Research: Topics: Business & Labor: The Lusk Committee
The Lusk Committee
L0041. New York City Maps Outlining Concentrations of Ethnic Groups, 1919. 0.3 cubic foot (2 maps).
Arrangement: Geographical by city borough.
The series consists of two annotated print maps of four New York City boroughs, produced by staff of the committee in furtherance of its objective to gather information about suspected radical groups in New York State. The maps are colored to show sections where various ethnic populations were concentrated in 1919, and numbered to show locations of both suspected radical group meetings and radical newspapers published in the city. The committee concentrated its investigations on New York City. One map in the series covers the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx; the other covers Brooklyn and parts of Queens.
The maps are annotated copies of printed street maps published by the Ohman Map Company. Dated 1919, each is entitled "Ethnic Map" and carries a pasted on printed legend block that states the map was prepared under direction of a special deputy Attorney General by the chief clerk of the committee, together with troopers of the New York State Police and the Police Department of the City of New York. The maps are each hand colored to outline eleven groups of ethnic populations: Germans; Russian Jews; Italians; Austro- Hungarians; Irish; Chinese; Scandinavians and Finns; Syrians, Turks, Armenians, and Greeks; French; Negroes; and "Mixed."
The Manhattan/Bronx map has a street and avenue index, a scale in feet, and an inset map showing the outline of New York City. In addition to the ethnic groups it lists 63 halls and assembly rooms "where radical meetings are held" and 44 "radical and liberal" newspapers and periodicals published in New York City in August 1919. It measures 118 x 46 cm.
The Brooklyn/Queens map has the same title and block information, a scale in feet, and a directional symbol. It also shows the location of ethnic groups, and includes a separate typed index list identifying the location of 23 halls and assembly rooms in Brooklyn "where radical meetings are held." The printed base map has a 1917 copyright date. The map measures 91 x 67 cm.
