West Bronx Young Republican Club Records, 1950–1969

Although young people were involved in the Republican Party from its very inception in 1854, the national organization of local and state clubs of Young Republicans began in earnest in April 1931. At that point Robert H. Lucas, Executive Director of the Republican National Committee, encouraged the creation of organizations across the nation to instill Republican Party principles among young people. The first conference of such organizations took place in Washington, D.C., on June 11–12, 1931. From there, the Young Republican National Federation has grown to include state and local clubs of Young Republicans throughout the U.S.

New York City, a hotbed of the early Republican Party, had a long history of such youth organizations prior to 1931. In 1856, the New York Young Republican Union was founded, and this was succeeded in 1879 by the New York Young Men’s Republican Club, and then in 1911 by The New York Young Republican Club. The final of these is still in existence today, though its twenty-first century platform, as is the case for the Republican Party nation-wide, diverges recognizably from the fiery radicalism of the early Republican Party, especially in New York, and the national progressivism of Teddy Roosevelt or Eisenhower. 

The West Bronx Young Republican Club, located first at 3900 Greystone Avenue, then at 6114 Riverdale Avenue, was started in 1948 under the leadership of John C. Ryder. During Ryder’s tenure as President, the Club successfully campaigned for the election of Joseph Periconi as Bronx Borough President, who ran on a dual Republican–Liberal Party ticket to defeat the long incumbent Democrat, James J. Lyons. During this same period, the Club launched energetic campaigns for Dwight D. Eisenhower for U.S. President and Nelson A. Rockefeller for Governor of New York. In addition to electoral activity, the Club fostered close relationships with the Women’s Republican Club of Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil, the West Bronx Republican Club, veteran organizations in The Bronx, and the American Jewish League Against Communism, also known as the Joint Committee Against Communism.

As a testament to the West Bronx Young Republican Club’s ardor, in 1957 it started the Committee for a Stronger Republican Party in the 12th Assembly District of The Bronx in an attempt to unseat the firmly entrenched local Republican Party machine. Ultimately, the Club’s efforts were unsuccessful, as the Republican Party not only in The Bronx but nationwide lurched increasingly to the right and stifled internal dissent throughout the 1960s and 1970s. (Indeed, the Democratic Party exhibited similar trends during this period of U.S. history.) At any rate, when all was said and done, John C. Ryder, the President of the West Bronx Young Republican Club, disbanded the organization and eventually became an active member in the Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club.

Description/Scope and Content

The collection consists of scattered correspondence, newspaper clippings, and legal documents from the West Bronx Young Republican Club’s battle with the Bronx Republican Party machine during the second half of the 1950s and early 1960s. It also contains 6 scrapbooks, containing clippings, correspondence, documents, and photographs from the West Bronx Young Republican Club and related organizations, 1950–1959.