A Tomahawk With A Past
Many objects in the Luce Center, where nearly 40,000 objects from the New-York Historical Society’s permanent collection are displayed, are beautiful to look at. But they are also intriguing portals...
View ArticleCelebrating Christmas By Crossing the Delaware
What did you do on Christmas morning? Slowly sipped coffee as you rustled through your stockings? Chatted with friends and family at church? Stealthily crossed a frigid river for a surprise attack...
View ArticleSmallpox and Shaping Society, Part 1
What does smallpox have to do with American history? According to David Rosner, Ph.D., Co-Director, Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health at Columbia University, advisor to the exhibition...
View ArticleOccupy 1765
What do Americans do when they feel their government, isn’t representing them? In 1765, we revolted. That year Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which taxed all paper documents in the colonies. And...
View ArticleA Kingdom Built on Sugar: Sugar Sculpture of Versailles at New-York Historical
Our current exhibition Revolution! The Atlantic World Reborn is full of historic documents, artifacts and art, designed to put you in the shoes of people fighting for freedom across the Atlantic in the...
View ArticleCan Tiny Stamps Trigger a Revolution?
by Timothy Wroten On March 22, 1765, British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a direct tax imposed specifically on printed materials sold in the American colonies. News of the Stamp Act’s passage in...
View ArticleWhat’s It Like Being Benjamin Franklin?
Have you ever wanted to ask Ben Franklin about his infamous kite experiment? Or his time as the first United States Ambassador to France? Or maybe just how to play a good game of chess? The real...
View ArticleHow We Celebrate Our Independence
My plan for this Independence Day involves hot dogs, hanging out on my friend’s balcony, and watching the fireworks on the East River. I think it’s a pretty good way to spend my day, but New Yorkers...
View ArticleThe Men Who Lost America
British-born Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, Professor of History at the University of Virginia, and 2014 recipient of the New-York...
View ArticleRevolutionary Indecision: Brooklyn during the American Revolution
Did you know that some Brooklynites fought for both sides during the American Revolution? When revolutionary rhetoric adopted an anti-slavery tone, Kings County residents renounced the “Glorious Cause”...
View ArticleLafayette’s Return: An Interview with Laura Auricchio
This week we sat down with Dean and Associate Professor of Art History at The New School Laura Auricchio who recently published a groundbreaking biography on the French Founding Father, The Marquis:...
View ArticleCelebrate July 4 at N-YHS!
Join us this Independence Day ! On the Fourth of July, partake in the patriot festivities we’re offering throughout the day. Come churn ice cream from scratch, enjoy tunes ‘n tales from the Hudson...
View ArticleWhen New York City was a Battleground
Two-hundred thirty-nine years ago yesterday, New York City was a battleground: nearly 40,000 Continental and British troops faced off in Brooklyn. Today, the Battle of Brooklyn is remembered as the...
View ArticleNew York City and the Declaration of Independence
This blog was written by Jean Ashton, Senior Director, Resources and Programs, New-York Historical Society. New York in the summer of 1776 was hot and steamy. Although the city’s merchants and...
View ArticleA Horse’s Tail: How a Legendary Piece of a King George III Statue Landed at...
On the evening of July 9, 1776, downtown New York City was in a rebellious mood. The Declaration of Independence had been read aloud that day in lower Manhattan for the first time, announcing to the...
View ArticleHistory at Home: Two Views of the American Revolution
When New-York Historical was founded in 1804, one of its earliest missions was to preserve artifacts and materials from the American Revolution. So it’s no surprise that our Public Programs series has...
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