Reminiscences of Gordon Davis, 1983

Biographical Note

Lawyer, public official

Scope and Contents

Family background, childhood on Chicago's South Side: race relations in Chicago, influence of father, William Davis; Williams College, BA, 1963, honarary PhD, 1983: comparison of racial relations with father's experience at Williams in 1920s; Columbia University, MA 1964; Harvard Law School, 1967; involvement with civil rights movement, 1963-68; courtship and marriage to Peggy Cooper; European travels; work with John V. Lindsay, especially 1971 presidential campaign; Budget Bureau, 1968-69; Planning Commission, 1973; Rupert Murdoch's purchase of NEW YORK magazine, 1976; Commissioner, Parks Department, 1978-83: administrative style, dealings with press, reaction to project proposal by Christo, 1982 anti-nuclear rally; impressions of Edward Koch, assessment of his relations with black community; New York City's School Chancellor appointment, 1983

Subjects

• African Americans--Civil rights.
• Davis, Gordon--Interviews.
• Government executives--New York (State)--New York--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Koch, Ed, 1924-2013.
• Lawyers--Interviews.
• Mayors--New York (State)--New York.
• New York (N.Y.)--Politics and government--1951-
• New York (N.Y.). Department of Parks.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Tanner, Estelle N., interviewer.
• United States--Race relations.
• Williams College.

Access Conditions

Copyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, 2006