In 1987 when I became Curator of Prints and Photographs at the Museum of the City of New York, I knew that the Museum held important photographs by Berenice Abbott. It was not until 1989, however, when the Museum received a grant from the New York State Council for the Arts (nysca) to rehouse and inventory the Abbott collection, that I fully understood the collection's significance and the Museum's role in Abbott's career. The Museum championed her work by mounting a one-person show in 1934, acting as her sponsor with the Federal Art Project in 1935, and exhibiting Changing New York in 1937. In the 1940s, it acquired the definitive collection of Abbott's project: in 1940, it purchased an official set of exhibition prints; in 1943 when the Federal Art Project terminated, it received the Changing New York negatives, proofs, and duplicate prints; and in 1949, it secured a second set of exhibition prints and the project's research files.

As I worked with the collection, I came to believe that a thorough study was needed to do justice to these widely but superficially known photographs. After I left the staff in 1991, the Museum steadfastly backed my plan and secured funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and from Furthermore, the publication program of The J. M. Kaplan Fund. The NEA grant also supported planning of the accompanying exhibition, opening at the Museum in March 1998 and traveling internationally.

At the Museum, I wish to extend heartfelt thanks to Peter Simmons, Manager of Collections Access, who collaborated on this catalogue. Bringing to bear his expertise in architecture and historic preservation, Peter visited each Abbott site and prepared a research memorandum on each image. Jan Seidler Ramirez, Deputy Director for Programs and Collections, supervised the project and insightfully reviewed the manuscript. Essential assistance with preparation of the book's reproductions came from Leslie Nolan, Curator of Prints & Photographs; Marguerite Lavin, Rights & Reproductions Specialist; Alison Eisendrath, Collections Manager; and Jennifer Wolfe, Assistant Registrar. Julie Tilewick executed the 1989 nysca inventory and rehousing grant.

While the greater part of the Changing New York story resides at the Museum, a vital part resides at Commerce Graphics, which acquired Abbott's archive in 1985. I am deeply grateful to Ronald A. Kurtz, President of Commerce Graphics, Ltd, Inc., for printing the Museum's Abbott negatives, granting unlimited access to the archive, supplying numerous copy prints for publication, and supporting the exhibition. Helaine Pardo, Curator of Commerce Graphics, offered expertise and unfailing hospitality.

Special thanks goes to Charles Traub, Chairperson, MFA Photography and Related Media, School of Visual Arts. In the fall of 1994 and 1995, Charles supported enlisting my seminar students to re-photograph Abbott's sites. That project offered many insights into the technical difficulties Abbott confronted and her deft manipulation of the view camera. Susan Lee, who devoted the summer of 1994 to the project and advised students the following fall, deserves special recognition.

Several people who have written on Abbott and Elizabeth McCausland were especially generous. Peter Barr shared his outstanding doctoral dissertation, "On Becoming Documentary, Berenice Abbott's Photographs 1925-1939" (Boston University, 1997). Susan Dodge Peters, Director of Education at the University of Rochester's Memorial Art Gallery, allowed me to read the manuscript of her book on Elizabeth McCausland's photography criticism. Julia van Haaften, Curator of Photographs at the New York Public Library, who is preparing a biography of Abbott, introduced me to the Library's extensive Abbott holdings; and Hank O'Neal discussed his experience of writing a book with Abbott. I also wish to thank Susan Blatchford, Abbott's executor, for granting permission to publish excerpts from Jim McQuaid and David Tait's 1975 Abbott interview, and to Todd Watts and Robert Feldman for sharing their recollections of working with Abbott.

For assistance in various archives, I am indebted to Anne Ritchie, Archivist and Oral Historian, and Arlotta Owens, Assistant Curator, Modern Prints, of the National Gallery of Art, for their help with the Index of American Design; Ellen G. D'Oench, Curator, Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University; Tony Troncale, Associate Head Digital Imaging Unit, and Sharon Frost, Photography Specialist, New York Public Library; Peggy Ferrick, Archives of American Art, Washington, D.C.; Craig Williams, Senior Curator, History, New York State Museum; Susan Van Metre, Editor, E. P. Dutton Children's Books; and G. Thomas Tanselle, Vice President, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.

At the New Press, I wish to thank Andre Schiffrin for his unflagging commitment to this book, my editor Grace Farrell, and Hall Smyth, Gordon Whiteside, and Kim Waymer.

Finally, I thank my husband Paul Shechtman, who carefully read the manuscript, and with a lawyer's precision, advocated "nothing but the facts."

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