New York State Office of Model Cities Program Services Program Files

Organized into five subseries: 1. Chronology and activity files - reverse chronological order; 2. Files on cities - alphabetical by city, then in reverse chronological order; 3. Reports - by type of report, then reverse chronological; 4. Correspondence and subject files from federal agencies and other states - roughly alphabetical by subject, then reverse chronological order; 5. Comprehensive action plans and reports from model cities - alphabetically by city.

The Model Cities Program was a federal program initiated in 1966 by the enactment of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act. The program was overseen by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as an element of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty" program. The program was designed to coordinate various existing federal urban improvement programs in a holistic approach to improving cities. Federal grants would be made to municipalities, but the disbursement of the funds would be controlled by city demonstration agencies comprised of elected officials, low-income persons, and representatives of community organizations. Originally, the program was designed to focus on a few "demonstration cities," but the program became a popular "carrot" in legislative deal-making. By 1967 there were 150 cities involved in the program, which had the effect of diluting the impact of the program's funding. In addition, the program was often unpopular with state and municipal governments, which felt that the city demonstration agencies usurped their authority and allowed for direct federal control of cities. In 1974, the Model Cities Program was merged with other urban renewal programs administered by HUD to form the Community Development Block Grant program.

This series contains correspondence, reports, newsletters, instructional guides, and other materials created and used by the Office of Model Cities Program Services. There is correspondence within the Office of Model Cities Program Services, as well correspondence with city demonstration agency members and Model Cities program managers. Topics covered in the correspondence include the preparation of evaluation reports, the processes of reporting to the New York State Education Department and HUD, the transmission of conference materials, and the review of project proposals.

Also included are files maintained on each city involved in New York's Model Cities Program, containing field reports from Office personnel, newsletters from model cities, narratives of projects within each city, and clippings related to issues particularly relevant to individual cities, such as desegregation, occupational education, multicultural education, and continuing education.

This series also consists of reports completed by, and sent to, the Office of Model Cities Services. Included are weekly reports from Office of Model Cities Services field staff, monthly reports and annual evaluation reports from the Office to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and comprehensive action plans and reports from city demonstration agencies. Also included in the subseries are correspondence and instructional materials from HUD, the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and other federal agencies involved with the Model Cities Program. Also included are correspondence and reports from staff of other state education agencies concerning their technical assistance programs for Model Cities.

14188Series 14188, Urban Education Program correspondence and project files and

14189Series 14189, Division of Urban Education correspondence and subject files, contain documentation on the Division of Urban Education, which was responsible for administering the NYC School-Community Interaction Umbrella Program.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.