Donald J. Mitchell

Aerial view of National Monument

Among his other accomplishments as a Member of Congress, he was responsible for establishing Leatherstocking Country, a nine-county tourism district in Central New York state, and played a key role in the House in establishing Fort Stanwix National Monument as a unit of the National Park System.

He and a coalition of other House members also started a campaign in the early 1970s to persuade the Defense Department to award more military contracts and employ more people in the Northeast, which was losing Defense funding and contracts to the South. And in 1974, Mitchell led another successful campaign to prevent the Air Force from cutting 1,500 jobs at the Rome Air Development Center at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, NY[6]

The Golden Theatre, Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre & Booth Theatre in Manhattan's Theater District, New York City

In 1982, at the behest of Broadway Producer Joe Papp, and with the encouragement of members of his family and others involved in a "Save the Theatres"[7][8][9][10] effort to preserve historic Broadway theatres in New York City, Mitchell introduced legislation in the Congress along with 13 co-sponsors[lower-alpha 2] to designate a "Broadway/Times Square Theatre District National Historic Site" in Mid-Town Manhattan.[lower-alpha 3]

Mitchell's bill (97th Congress – H.R.6885) faced fierce opposition and extensive lobbying mounted against it by Mayor Ed Koch's administration and big-money Manhattan development interests. Although the measure was, consequently, never enacted – the overall effect of his legislative initiative and of the "Save the Theatres" effort generally, however, was to slow down the rapid destruction of the old Theater District. This allowed for the preservation of at least some of the historic playhouses, with the eventual designation by the City of an official "Theater Subdistrict",

[lower-alpha 4] and helped to ensure retention of a measure of the District's original flavor, atmosphere, charm and historic character for future generations of theatregoers and visitors to the City.[12]

As a result in large part to Papp's efforts, with the support of Congressman Mitchell and many others, the Theater District remains one of New York City's primary and most popular tourist attractions and destinations.[12]

During his long career of military and public service, Mitchell had received many awards and honors. These included among others the Jimmy Doolittle Fellowship, an award presented by the Aerospace Education Foundation of the Air Force Association; Patriot of the Year, presented by the New York State Reserve Officers Association; and the National Security Award presented by the US Civil Defense Council.

Following his retirement, Mitchell received a number of tributes of various sorts.[5] Among these was the naming in his honor of the Veterans Administration hospital clinic at Griffiss Air Force Base near Rome, New York – which was formally designated by Act of Congress, signed into law by President Clinton, to be known as the "Donald J. Mitchell VA Outpatient Clinic". The facility provides primary care and other health care services for veterans in the greater Utica-Rome-Syracuse area in Central New York State.[13]

A highway bridge over West Canada Creek in the Mohawk Valley just north of the Village of Herkimer was officially designated by Herkimer County in 1988 as the "Donald J. Mitchell Bridge" in his honor.

In 1992, Congressman Mitchell and his family established the "Donald J. Mitchell Family Fund", a charitable trust fund administered through the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties based in Utica. The foundation and the Mitchell fund's mission is to build partnerships, inspire leadership and generate positive outcomes toward increasing the percentage of adults with bachelor's degrees in Herkimer and Oneida counties, through annual grants to local students; and to embrace other programs and collaborations that address economic development, education, health, and arts and culture in the region.[14] Since its inception in 1992, the Mitchell Fund has provided Mitchell Scholarship grants each year to student recipients attending Herkimer County Community College and Mohawk Valley Community College.

Mitchell died on September 27, 2003, of complications associated with Parkinson's disease. Upon his death, the Utica Observer-Dispatch newspaper noted: "If anyone can be heralded for having led an exemplary life, its former U.S. Congressman Donald J. Mitchell.... Mitchell managed to balance a vigorous commitment to community and country without ever forsaking family and friends – and he left a legacy of pride along a path that took him from the Mohawk Valley to the Nation's Capital and back again."[1]

Escorted by both Active Duty, and American Legion Veterans honor guards – and borne by uniform personnel representing all branches of the U.S. Military – Mitchell was interred with full military honors, accompanied by "Taps" and the firing of volley shots, on a hillside at the Oak Hill Cemetery overlooking a tributary of the Mohawk River in his hometown of Herkimer, New York.[1][2]