New York State Council on the Arts

The New York State Council on the Arts enters the diary through a dinner honoring Kitty Carlisle Hart, newly named by Governor Carey to lead the organization. The occasion makes the council’s leadership visible not through a description of its programs or structure, but through the social network gathered to recognize its new head.

Leadership and Public Recognition

The diary identifies Kitty Carlisle Hart as the council’s new head and Governor Carey as the person who named her to the post. That appointment is the reason for the dinner: the organization’s public leadership change becomes a social event, marked by an evening in the company of performers, friends, and cultural figures.

The Dinner at The Players Club

On December 5, 1976, the gathering took place at The Players Club on Gramercy Park. The diarist thought the dinner looked like a stag party, though several women attended: Arlene Francis, Peggy Cass, Dena Kaye, and Irene Selznick, who chaired the evening. Dena came in place of her husband, Danny, who was said to have Concorde-lag. Peggy Cass and Arlene Francis were identified as Carlisle Hart’s sidekicks from To Tell the Truth, linking the honoree’s television life to the occasion recognizing her new civic role.

The Council in the Diary

The account offers only a narrow view of the New York State Council on the Arts: it names its incoming head and records the dinner held in her honor, without detailing the organization’s work or policies. That limited glimpse is significant in form. The council appears as part of the diary’s record of people, appointments, and social occasions, with institutional leadership encountered through the personal event organized to celebrate it.