John C. Daniels papers

File

Identifier: MS 5

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The John C. Daniels papers (1940s-2010s; 0.9 cubic feet) consist of clippings, photographs, various campaign materials, and a speech. Also included are two plaques and some ephemera.

Most of clippings are from his initial run for mayor of New Haven in the late 1960s and then from his later campaign in the 1980s. There are no official papers from his tenure as mayor of New Haven in this collection.

Dates

Creation: 1940s-2010s

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Biographical Note

John C. Daniels was born in Bibb County, Georgia on 25 April 1936 to John and Ludelia (Huckaby) Daniels. His family moved to New Haven shortly after his birth. He graduated from James Hillhouse High School in 1955 where he was an all-state football halfback. He graduated from Villanova University earning a B.S. in Economics in 1960, and later an M.A. in Urban Studies from Occidental College in 1972. After college he returned to Connecticut and taught high school classes from 1961-1965 in West Haven. He was an Associate Fellow of Trumbull College at Yale University in the 1960s.

Daniels worked as Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Commission on Equal Opportunities and then served as assistant to the President on Urban Affairs at Quinnipiac University. He served as a city alder representing the Westville and Newhallville neighborhoods in the 1970s. In 1980 he began serving as a Connecticut State Senator, representing New Haven for ten years. In 1989 he was elected the city of New Haven’s first African American Mayor. During his tenure as Mayor, he introduced community based policing, created a nationally respected needle exchange program, started the city’s Fighting Back Initiative, convinced Yale New Haven Hospital and the Hospital of St. Raphael to commit resources for prenatal care, and brokered a deal with the State to finance the Ninth Square redevelopment project. He served two terms as Mayor and then stepped down. In 2000 a New Haven street was named in Daniels's honor, and in 2006, the John C. Daniels Elementary School opened.

Daniels was a lifelong football fan and worked as a referee for high school and college games for a number of years, and also refereed high school basketball games. He served as a deacon at the Dixwell Congregational Church for a number of years. He was active with Connecticut Housing Investment Fund, Dixwell Community House, the Community Council of Greater New Haven, Inc., YMCA, Urban League, NAACP, and the Democratic Party.

John C. Daniels was married to Madora Beth “Bess” Bentley and they had a son, John, and a daughter, Lesley, together. Daniels passed away on 14 March 2015 at the age of seventy-eight.

Sources:

Information within the collection