The New-York Historical Society was founded on November 20, 1804. To celebrate our birthday, we’re taking a look back on the construction of the New-York Historical Society’s permanent home at 170 Central Park West. Before settling along the park, New-York Historical lived at seven other locations around the city between 1804 and 1908. Here’s a…

If you’ve ever visited the New-York Historical Society, you’ve probably enjoyed saying hello to (or even taking a selfie with!) our Frederick Douglass statue outside our 77th Street entrance. While we’re thrilled to celebrate his work every day as he welcomes visitors to the Museum, we’re especially excited this year to celebrate his life and…

This Sunday is both Father’s Day and Al Hirschfeld’s birthday. To celebrate the occasion, we sat down with Louise Kerz Hirschfeld, president of The Al Hirschfeld Foundation, which honors her late husband’s art through exhibitions, programs, and educational initiatives. In our brief chat, she discusses birthday traditions, birthday cards, and fatherhood. So, how will you…

America’s 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was born in Hyde Park, NY this day in 1882. Roosevelt  is greatly remembered for leading the US through a depression and WWII, and his wife Eleanor’s humanitarian efforts. However, he is also known as our only physically disabled president, and founder of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now…

Today in 1745, founding father John Jay was born in New York City. He was a lawyer, a diplomat, the president of the Continental Congress, second Governor of New York, and the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was also the author of five of the Federalist Papers, which were written…

  On August 17, 1893, Mae West was born in Bushwick, Brooklyn, the daughter of a prizefighter and a fashion model.  From an early age she was an entertainer, performing at her church and then making a name for herself in vaudeville, both as a performer and a playwright. Under the pen name “Jane Mast,”…

In honor of our upcoming exhibition, John Rogers: American Stories, curator Kim Orcutt will be writing a series of posts about his life, his work, and how he earned the nickname “The People’s Sculptor.” Happy Birthday John Rogers! The sculptor was born on October 30, 1829 and he is a favorite at the New- York…

Today, the New York Times wishes a happy upcoming 150th birthday to Edith Wharton, the author of such works as the Age of Innocence and The Buccaneers, which ripped into the culture and practices of the American nouveau-riche. Wharton herself was born into the New York upper crust, but said many of these families “had…

Yesterday in 1804, the New-York Historical Society was founded, and 207 years later we’re still going strong, undergoing major changes that are making New-York Historical more open, welcoming and hospitable. In honor of our founding (and out of curiosity), we asked our Twitter followers what their favorite exhibitions, artworks or artifacts are in our centuries-old collection. And it…