William Humphries collection
Scope and Contents
Publications, periodicals, and photographic materials documenting public transit systems and services in New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and abroad, with an emphasis on NYCTA sites, fleet, and functions.
The collection is divided into 5 series:
Series 1: Publications, 1957-1975
Series 2: Correspondence and Ephemera, 1962-1964, n.d.
Series 3: Press and News Clippings, 1988-2013
Series 4: Photographs, 1964-1993
Series 5: Slides, 1970-1981
Dates
- 1957 - 2013
- Majority of material found within 1970 - 1980
Creator
- Humphries, William (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
All areas are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Some materials may be protected by copyright.
Biographical / Historical
There is no known information about William Humphries.
Extent
.5 Linear Feet (1 box)
1 Volumes (1 binder)
1 Volumes (1 oversized book)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Publications, periodicals, and photographic materials documenting public transit systems and services in New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and abroad, with an emphasis on NYCTA sites, fleet, and functions.
System of Arrangement
Within each series, contents are arranged as per the following criteria:
Series 1: Publications is arranged in alphabetical order.
Series 2: Correspondence and Ephemera are arranged chronologically.
Series 3: Press and news clippings are arranged by genre and chronologically thereafter.
Series 4: Photographs have been arranged as per their original order, and for the most part, the original categories as established by the collector, have been maintained.
Series 5: Slides were originally stored on two carousels and were almost all unlabeled.
The first carousel, while not appearing to have a solid order, appears to have been used for talks on the graffiti prevention program and on the range of jobs that Transit workers perform, so these subjects were separated and labelled. The second carousel was from a European trip (the only label was “Subways/RR Europe” on the box). These slides were split into transit-related and tourist photos. Where possible, labels were added in brackets on the slides, to identify known subjects.
Other Finding Aids
PDF URL
Provenance
The collection was donated to the NYTM Archives on November 16, 2016. The relationship of the donor to the collection materials is unknown. The materials bear no marks of authorship or curation, save the labels affixed to two slide trays, marked as deriving from the office of Steven K. Kauffman, Executive Officer, Rapid Transit, NYCTA, and dated September 19, 1978, although this label is seemingly unrelated to the collection contents.
List of Acronyms
BERA Branford Electric Railway Association, Inc.
BMT Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit
CTA Chicago Transit Authority
IND Independent Subway
IRT Interborough Rapid Transit Company
NYCTA New York City Transit Authority
WMATA Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
- Annual Reports
- Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Station (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
- Budd Car Co.
- Chicago Transit Authority
- City Hall Station (retired) (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
- Color photographs
- Color slides
- Coney Island Yard (BMT)
- Graffiti—New York (State)—New York—Pictorial Works
- Jamaica Yard (IND)
- Local transit—Fare Evasion
- Magazines (periodicals)
- Maintenance of Way
- Newspapers
- Pullman Standard
- Railroad Yards—New York (State)—New York
- Subways—Employees
- Subways—New York State—New York—Equipment and Supplies
- Subways—New York State—Statistics--Periodicals
- Subways—Rolling Stock—New York (State)—New York
- Title
- Finding aid for William Humphries collection
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Evelyn Shunaman
- Date
- Ca. 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Revision Statements
- 2022: Edited and reformatted by Elise Winks
- 2023: Manually entered into ArchivesSpace by Joanna Satalof
Repository Details
Part of the Archives and Reading Room Repository