Born from the ashes of World War II, the dream of a more peaceful and just world brought nations together in 1945 under a new vision for humanity: the United Nations.
Eight decades later, the aspirations for peace, dignity and equality still resonate as the United Nations celebrates 80 years of existence in New York City – a place that is now inseparable from the organization’s global identity…but is not destined to be its home forever.
Hunter (now Lehman) College in the New York area of ​​The Bronx was one of the earliest temporary headquarters of the United Nations and was the location of the first United Nations. security council Meeting on American soil on March 25, 1946.
Where else has the Security Council met outside its current location?
The basketball gym at Hunter College was renovated as the United Nations Security Council Chamber in just three weeks. The journalists were accommodated in a converted swimming pool. One of the first issues the council discussed was Iran.
Two current employees of Lehman College hold a photo of the 1946 United Nations Security Council photo that once occupied the college’s basketball court.
pay attention audio From the first Security Council meeting at Hunter College.
Hunter College was never large enough to accommodate the United Nations staff needed to run the organization, not to mention representatives from the then 51 countries or United Nations member states, so a new temporary headquarters was established in a World War II munitions factory in Lake Success on Long Island.
United Nations personnel arrived at Lake Success in October 1946.
In 1946 – as is the case today – UN staff came from multicultural and international backgrounds. One was surprised at the uniqueness of seeing women in sarees and men in traditional Thawab attire in newspaper reports.
At Lake Success, the meetings were recorded and broadcast globally, representing an unprecedented moment in worldwide broadcasting history.
Eleanor Roosevelt (center) joins a United Nations radio discussion on the International Bill of Rights.
UN Radio was established in 1946 and the initial interviewer was Eleanor Roosevelt (centre), a US representative (and former First Lady of the United States), who was the driving force behind it. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
world radio day Celebrated every 13 February – the day UN Radio first broadcast 80 years ago this year.
see here United Nations video profile of Eleanor Roosevelt.
A New York company is preparing to go to the United Nations.
The United Nations soon needed more space and an agreement was made to hold the General Assembly meetings at the former World’s Fair site in Flushing Meadows in the Queens area of ​​New York. Security Council and other United Nations activities remained at Lake Success.
It was cold and windy in Flushing Meadows, and it showed: delegates often wore coats inside. One usher appeared in a padded mandarin coat, and the Indian delegates added woolen coverings over their sarees. A UN nurse was on hand to treat several colds, proving that even world diplomacy could withstand the New York cold.
Despite the cold, Secretary-General Lee described the building and the surrounding park as a powerful symbol of the warmth of friendship between the United Nations and its host city.
Hear Spoke with Rula Hinedi, Head of Guided Tours at the United Nations, about Flushing Meadows.
A skating rink was converted into the General Assembly Hall, which met there until 1950, by which time the United Nations had expanded to 60 member states. (today there are 193).
A United Nations staff member checks the nameplates of countries attending the United Nations General Assembly in Flushing Meadow.
The responsibility behind organizing international meetings of a scale never seen before rested with the staff of the United Nations Secretariat, the administrative and executive body of the United Nations that keeps the organization running.
Here, a United Nations staff member prepares nameplates for countries attending the United Nations General Assembly meeting in Flushing Meadow.
Press officers in the United Nations edit verbatim reports from UN meetings.
Behind the scenes, hundreds of communications and PR officers work to ensure that issues debated in the General Assembly and the Security Council reach the widest possible audience. Verbatim reports of the meetings were compiled by press officers (pictured below) in English and French, the working languages ​​of the United Nations, and then distributed globally.
While the United Nations continued its work at Flushing Meadow, efforts were intensified to find a permanent location for the world body.
United Nations Secretary-General Trygve Lee (center) accepts a gift of $8.5 million for the purchase of land on the East River in Manhattan in March 1947.
New York City faced competition from Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Fairfield County in the state of Connecticut, as well as Westchester County in the state of New York.
An $8.5 million gift from John D. Rockefeller, an American industrialist and perhaps the richest man in the world at the time, secured the 17-acre site on which the United Nations headquarters currently stands on the East River in Manhattan.
Here Trygve Lee (center), then-United Nations Secretary-General, accepts a gift from John D. Rockefeller Jr. (right), with New York City Mayor William O’Dwyer also present.
Clearing the land for the United Nations Headquarters building began in 1947.
Work began to clear the site that was a tobacco field 300 years ago but had more recently served as meat-packing warehouses.
Workers washing clothes after a day of construction work at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in 1947.
A reporter from United Nations Radio visited the site and interviewed a bystander:
What attracts you after seeing this?
Audience: I’m interested in these guys digging a hole here.
Reporter: As a New Yorker, as an American, as a person who belongs to one of the countries of the United Nations, what is your feeling? What are your honest, candid feelings about the whole thing?
Audience: I think it’s amazing. I think if the United Nations works, it will be the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to us.
Reporter: I see that you have justified your statement. Why do you think this might not work?
Audience: Only us, only the people.
Reporter: This is my best answer so far.
listen to the interview Here.
The construction of the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan took approximately three years, led by an international team of renowned architects including Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer.
Employees began moving into the building in 1951, and when it was finally completed in 1952, it had office space for approximately 3,000 people.
A window cleaner was perched precariously on a window sill on the First Avenue side of the United Nations Headquarters building in 1951.
The UN’s relationship with New York City is now 80 years old and historian Chris McNickle says he has “no doubt that the UN is where it belongs.
“New York City is the great immigrant city of the world. It’s a statement that this city tells people from all walks of life, all parts of the world, every race, every color, every creed, every religion, that we can all work together and get along, and I think that’s still true today.”
to listen to the conversation Here.
The United States, a founding member of the United Nations, was a driving force behind the idea and physical enactment of the organization.
The chairman of the committee responsible for developing the UN complex, US Ambassador Warren R. Austin said that “The United Nations is built on principles that will outlast the steel and stone of any structure. The United Nations stands as the most important man-made instrument in accordance with the law of God for the solution of problems and for uniting the peoples of the world.”
