The New York Chronology

The New York Chronology: The Ultimate Compendium of Events, People, and Anecdotes from the Dutch to the Present by James Trager (HarperCollins, 2003)

This 933 page reference work was published in 2003 and includes entries from 1524 through 2002. Preceded by The People’s Chronology (1979/1992), The Women’s Chronology (1994), The Food Chronology (1995),  This was the fourth Chronology compendium Mr. Trager had published. Entries are listed chronologically and labelled with 1 of 32 different pictographs representing various topics, e.g. Political Events, Human Rights & Social Justice, Real Estate, Crime, and Population. Some entries include small black and white images, including photographs, paintings, engravings, and newsprint reproductions.  Each entry is approximately 300 words, though length fluctuates. While the volume is ostensibly split into 5 sections, they are far from equal in terms of detail. The Early Years (1524-1700), which covers 176 years of New York history, is only 17 pages long,  while The 18th Century (1701-1800) is only 30. In contrast The 19th Century (1801-1900) is 220 pages long and The 20th Century (1901-2000) is a whopping 600. In a likely attempt to include the events of September 11, 2001 (without which any modern history of New York City would feel incomplete) Mr. Trager includes a final section called The 21st Century (2001-2002) which is 8 pages long and includes little information unrelated to the terrorist attacks.

In his preface Trager writes “the purpose of this book is not only to provide an accurate, concise desk reference but also to entertain readers with details… that figured in the city’s rise to prominence” (VII). This goal to “entertain readers” is clearly Mr. Trager’s overriding concern, because the research value of this work is limited. Most problematically is the failure of Mr. Trager to offer any citations beyond occasional vague photo credits (e.g. “Library of Congress” and “Museum of the City of New York.”) The entries themselves, and the facts they contain, are wholly unattributed. While Mr. Trager’s long career of respectable encyclopedic writing means there’s little reason to doubt the veracity of his facts, a researcher looking to follow-up on the information would have a difficult time. The closest glimpse we get to where exactly he sourced his facts is in his preface when  Mr. Trager thanks numerous individuals for their “advice, information and suggestions,” including contacts at New York cultural institutions like the South Street Seaport Museum, Wildlife Conservation Society, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Madison Square Garden, and the New York Department of Buildings. There is a single 53 page combined index (as opposed to a place index or person index). The index does not sort by the various topics or dates, however. A researcher cannot find a list of all the “Real Estate” events or all the “1952” entries. Looming figures in New York City history (e.g. “Robert Moses” or “Central Park”) get giant index entries, however.

Entries themselves appear inspired more by entertainment and Mr. Trager’s personal interests than historical significance or complexity. For instance, a 1921 entry on theater is twice as long as the September 11, 2001 entry. Mr. Trager does include many interesting factoids unlikely to be included in traditional history textbooks, like the number of performances obscure plays ran for and the publication poetry. All this makes for a very interesting read, but for research purposes it holds limited value. The New York Chronology would prove most useful for a writer researching a specific event in New York City history and wanted to know what else happened in that specific year. Other research questions could probably be more quickly and thoroughly answered elsewhere.