Behind The Scenes

New-York Historical houses a vast collection of historic toys. It’s all fun and games, of course, but to us, it’s not just about kids’ play: We view toys as a unique, invaluable window onto how people of past decades lived, what they valued, and how they entertained themselves. It’s for this reason that we’re pleased…

In May, the world lost a titan of activism and protest when Larry Kramer passed away at the age of 84. Described by Susan Sontag as “one of America’s most valuable troublemakers,” Kramer was a playwright and essayist who found the cause of his life in the early 1980s when his community of gay men in New…

Our Public Programs series has long explored the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. And one of the most central sites in that history was Birmingham, AL, in the 1960s. Listen to two audio recordings of programs that focus on the city’s indelible place in the story of African American struggle and protest: First, a 2019 conversation between history scholar Eddie…

In 2014, New-York Historical welcomed brothers and presidential historians Tevi Troy and Gil Troy for a fascinating Public Program about the presidents as readers, moviegoers, and fans of pop culture. From Ronald Reagan’s Hollywood-trained showmanship to Bill Clinton’s saxophone playing to Dwight D. Eisenhower’s love of westerns, how have various administrations used culture to communicate and connect…

In the months leading up to the 1952 presidential election, the campaigns were having a vigorous debate—about television. President Harry Truman had declined to run for another term, and the contest was shaping up between Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson for the Democrats and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower for the Republicans. At this point in history,…

In an age of constant photo-ops and perpetual press releases, American presidents must cultivate public approval through the channels of ever-changing communication and technology. In this audio recording of a 2016 Public Program, history scholar David Greenberg and CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin provide an in-depth look at how the American presidency has evolved over the…

Gracie Mansion has been the official residence of New York City’s mayor since the 1940s, but its history goes back much farther than that. It was named for Archibald Gracie, the wealthy merchant who built the house in 1799 as his private residence at what is now East End Ave. and East 88th St. New-York Historical has its…

The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II is one of the ugliest chapters in U.S. history. Starting in 1942, 120,000 citizens of Japanese descent on the Pacific coast were forced to abandon their homes and businesses and relocate to distant concentrations camps. Below, listen to two audio recordings of Public Programs that explore this era: the first, with…

In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we’re revisiting some of the touching human stories we collected from our 2014 exhibition Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion. The exhibition explored the complex history of the Chinese in America and the themes of immigration, citizenship, and belonging that shaped the Chinese American experience. To complement the exhibition, we highlighted…