WILLIAM O'DWYER
14x16 certificate signed as Mayor, appointing a prominent New York musician to the Golden Jubilee committee
Civil Appointment signed: "William O'Dwyer" as Mayor, 1 page, 14x16. Certificate appointing Robert Leech Bedell to the Mayor's Committee for the Commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of New York City. Vignette depicts the City. Gold-colored seal affixed in lower left corner. William O'Dwyer (1890-1964) was the 100th Mayor of New York. Previously a Kings County judge and district attorney, he won plaudits for prosecuting members of Murder, Incorporated. After losing a mayoral bid to Fiorello LaGuardia in 1941, he served in the US Army in World War II, rising to the rank of brigadier general. He was elected Mayor in 1946. O'Dwyer appointed Robert Moses as the City's construction coordinator, worked successfully to make New York the permanent home of the United Nations, had initiated the first Israel Day parade. He was re-elected in 1949, but resigned the following year during a police corruption scandal. He was given a farewell ticker tape parade, and President Truman appointed him US Ambassador to Mexico, but allegations of involvement with organized crime shadowed him for the rest of his life. Robert Leech Bedell (1909-1974) was a prominent composer, and the organist at St Anne's Episcopal Church and WNYC. Mounting residue on face. Seal at lower left edge worn. Corners creased and worn. Lightly toned. Otherwise, fine condition.