Category Archives: Exhibits

Exhibits, Historic Places, Museums & Exhibits, New York City travel

The New York Historical Launches Campaign to Honor the 250th Anniversary of the United States’ Founding in 2026

Along with a suite of exhibitions, The Historical partners with history museums from across the nation to invite Americans to share their birthdays wishes “On Our 250th”

As the nation prepares for the 250th anniversary of its founding, The New York Historical has announced a broad suite of exhibitions and programs, and a digital campaign joined by a nation-wide coalition of history museums, named “On Our 250th.” The initiative has just begun with the launch of onour250th.org, where individuals can share a birthday wish for their nation and its democracy turning 250. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

New York—As the nation prepares for the 250th anniversary of its founding, The New York Historical has announced a broad suite of exhibitions and programs, and a digital campaign joined by a nation-wide coalition of history museums, named “On Our 250th.” The initiative has just begun with the launch of onour250th.org, where individuals can share a birthday wish for their nation and its democracy turning 250. The exhibitions will begin in fall 2025, with a major exhibition of Revolutionary-era documents from the David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection, and then include shows on immigration photography, contemporary artists’ reflections on the anniversary, and exhibitions on Revolutionary Women and on how New York celebrated the nation’s bicentennial. Plus, in early summer 2026, The Historical will have the grand opening of its new Tang Wing for American Democracy.

“On Our 250th” 
“On Our 250th” is a partnership organized by The New York Historical and Made by US of history museums across the nation to invite individuals to share a public message of their hopes for our nation and its democracy on the occasion of its anniversary. On both a microsite—onour250th.org—and on-site at museums across the nation, this campaign will collect five to 50 word greetings from Americans of all ages. The campaign already has 23 participating history museums across 15 states, including Wyoming, Georgia, Virginia, and Illinois, plus the Smithonian’s National Museum of American History. The website was created by Use All Five, a digital design agency.

“We have planned these exhibitions and programs in the hope of bringing our fellow citizens new insights into who we are and have been as Americans,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO, The New York Historical. “As an institution established by veterans of the American Revolutionary War, with the objective of ensuring that future generations would know of, and value the nation’s great struggle for freedom and equality, we are firm in our belief that, by understanding the past and appreciating the people on whose shoulders we stand, our democracy will thrive.”

The New York Historical launched the microsite today with 250 greetings from students, including this potent note from Andrea, a middle school student in New Jersey: “Happy Birthday, USA! My wish for you is to once again be a united country meant to protect and serve all. To return to a land of opportunity and diversity for all who seek it.” Participating institutions include: Atlanta History Center, Chicago History Museum, Democracy Center at the Japanese American National Museum, Harriet Beecher Stowe House, The Heurich House Museum, Idaho State Museum, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Levine Museum of the New South, Lincoln Presidential Foundation, National Liberty Museum, National World War I Museum and Memorial, The New York Historical, Revolutionary Spaces, Robert H. Jackson Center, Ruth Mott Foundation/Applewood, Senator John Heinz History Center, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Vermont Historical Society, Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Wyoming State Museum.

Exhibitions
The exhibitions related to the 250th anniversary will take place over a 15-month period, from October 2025 to December 2026, in both The Historical’s main building and, starting summer 2026, its new Tang Wing for American Democracy. The exhibitions include:

Declaring the Revolution: America’s Printed Path to Independence
Fall 2025
Visitors have the unique opportunity to see a selection of landmark documents from the David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection showcasing America’s founding era on display together.

Arriving in America: Portraits of Immigrants from The New York Historical Collections
Fall 2025
This exhibition mines the vast photography collections of the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library as a lens to view the immigrant experience in New York through the faces and places photographers have captured over time.

Revolutionary Women
February 2026
Showcasing the little known and unknown achievements of women in the years leading up to, during, and following the Revolutionary War, this exhibition brings new insights into the nation’s founding.

Old Masters and New Amsterdam
Spring 2026
Who were the people of the Dutch Golden Age who founded the colony that would become New York? What drove them to set sail and colonize? A dazzling array of more than 60 Dutch Old Master paintings, featuring works by Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, Jan Lievens, and Jan Steen, provides viewers with clues into the Dutch society that spawned New York.

Democracy Matters
Summer 2026
Why does democracy matter? What does it look like in action? Whom does it represent? Objects from The New York Historical’s Museum and Library collections join works by contemporary New York City-based artists. Together, they explore the original promise of and continuing progress toward the American Revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality.

“You Should be Dancing”: New York, 1976
Fall 2026
In 1976, New York City was in crisis. Its youth rescued and reinvigorated it. You Should Be Dancing transports the visitor to a year of contradictions for New York City. The metropolis was the main stage for America’s 200th birthday celebration, with days of parades, festivals, and performances. But it also faced near-bankruptcy, spiking crime, and a housing and drug crisis. Out of this moment emerged musical genres driven by the city’s youth—including disco, punk and hip hop—which forever changed music history.This exhibition surrounds the visitor with music, fashion, instruments, photographs, and original documents to learn about the glitz and grit of this transformative year in New York City’s history.

The Tang Wing for American Democracy

The Tang Wing for American Democracy, dedicated to exhibitions and programming on democracy, opens in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary. The Tang Wing for American Democracy will house the Academy for American Democracy, the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Center for Teaching Democracy, new gallery spaces and classrooms, a conservation studio, and the first home of the American LGBTQ+ Museum (opening at a later date). The new wing will also be the home of The New York Historical’s MA in Museum Studies program, a trailblazing initiative founded in 2019 with the CUNY School of Professional Studies, and a renovated library stack storage tower for the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, which holds more than 10 million items, including rare copies of our nation’s foundational documents.

New York’s first museum, The New York Historical  (formerly known as the New-York Historical Society) is a leading cultural institution covering over 400 years of American history. The New York Historical is a museum of museums and a collection of collections. It is home to the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, the Center for Women’s History, the DiMenna Children’s History Museum, and the future American LGBTQ+ Museum.

The New York Historical, 170 Central Park West (77th Street), New York, NY 10024, 212-873-3400, nyhistory.org.

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Cultural Travel, Exhibits, Museums & Exhibits, New York City travel

The New York Historical Presents Timely Exhibit: Blacklisted: An American Story, Examining the Red Scare, Hollywood Blacklist and Impact on American Culture

Opening June 13, The New York Historical highlights the intersection of politics, art, and culture that shaped America’s Red Scare in Blacklisted: An American Story, on view June 13-October 19, 2025  (credit: Civil Rights Congress, America’s “Thought Police”: Record of the Un-American Activities Committee, 1947. Courtesy of the Unger Family)

New York – Opening June 13, The New York Historical highlights the intersection of politics, art, and culture that shaped America’s Red Scare in Blacklisted: An American Story, a traveling exhibit created by the Jewish Museum Milwaukee. Expanded by The Historical, the exhibition builds on the story of the Red Scare and the blacklisting of screenwriters and directors known as the Hollywood Ten, and the countless others who were impacted. Blacklisted captures the tensions of the domestic Cold War, revealing how global politics infiltrated America’s entertainment industry in the late 1940s and 50s through a government crackdown on artistic expression. The exhibit is on view through October 19, 2025.

“Our aim with Blacklisted is to prompt visitors to think deeply about democracy and their role in it,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of The New York Historical (formerly known as the New-York Historical Society). “The exhibition tackles fundamental issues like freedom of speech, religion, and association, inviting reflection on how our past informs today’s cultural and political climate.”

The Hollywood Blacklist emerged as a key manifestation of the Red Scare in the postwar United States. With the rise of global Communism during the Cold War, anxiety over the emergent power and influence of the Soviet Union fanned fears domestically. Numerous industries purged employees suspected of being sympathetic to Communism. Hundreds of people lost their jobs, and thousands stood by silently, afraid of jeopardizing future employment.

The exhibition opens with a look at the first Red Scare, which came on the heels of the First World War. Wartime heralded a crackdown on both immigrants and political dissidents, particularly critics of war. Hundreds of immigrant activists were deported, including Emma Goldman. A pamphlet she co-wrote in 1919, Deportation: Its Meanings and Menace; Last Message to the American People, is on display.

Social conditions of the 1930s and 1940s drove many artists and writers to embrace radical politics through groups like the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). During this period, the CPUSA was the only interracial political party and the only party with a platform supporting racial equality and self-determination for Black communities. A 1932 lithograph on view—“Equal Rights for Negroes Everywhere! Vote Communist”—depicts the interracial presidential ticket of William Z. Foster and James W. Ford, the first African American to run for vice president in the 20th century. While this interwar period is considered the “heyday of American Communism,” CPUSA’s official membership never exceeded 100,000. The Red Scare would decimate the CPUSA and shatter many progressive coalitions accused of having Communist ties.

In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) called Hollywood figures to testify about allegations of communist propaganda in American films. Although the committee never found any evidence, it held ten of the writers and directors in contempt of Congress and fined and sentenced them to prison. Hollywood responded by creating a self-imposed Blacklist of those implicated in the proceedings. Red-baiting, a move to discredit someone by labeling them as a Communist or Communist sympathizer, became widespread across government, industry, and the media throughout the 1950s.

Objects on view include Blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo’s Academy Awards for Roman Holiday— originally awarded only to co-writer Ian McLellan Hunter since Trumbo was prohibited from working in film under his own name—and The Brave One, awarded to the fictitious Robert Rich. (Hunter was later Blacklisted.) Also on display are typewriter ribbon tins with personal items Trumbo collected and kept while he was incarcerated and letters written to him by his young daughter during that time.

The ways in which Broadway and New York’s theatre community responded during this era is also explored with a selection of programs, photographs, and other ephemera. On view is an original souvenir book for the 1943 production of Othello, starring Paul Robeson, an active Communist and the first Black actor cast in the role in a major US Shakespearean production, who was later investigated for his political expressions. Originally staged in 1934, The Children’s Hour was revived in 1952 at the height of the Red Scare and directed by its playwright Lillian Hellman, who had been blacklisted in Hollywood. A vintage photograph of Hellman, taken by Editta Sherman, is among the many theatre-related objects on view.

Blacklisted features more than 150 artifacts, including historical newspaper articles, film clips, testimony footage, telegrams, playbills, court documents, film costumes, movie posters, scripts, artwork, and Academy Award statuettes. Additional highlights include:

  • A “100 Things You Should Know About Communism in the USA” pamphlet from the Committee on Un-American Activities (1949), which was handed out at the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings;  
    • Lauren Bacall’s costume from How to Marry a Millionaire, a 1953 film released during the height of the Blacklist. Bacall was one of the founding members of the Committee for the First Amendment, which initially supported the Hollywood Ten. Unlike other committee members, her employment opportunities did not diminish, and she worked steadily until her death; 
    • From Life magazine in 1953 “Satan Came to Salem: Arthur Miller Play Exposes Horror and Hysteria of Witch Hunt”, an article discussing the relevance of The Crucible and interpreting the play’s setting during the Salem Witch Trials and its focus on the devastating role of rumor and accusation as a searing commentary on HUAC and the widespread panic during the Red Scare; 
    • A 1949 Carnegie Hall program “Hazel Scott: In her Piano Program of Bach to Boogie-Woogie,” from jazz pianist and singer Hazel Scott, who made a name for herself at Café Society, the first integrated nightclub in New York City. The first Black woman to have her own television show, her name was listed in Red Channels, a Red-baiting publication, which led to the cancellation of her show one week later after a single episode had aired; and 
    • A record cover of The World of Sholom Aleichem, (1953), a significant creative and cultural achievement during the Red Scare, which drew on the works of Yiddish humorist Sholom Aleichem, with a cast and crew almost entirely composed of Blacklisted artists, including Jack Gilford, Sarah Cunningham, Ossie Davis, director Howard da Silva, and writer Arnold Perl. 

Blacklisted: An American Story is a traveling exhibit created by the Jewish Museum Milwaukee and coordinated for The New York Historical by Anne Lessy, assistant curator of history exhibitions and academic engagement, with contributions from Emily Pazar, assistant curator of decorative arts and material culture.

Programming 
On Wednesday, June 18, celebrated biographer Kai Bird joins David M. Rubenstein in discussion on Roy Cohn’s upbringing in mid-century New York, the rise of his political and legal career which was informed by Red Scare tactics, and his ties to the era of McCarthyism. In October, families can take part in our Reading into History program themed to the exhibition, offering a selection of reading suggestions and historical activities. Visit the DiMenna Children’s History Museum calendar for more details. Private group tours can be arranged throughout the exhibition.

Support 
Lead support for Blacklisted: An American Story is provided by the Ford Foundation and Sy and Laurie Sternberg. Major support is provided by the David Berg Foundation and the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation. Additional support is provided by Kate Kelly and George Schweitzer, Patricia Askwith Kenner, and Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr.

Exhibitions at The New York Historical are made possible by Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar Tang, the Saunders Trust for American History, the Evelyn & Seymour Neuman Fund, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. WNET is the media sponsor. 

New York’s first museum, The New York Historical is a leading cultural institution covering over 400 years of American history. The New York Historical is a museum of museums and a collection of collections. It is home to the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, the Center for Women’s History, the DiMenna Children’s History Museum, and the future American LGBTQ+ Museum. Connect with us at nyhistory.org or at @nyhistory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Tumblr.

The New York Historical, 170 Central Park West (77th Street), New York, NY 10024, 212-873-3400, nyhistory.org.

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Exhibits, Historic Places, Museums & Exhibits, New York City travel, Uncategorized

See the Declaration of Dependence on Display at New-York Historical Society July 2-7

For the first time in more than 20 years, the New-York Historical Society displays the “Declaration of Dependence,” a petition signed in 1776 by New Yorkers loyal to the British crown. The petition will be on view for a limited time, alongside a rare original printing of the Declaration of Independence, also from New-York Historical’s collection.

In an installation entitled Our History of Discord, together these documents reveal the contentious history behind our nation’s founding.

Also, on the Fourth of July, kids under 17 can visit the Museum for free and meet historical interpreters recreating life in New York City in 1776.

“Division in our political views is not a recent phenomenon, and as our nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026 fast approaches, it’s helpful to examine the great divisions we have overcome,” said Louise Mirrer, president and CEO, New-York Historical. “These rare documents on view—offering viewpoints of those loyal to the King and those eager to be rid of him—can help us better understand the role everyday Americans play in the struggle for democracy, including those who have been excluded from it.”

Our History of Discord

Limited Time Only! July 2 – 7, 2024

Just in time for the Fourth of July, get a fascinating look at two essential documents that demonstrate just how tumultuous the birth of the United States really was: a rare New York printing of the Declaration of Independence and a one-of-a-kind “declaration of dependence,” a petition from hundreds of Loyalist New Yorkers pledging their allegiance “to our Sovereign, against the strong tide of oppression and tyranny” at the end of November 1776.

The documents are displayed alongside the Johannes Adam Simon Oertel painting that depicts the night a statue of King George III at Bowling Green was pulled down by a rowdy crowd of revolutionaries on July 9, 1776, after the Declaration of Independence was first read aloud to the troops. Also on view: a surviving piece of that very statue, which has been in the New-York Historical collection since the late 1800s. Curated by Nina Nazionale, director of library curatorial affairs and research at the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library

Independence Day Celebration

Thursday, July 4, 11 am – 5 pm | Free with Museum admission; free admission for ages 17 and younger

Celebrate Independence Day at New-York Historical with humble street food and posh ice cream flavors that would have been familiar to New Yorkers of 1776! Meet historical interpreters to learn the fascinating stories of vendors who sold their wares in the streets and chef Hercules Posey, an enslaved cook of George Washington who self-emancipated in 1796. After sampling foods of the Revolutionary Era, make family memories together with games, crafts, a dress-up photo booth, and more.

New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West (77th Street), New York, NY 10024, 212-873-3400, nyhistory.org.

Arts and Entertainment, Exhibits, Museums & Exhibits, Uncategorized

Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru Exhibit to Open at Boca Raton Museum of Art Oct 16; Pre-Register for Tickets Now

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru” exhibit opens at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, October 16. With capacity limited, pre-register for tickets now.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — This fall, South Floridians and tourists from across the globe will discover a culture that thrived in a mythical world thousands of years ago.  World Heritage Exhibitions announced the world premiere of Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru, opening on October 16, 2021.  The first stop of a worldwide tour will take place at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.  Cityneon presents the exhibition with support from the Government of Peru, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, and in partnership with Inkaterra Asociacion.  The artifacts in the exhibition are on loan from Museo Larco in Lima, Peru,  and Museo de Sitio Manuel Chávez Ballón in Aguas Calientes, Peru.

Featuring one of the most impressive Andean gold collections ever to travel the world, this museum experience highlights a stunning  selection of 192 artifacts from royal tombs, including spectacular objects that belonged to noble Andean lords, many never-before-seen out of Peru. One of the exhibition’s highlights is a fully intact gold attire of a Chimú Emperor that dates to 1300 AD.

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru showcases the extraordinary and rich history of ancient Peru. It brings to life the various cultures that have lived in the land of the Incas and Machu Picchu over an astounding 3,000 years,” stated President of Museo Larco, Andres Alvarez-Calderon.

“It’s enthralling for Cityneon to have the opportunity to present to new audiences these remarkable pieces of rare Andean artifacts,” said Executive Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer of Cityneon, Ron Tan. “Cityneon’s strong track record of staging immersive experiences globally with record-breaking visitor numbers reflects our strength in delivering high-quality experiences to visitors from around the world. Through this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to come face-to-face with history in a way that has never been done before. Guests are going to be thrilled to encounter the ancient cultures who lived in this city 7,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.”

Rivaled only by Ancient Egypt in longevity and by the Roman Empire in engineering, Andean societies dominated a substantial segment of South America for over 3,000 years straight through the reign of the Incan Empire.  Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will showcase Peruvian culture’s rich histories and traditions to the public like never before.  

“South Florida, known as the ‘Gateway to Latin America,’ is the ideal location to host this world premiere, and having the opportunity to present this exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum of Art is truly a pleasure,” stated President and Chairman of World Heritage Exhibitions, Anthony Tann. “This exhibition is exciting and engaging, and we expect Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru to be the largest cultural attraction throughout the region this fall.”

During their visit to the exhibition, guests are taken to the mysterious city in the sky, built and abandoned within a century. They will continue on a journey through the vast expanse of Andean history, traveling alongside the mythical hero Ai Apaec, and discovering the mysteries of Andean cosmology.

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru showcases the extraordinary and rich history of ancient Peru. It brings to life the various cultures that have lived in the land of the Incas and Machu Picchu over an astounding 3,000 years,” said President of Museo Larco, Andres Alvarez-Calderon.

Due to the current global pandemic, the need for social distancing, and other measures to prevent the coronavirus spread, the number of visitors allowed to visit Machu Picchu yearly has dropped to 250,000. This exhibition expands the ability to experience Machu Picchu to the world.  Here, the first-ever virtual reality experience of Machu Picchu will be unveiled, allowing guests a window into the unrivaled beauty and flourishing landscape.

“Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will allow the stories and riches of Andean civilizations to travel the world,” said Inkaterra Asociacion founder, Joe Koechlin. “We could not be more delighted about sharing our history and culture with the people of South Florida and beyond.” Beginning on October 16, 2021, at the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru will start its limited run in South Florida before leaving the U.S. and embarking on a multi-country, worldwide tour. The state-of-the-art exhibition will encompass the entire museum, including all galleries on both floors. 

Exhibition ticket prices start at $19.95. Tickets will go on sale later this summer.  An online registration process to pre-register for tickets is open.  Those who pre-register will have early access to tickets when they go on sale  to the public. To register to pre-purchase tickets, visit https://bocamuseum.org.

attractions, Exhibits, Historic Places, Museums & Exhibits

JFK Hyannis Museum on Cape Cod Reopens with ‘Ripple of Hope’ Exhibit Commemorating RFK

The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum announced the return of a special exhibit to commemorate the life and legacy of Robert F. Kennedy as it reopens for the 2021 season. Tickets are capacity controlled to adhere to health protocols.

(HYANNIS, MA) –The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum announced the return of a special exhibit to commemorate the life and legacy of Robert F. Kennedy as it reopens for the 2021 season. Tickets are capacity controlled to adhere to health protocols.

The “RFK: Ripple of Hope” exhibit, assembled in collaboration with RFK Human Rights Foundation, will open on Saturday, April 17, 2021 at the Hyannis museum and will be on display through 2022.

“The theme ‘Ripple of Hope’ comes from his most famous and powerful speech delivered in Cape Town, South Africa,” said the exhibit curator Rebecca Pierce-Merrick. “It’s a fitting title for our exhibit as well because that’s exactly what his life of public service created ­– a ripple of hope that continues to reverberate through the generations since his passing.”

This exhibit begins with Robert Kennedy’s early years within the Kennedy family, including rarely seen images of his time on Cape Cod. The focal point of the exhibit however, covers his time serving as the U.S. Attorney General, his election to the U.S. Senate, and culminating with his inspirational presidential campaign, which began on March 16, 1968 and ended with his death on June 6, 1968.

One particularly poignant part of the exhibit highlights an impromptu speech he gave before a large group of distraught onlookers the night Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April 1968 just weeks after Kennedy announced his bid for the presidency.

The exhibit includes 45 images and excerpts from Robert Kennedy’s speeches that convey the boundless energy he showed on the campaign trail, often with Ethel and his children at his side. “Ripple of Hope” also has very moving eight-minute video narrated by Kathleen Kennedy and Joseph P. Kennedy III.

Tickets should be purchased online at www.jfkhyannismuseum.org for specific time of visit as limits are in place for daily admissions for health and safety of museum guests. The Museum will be open daily during April school vacation, and thereafter each Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 5 PM until Memorial Day at which time the summer schedule will commence.

The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum Foundation preserves and promotes the legacy of President Kennedy, his family, and their deep connection to Cape Cod.

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Exhibits, Historic Places, Museums & Exhibits, New York State tourism, Uncategorized

‘Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’ Exhibit Coming to New-York Historical Society, Fall 2021

The New-York Historical Society will honor the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG)—the trailblazing Supreme Court justice and cultural icon—with a special exhibition, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, on view October 1, 2021 – January 23, 2022 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

NEW YORK, NY – September 25, 2020 – The New-York Historical Society will honor the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG)—the trailblazing Supreme Court justice and cultural icon—with a special exhibition next year. On view October 1, 2021 – January 23, 2022, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is based on the popular Tumblr and bestselling book of the same name. A traveling exhibition organized by the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the show takes an expansive and engaging look at the justice’s life and work, highlighting her ceaseless efforts to protect civil rights and foster equal opportunity for all Americans.

“We were deeply saddened by the recent passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a native New Yorker whose impact on the lives of contemporary Americans has been extraordinary,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society. “Justice Ginsburg fought hard to achieve justice and equality for all, inspiring us with her courage and tenacity in upholding our fundamental American ideals. A special friend to New-York Historical, in 2018 she presided over a naturalization ceremony in our auditorium, one of many that we are honored to host annually. The exhibition we had planned as a celebration of Justice Ginsburg’s life will now be our memorial tribute to her achievements and legacy.”

Notorious RBG features archival photographs and documents, historical artifacts, contemporary art, media stations, and gallery interactives spanning RBG’s varied roles as student, wife to Martin “Marty” Ginsburg, mother, lawyer, judge, women’s rights pioneer, and internet phenomenon. Highlights include a robe and jabot from RBG’s Supreme Court wardrobe; the official portraits of RBG and Sandra Day O’Connor—the first two women to serve on the Supreme Court—on loan from the National Portrait Gallery; and listening stations where visitors can hear RBG’s delivery of oral arguments, majority opinions, and forceful dissents in landmark Supreme Court cases.

The exhibition also displays 3D re-imaginations of key places in RBG’s life—such as her childhood Brooklyn apartment; the kitchen in RBG and Marty’s home, with some of Marty’s favorite recipes and cooking utensils; and the Supreme Court bench and the desk in her chambers.

Personal materials range from home movies of RBG with Marty on their honeymoon and in the early years of their marriage to yearbooks from RBG’s academic life—from her Brooklyn high school to Harvard, Columbia, and Rutgers Universities—to a paper that she wrote as an eighth grader exploring the relationship between the Ten Commandments, the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the recently formed United Nations Charter.

New-York Historical will announce additional exhibition details and related programming next year.

After debuting at the Skirball Cultural Center in 2018, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg has toured the country and is currently on view at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Skokie, IL (February 9, 2020–January 31, 2021) and will travel to the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in Cleveland (February 21–June 20, 2021). After its New York run, the exhibition will travel to the Holocaust Museum Houston in Houston (January 2022); and the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. (summer/fall 2022).

The New-York Historical Society presentation of Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is sponsored by Northern Trust. Exhibitions at New-York Historical are made possible by Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar Tang, the Saunders Trust for American History, the Seymour Neuman Endowed Fund, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. WNET is the media sponsor.

The Skirball Cultural Center is a place of meeting guided by the Jewish tradition of welcoming the stranger and inspired by the American democratic ideals of freedom and equality. We welcome people of all communities and generations to participate in cultural experiences that celebrate discovery and hope, foster human connections, and call upon us to help build a more just society. 

The New-York Historical Society, one of America’s preeminent cultural institutions, is dedicated to fostering research and presenting history and art exhibitions and public programs that reveal the dynamism of history and its influence on the world of today. Founded in 1804, New-York Historical has a mission to explore the richly layered history of New York City and State and the country, and to serve as a national forum for the discussion of issues surrounding the making and meaning of history. New-York Historical is also home to the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, one of the oldest, most distinguished libraries in the nation—and one of only 20 in the United States qualified to be a member of the Independent Research Libraries Association—which contains more than ten million books, pamphlets, maps, newspapers, manuscripts, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings.

The New-York Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West at Richard Gilder Way (77th Street), New York, NY 10024. Information: (212) 873-3400. Website: nyhistory.org. Follow the museum on social media at @nyhistory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Tumblr.

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Exhibits, Museums & Exhibits, Uncategorized

New-York Historical Society Reopens September 11 With Special World Trade Center Exhibit

The Women March exhibit at the New-York Historical Society, tracing the history of women’s rights during this Centennial Celebration of Women’s Suffrage, has been extended to Jan. 24, 2021 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The New-York Historical Society reopens on Friday, September 11, 2020, with a full slate of exhibitions throughout the building and safety protocols in place for visitors and staff. The three-day opening weekend celebrates New York’s resilience with a special digital installation titled World Trade Center Four Decades: Photographs by Camilo José Vergara, a free virtual public program about 9/11, and joining institutions across the city by lighting up its façade as part of “Tribute in Lights.” The Museum has extended a number of special exhibitions, including Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution; Women March; Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions: Creating the American Republic; and The People Count: The Census in the Making of America. 

On display September 11-13, World Trade Center Four Decades: Photographs by Camilo José Vergara showcases more than 40 digital photographs depicting the World Trade Center from the south, east, and west, chronicling its changes over half a century―from the early days of the Twin Towers’ construction in the 1970s, to their dominance of the skyline in the 1980s and 1990s, to the emptiness of the city’s horizon in the aftermath of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, to the slow rebuilding process that followed. On September 11 at 6 pm, a free, online program, History Responds: Pondering the Present, Revisiting the Past, recounts the advent of New-York Historical’s History Responds collecting initiative in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The conversation features Valerie Paley, senior vice president and chief historian at New-York Historical and director of the Center for Women’s History; and Kenneth T. Jackson, Barzun Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University and president emeritus of New-York Historical.

Also on view outdoors in the Museum’s rear courtyard is the free exhibition Hope Wanted: New York City Under Quarantine, which documents the experiences of New Yorkers across the five boroughs during the height of the pandemic. And opening October 23 as part of the Asia Society Triennial: We Do Not Dream Alone—a multi-venue festival of art, ideas, and innovation—New-York Historical and Asia Society Museum present their first ever collaborative exhibition, Dreaming Together, featuring side-by-side pairings from New-York Historical’s American art collection and Asia Society’s contemporary Asian art holdings.

“We are so pleased to once again welcome visitors to the indoor spaces of New-York Historical’s home on Central Park West,” said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO.  “We have made our building safe through rigorous processes and protocols, and our staff has undergone extensive training to ensure that these safety measures are strictly enforced and respected by all. As the city’s oldest museum, New-York Historical has for 216 years served a vital role in chronicling the city and nation’s history, from New York’s emergence from the ruins of British occupation at the end of the Revolutionary War to the major metropolis the city is today. We are proud to welcome visitors again to engage in and enjoy learning about history, as the city itself comes back to life.”

New-York Historical’s new hours are Fridays, 10 am – 8 pm; and Saturdays and Sundays, 11 am – 5 pm. (Fridays 6 ­– 8 pm are pay-as-you-wish.) Special Member access will be offered every Friday 10 –  11am, and on September Thursdays 11am – 5pm. Seniors and immune-compromised visitors are also welcome on those dates. The DiMenna Children’s History Museum and Audubon’s Birds of America Focus Gallery will remain temporarily closed to visitors. Enhanced sanitizing and cleaning protocols, increased air filtration, and other safety measures have been implemented, and temperature screenings and face coverings are required for entry. Physical distancing will also be enforced: Attendance has been reduced to 25% of typical capacity, and timed-entry tickets can be booked online at nyhistory.org. Additional details about safety protocols can be found at nyhistory.org/safety.

Since New-York Historical closed to the public on March 13 to help contain the spread of COVID-19, it has been actively collecting during these unprecedented times through its History Responds initiative, documenting the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests in New York City. For more details on its ongoing collecting efforts and how to donate items, visit nyhistory.org/history-responds.

Exhibitions on View

In addition to permanent exhibitions like the Gallery of Tiffany Lamps, Objects Tell Stories, and Meet the Presidents and the Oval Office, the following extended, special exhibitions will be on display when the Museum reopens:

·       Bill Graham and the Rock & Roll Revolution, through January 3, 2021

·       Women March, through January 24, 2021

·       The People Count: The Census in the Making of America, through November 8, 2020

·       Colonists, Citizens, Constitutions: Creating the American Republic, through February 7, 2021

·       In Profile: A Look at Silhouettes, through November 29, 2020

Outdoor Exhibition: Hope Wanted: New York City Under Quarantine
Curated by writer Kevin Powell and photographer Kay Hickman, Hope Wanted comprises more than 50 photographs by Hickman and 12 audio interviews with the photographs’ subjects conducted by Powell, gathered during the team’s intensive two-day odyssey across the city on April 8–9, 2020. The free exhibition, on display through November 29 in New-York Historical’s rear courtyard (entrance located by 5 West 76th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue), provides an open-air environment for visitors to view the works on display and contemplate the impact of COVID-19 on New York City. The empathetic photographs of New Yorkers and their neighborhoods across all five boroughs and the compelling interviews capture both the tragedy of the pandemic as well as the remarkable resilience of the city and its people.

The New-York Historical Society, one of America’s preeminent cultural institutions, is dedicated to fostering research and presenting history and art exhibitions and public programs that reveal the dynamism of history and its influence on the world of today. Founded in 1804, New-York Historical has a mission to explore the richly layered history of New York City and State and the country, and to serve as a national forum for the discussion of issues surrounding the making and meaning of history. New-York Historical is also home to the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, one of the oldest, most distinguished libraries in the nation—and one of only 20 in the United States qualified to be a member of the Independent Research Libraries Association—which contains more than three million books, pamphlets, maps, newspapers, manuscripts, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings.

The New-York Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West at Richard Gilder Way (77th Street), New York, NY 10024. Information: (212) 873-3400. Website: nyhistory.org. Follow the Museum on social media at @nyhistory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Tumblr.

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Exhibits, Museums & Exhibits

American Museum of Natural History Hosts ¡Cuba! Exhibit

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City is opening ¡Cuba! that will explore the extraordinary biodiversity across the Caribbean island’s remote forests, deep caves, expansive wetlands, and dazzling reefs through immersive exhibits that have been developed with colleagues at the Cuban National Museum of Natural History (Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba, MNHN) as part of a formal Memorandum of Understanding signed in Havana this summer. The bilingual exhibition will also highlight Cuba’s culture, its people, and its history.

¡Cuba! will include live animals and specimens as well as artifacts and lifelike models representing the island nation’s distinctive wildlife—many species of which are found only on the island—from a venomous mammal to the world’s smallest bird. Highlights include a re-creation of Zapata wetlands—home to the endangered Cuban crocodile—and live lizards, boas, and frogs. In addition to focusing on biodiversity, the exhibition will showcase Cuban culture and life—including art, music, spiritual traditions, celebrations, food, and farming.A long, open boulevard evoking the street life one might find in a Cuban city will invite visitors to stroll, sit, and discover Cuban culture through music, dance performances, and a variety of interactive experiences. Other highlights include a re-creation of a throne used for orisha worship, an Afro-Cuban spiritual tradition known as Santeria; a gallery showcasing contemporary Cuban art; and a room revealing the craft of cultivating one of Cuba’s most famous crops, tobacco.

As a leader in science and conservation, the American Museum of Natural History has long-standing research and capacity development collaborations with Cuban scientists at a number of institutions, including the MNHN, the University of Havana, the Cuban Botanical Society, and the National Enterprise for the Protection of Flora and Fauna.Museum scientists have led nearly 30 expeditions and field projects to Cuba over the last 120 years.

¡Cuba!is co-curated by Dr. Ana Luz Porzecanski, director of AMNH’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, and Dr. Chris Raxworthy, curator-in-charge in the AMNH Department of Herpetology.

¡Cuba!will be open to the public from Monday, November 21, 2016, to August 13, 2017. Museum Members will be able to preview the exhibition on Friday, November 18, Saturday, November 19, and Sunday, November 20.

Major funding for ¡Cuba! has been provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund. Generous support for ¡Cuba! has been provided by the Dalio Ocean Initiative. The exhibit is sponsored by JetBlue and has received support from The Ford Foundation.

For more information, visit amnh.org.

 

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Exhibits, heritage travel, Historic Preservation, Museums & Exhibits

Photo Exhibit Honoring Elie Wiesel Opens in Moscow

MOSCOW, RUSSIA — Limmud FSU, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, in partnership with the Shem Olam Institute and the Nativ organization, has just opened a photographic survey of the life of Elie Wiesel, at the Israeli Cultural Center in Moscow. The exhibition will run until the end of September.

An array of VIPs participated in the opening August 25, including Russian Chief Rabbi Avraham Shayevich; Russian Jewish Congress President Yuri Kenner; Israel’s Minister of Immigrant Absorption Sofa Landver; Conference of European Rabbis President Pinchas Goldschmidt; Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Secretary General Mikhail Chlenov; Israeli-Russian Business Council Chairman Dr. Temur Ben Yehuda; Prof. Ilya Altman, representing the Claims Conference in the FSU; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s representative in Moscow, Alik Nadan; and the founder and chairman of Limmud FSU, Chaim Chesler.

Wiesel was a leading supporter of the movement to free Soviet Jewry and in 1966 wrote a highly influential book on the struggle. “It’s fitting that Elie Wiesel was honored in Moscow by the very people he helped free 50 years after writing ‘The Jews of Silence,'” said Chesler. “His memory will serve as an inspiration and a symbol of our triumph.”

Dr. Yoel Rappel, the founder and director of the Elie Wiesel Archive at Boston University, curated the exhibition, which showcases milestones in Wiesel’s life, from his youth before and during the Holocaust to his work as a novelist, journalist, Jewish leader and Nobel Prize winner.

“When I asked Wiesel how the struggle for Soviet Jewry is more important than the struggle for Holocaust awareness, he replied: ‘the Jews of Europe were exterminated physically by the Nazis; the Jews of the Soviet Union were being destroyed spiritually. The first we were unable to avoid, but we must prevent the second from succeeding,'” said Rappel.

Wiesel was born in 1928 in Sighet, Transylvania, now in Romania. He was just 15 years old when the Nazis deported him and his family to Auschwitz. His mother and younger sister perished, yet his two older sisters survived. Elie and his father were later transported to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where his father died shortly before the camp was liberated in April 1945.

“Elie Wiesel, an Auschwitz survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was a source of inspiration for Jews around the world – and all free people. A philosopher, teacher, journalist and writer, he embodied the struggle against evil and for the right of Diaspora Jews to immigrate to Israel,” said Landver. “There is no one who will be better remembered as a fighter for humanity. Wiesel managed to break through the Iron Curtain and allow many Jews to return to the Jewish homeland.”

In 1978, U.S. President Jimmy Carter appointed Wiesel as chairman of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust. In 1980, he became the founding chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Wiesel and his wife Marion established the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, to combat indifference, intolerance and injustice. He received 140 honorary degrees from institutions of higher learning all over the world.

Elie Wiesel died in New York in July.

The entire exhibition may be viewed or downloaded here.

Limmud FSU is a nonprofit founded 10 years ago by Chaim Chesler, former treasurer of the Jewish Agency, and Sandra Cahn, a philanthropist from New York. Since its inaugural conference in Moscow in 2006, Limmud FSU has created an independent educational and communal network of annual conferences and festivals, attracting more than 35,000 participants in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Russian Far East and the Volga-Ural region), Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Israel, North America (Greater New York, the West Coast, and Canada), and Australia. Limmud FSU engages young Russian-Jewish adults, empowering them to take ownership of their identity and to connect with their communities through pluralistic, egalitarian volunteer-driven conferences of Jewish learning and culture. In this way, Limmud FSU strives to foster the next generation of young Russian-speaking Jewish leadership and so revitalize Jewish communities in the countries of the former Soviet Union, and in countries with Russian-Jewish communities, wherever they may be. Key partners include the Claims Conference, JDC, philanthropist Matthew Bronfman, Aaron Frenkel, Michal Grayevsky, Ronald Lauder, Diane Wohl, the Jewish National Fund (KKL), UJA-Federation of New York, Israel Bonds, the Jewish Agency, and others. For additional details: www.limmudfsu.org.
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