Behind The Scenes

Since its founding in 1804, New-York Historical has often collected around major events. But it wasn’t until 2001 and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks that the History Responds collecting initiative was formed. The idea was simple: History was happening all around us, so our mission as a Museum and Library was to collect and preserve as much…

The Roosevelts are one of the most storied families in American public life, and over the years, our Public Programs have explored many branches of their expansive family tree. Enjoy audio recordings of two programs below. The first is an interview with Geoffrey C. Ward, author and the writer of Ken Burns’ documentary series The Roosevelts, about the lives…

In 2017, New-York Historical opened The Vietnam War: 1945–1975, a wide-ranging exhibition that chronicled America’s long, complex, and painful involvement in Vietnam and its effects on our politics and society at home. Our Public Programs series explored many angles on this theme, so listen to two below: the first is a conversation between author Max Boot and moderator General…

Earlier this year, New-York Historical welcomed an esteemed panel of historians including David Blight (a New-York Historical trustee), Edna Greene Medford, and Harold Holzer to discuss the revolutionary—and evolutionary—nature of the relationship between abolitionist Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln and their remarkable journey to emancipation. Enjoy a recording of the evening below. Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Emancipation…

Earlier this year, New-York Historical was thrilled to announce the acquisition of the papers of Robert A. Caro, whose works on Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson are considered classics of biography and history. Back in 2009, we hosted Caro for a fascinating evening on Moses, the subject of Caro’s mammoth 1974 book The Power Broker—about a man…

Historians often discuss the lives of noteworthy individuals—kings, emperors, presidents—but in reality the history of the world has been determined by collective action of the people, not by figureheads. In this 2018 public program, renowned historian Niall Ferguson explores how networks—guilds and families, clans and cabals—have cooperated throughout history to shape the ever-changing world. Networks…

I Approve This Message, an exhibition about the emotional impact of political advertising in a landscape altered by the internet, was set to open at the New-York Historical Society this September. The COVID-19 lockdown halted those plans, but we want to share a few of the exhibition’s themes, particularly as we barrel towards our new…

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 explored many angles on the Revolutionary era through the years. Listen to just two of them below: the first, a vivid reimagining of the…

I Approve This Message, an exhibition about the emotional impact of political advertising in a landscape altered by the internet, was set to open at the New-York Historical Society this September. The COVID-19 lockdown halted those plans, but we want to share a few of the exhibition’s themes, particularly as we barrel towards our new…