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The records include annual reports, board minutes, budgets, by-laws, correspondence, memos, publications, reports, scrapbooks, photographs and printed material. They document the settlement and its antecedent institutions from 1854 to 1994, offering a unique view of the first wave of the settlement house movement in America, as well as related philanthropy and social welfare activities in New York City over a 140 year period. The origins of Goddard-Riverside Community Center are documented in Series I, which includes eight institutional subseries. These records provide a wealth of information on philanthropic, social welfare and settlement work from the mid-19th century through the 1950s. Series II - IV document the activities of the settlement from 1959 to the 1990s, with a particular emphasis on the urban renewal period of the 1960s. Items in Series VII include photographs of staff, activities, facilities of Goddard-Riverside Community Center, as well as several of its predecessor institutions.

Correspondence, manuscripts, drafts, notes, documents, drawings, photographs, audio tapes, clippings, and other printed materials covering every aspect of Helen Worden Erskine Cranmer's life and career. There are extensive biographical files on: Jenny S. Bradley, Prince Charles of England, Joseph Dixon, Dwight and Mamie Doud Eisenhower, Rosina Lhévinne, Paul Niehans, the Morgan twins (Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt and Thelma Morgan Converse Furness), Jovanka Tito, Harry and Bess Truman, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor; and large files on crime, recluses, New York City history, and travel. There are extensive drafts and source materials for her unpublished autobiography. There are pencil sketches, pen-and-ink drawings, watercolors, charcoal sketches, photographs, and printed copies by Helen Worden Erskine Cranmer and by others.

The Union Settlement Association Records document a century of the settlement's activities, and provide a unique view of the first wave of the settlement movement in America. They document social conditions, demographic change, political activity, philanthropy and social work in East Harlem with a strong emphasis on the urban renewal period of the 1950s and '60s. The records include: annual reports, board minutes and committee files, headworker and executive director files, program reports, community organization files, and visual materials such as photographs, maps and architectural drawings.