Collins, Christiane Crasemann.

The Christiane C. Collins Collection of the West Harlem Coalition for Morningside Park and Urban Problems of the Contiguous Communities: West Harlem, Manhattan Valley, Morningside Heights and Manhattanville documents Columbia University's expansionist plans in Manhattan's Morningside Heights and Morningside Park, and subsequent protests on the part of the community and students in the 1960's and 1970's. The collection was gathered by Christiane Crasemann Collins with assistance from her husband, Columbia University Professor George Collins, long-time residents and activists in Morningside Heights.

Between 1947 and 1972 residents of Morningside Heights and surrounding neighborhoods formed a variety of organizations designed to either improve the quality of life in those communities or to prevent Columbia University and the other large institutions in the area, including St. Luke's Hospital and Jewish Theological Seminary, from destroying the multiracial and diversified socioeconomic character of the neighborhood. Columbia University was perceived as creating the greatest threat to the neighborhood, as the plan to expand its campus by purchasing scores of buildings in the immediate vicinity of the main campus resulted in the eviction of hundreds of tenants and the demolition of several buildings.

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