1st African American appointed in NYC

Arthur C. Ford was the first African American commissioner in New York City's government, appointed by Mayor Robert F. Wagner in 1954 as president of the NYC Department of Water Supply, Gas, and Electricity. He later became president of the Board of Water Supply in 1957, holding the position until his retirement in 1965. Ford, originally from Washington, D.C., earned an engineering degree in Montana and opposed fluoridating the city's water, voicing concerns about the uneven distribution of fluoride in households.