Museum curators who document current events—like we do at the New-York Historical Society through our History Responds collecting initiative—experience the moment just like everyone else. And, when it comes to traumatic events like the 9/11 terrorist attacks or the COVID-19 pandemic, we sometimes face the very challenges that we’re describing through the items we collect. The past…

On the morning of December 14, 2020, Sandra Lindsay made history. The director of critical care nursing at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Lindsay, 52, sat down in front of TV cameras and the media and became the first person in the United States to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Like many across New York State…

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…

Become a part of history! We’re collecting signs, posters, banners, sashes, buttons, flyers, and other ephemera–and the stories behind them–from the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., and any recent nationwide protests, including the women’s marches in January 2017. Do you have something you’d like to donate to our permanent collection? Contact our curatorial team at responses@nyhistory.org. Please…