In the early twentieth century, the Academy’s Committee on Public Health engaged in a number of efforts to improve New York City’s sanitation, culminating in the appointment of the Committee of Twenty on Street and Outdoor Cleanliness in 1928. Though the City’s Department of Street Cleaning had existed since 1881, political patronage and widespread corruption stymied its ability to carry out its mandate. This, in conjunction with the emergence of germ theory, compelled the committee to embark on a campaign to improve the city’s sanitation infrastructure, which included conferences, the production of reports, and educational campaigns to highlight better sanitary practices among New Yorkers.

Overflowing refuse cans on the city streets.

Among the Committee of Twenty’s early recommendations was the formation of the Department of Sanitation, which would have full control over street cleanliness. Financial concerns and inconsistent application of new ordinances and regulations again thwarted ambitions for a more robust municipal approach to cleaning the city’s streets. The Committee nevertheless moved forward on a number of fronts to educate the public about the links between sanitary conditions on the streets and public health and to serve as a watchdog group for the overall cleanliness of the city.

Reports created by the Committee of Twenty.

One educational pamphlet colorfully inveighed against dirt and disease on public infrastructure, stating, “filth is the arch enemy of health.” Other efforts included placement of litter baskets around the city and postage of signs with “do’s and don'ts” to encourage personal responsibility for city upkeep. The Committee of Twenty also sponsored a contest for the best litter basket design among other innovative methods to engage the public in solving the city’s sanitary issues. The 1939 World’s Fair represented the high-water mark for the Committee’s influence, with Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia launching a broad beautification effort to eliminate litter, dog waste, and to rid the streets of “beggars, vagrants, and peddlers.” The Committee of Twenty’s Bernard Sachs sat on Mayor LaGuardia’s Mayor’s Committee on Property Improvement. The Committee continued to influence sanitation efforts in New York City into the 1950s and 1960s.

Modern sanitation trucks adopted by the city after the creation of the Department of Sanitation.