1985.

Creator

Davidoff, Paul, 1930-1984. (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Paul Davidoff graduated from Allegheny College in 1952, attended Yale Law School, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Planning and Architecture in 1956, and received a law degree from Pennsylvania in 1961. He served as a planner for the Delaware County Planning Commission, the New Canaan Planning Commission, Voorhees, Walker, Smith & Smith, and the New York City Planning Commission. From 1958 to 1965, he taught in the City Planning Dept. of the University of Pennsylvania. He served as professor and director of the graduate program of the Urban Planning Program at Hunter College from 1965 to 1969. He was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress from the 26th Congressional District, New York in 1968. In 1969, with Neil Gold, he formed and became Executive Director of the Suburban Action Institute, which became the Metropolitan Action Institute in 1980. His work with both organizations included supervision of research projects, zoning litigation, corporate relocation studies, other expert testimony, conference and fundraising activities, teaching and lecturing at a number of institutions, consulting, and publishing. In 1982, Davidoff and the Metropolitan Action Institute became associated with Queens College. Paul Davidoff died in December 1984.

Extent

26.1 cubic feet. (26.1 cubic feet.)

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers relating to Paul Davidoff's career as a city planner, including his civil rights activism on housing discrimination.

SERIES LIST

Series I. Student papers Box 1

Series II. Alphabetical files, 1956-1969 Box 1-4

Series III. Suburban Action Institute, alphabetical files Box 5-11

Series IV. Alphabetical files, 1970-1979 Box 12-13

Series V. Alphabetical files, 1980-1984 Box 13-14

Series VI. Metropolitan Action Institute, general files Box 14

Series VII. Metropolitan Action Institute, alphabetical files Box 15-16

Series VIII. Correspondence Box 17

Series IX. Project files Box 18-24

Series X. Articles, publications, etc. Box 25

Series XI. Clippings from scrapbooks Box 26

Physical Description

Student papers, files, correspondence, campaign materials, reports, studies, clippings, articles, books, legal papers, and course outlines.

General

Contact Information:: Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 rareref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
EAD encoding:: Martin Heggestad, March 2002
Date modified:: Kristen Reichenbach, August 2018