Fifty years ago, the April 20, 1961, issue of The Villager reported on the outcry against a ban on folk singing in Washington Square Park. The Washington Square Association said many of its members were supporting Parks Commissioner Morris in his efforts “to keep Washington Square Park an area of pleasant relaxation and recreation for the residents of the neighborhood.”
Meanwhile, the pro-folk-singer “Right to Sing” committee had boycotted the park the previous Sunday, and also held a protest rally at Judson Memorial Church. They filed a petition in State Supreme Court asking the commissioner show cause for his ban on the singers. Ten people had been arrested “during the original disturbance in the park a week ago” and were scheduled to be heard in “Arrest Court.”
The 10-year-old Local Planning Board No. 2 (the precursor to Community Board 2) would devote its April 20 meeting at the Hudson Park Branch Library “to a hearing of both sides of the case, after which the board will probably decide on a stand one way or the other.”
Greenwich Village Post No. 18 of the American Legion adopted a resolution supporting the Police and Parks departments “in their endeavors to clean up Washington Square Park.”
Save the Village wrote Morris saying that “diversified recreational activities in the park” are the best and that, therefore, folk music “should not be absolutely prohibited.”
Also supporting the singers were Americans for Democratic Action, Greenwich Village chapter, which urged the commissioner “to reconsider his decision.” The Parent Teachers Association of P.S. 41, wrote in a letter, “The key to our park is people. The folk singers are young and peaceable.”
Lincoln Anderson
