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New-York Historical Society

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At a Glance

Time Needed: 120 min.

Ages: All

Allows Food/Drink: No

Luggage Storage: No

The New-York Historical Society in NYC is an ideal destination for tourists seeking to explore American history and culture. Founded in 1804, it is the oldest museum in New York City and has an extensive collection of artifacts, documents, and art that reflects the city's rich history. The museum's permanent collection includes more than 1.6 million works, ranging from ancient to modern times. The New-York Historical Society offers several exhibitions, educational programs, and events that cater to a wide range of interests. One of the most popular exhibitions is the History Makers exhibit, which celebrates the achievements of notable figures from American history. The museum also hosts lectures, films, and family programs that are designed to engage visitors of all ages. In addition to its exhibitions and programs, the New-York Historical Society is also home to the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, which contains over 3 million documents, manuscripts, and maps related to American history. The library is open to the public and is a valuable resource for researchers and historians.

170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024 Get Directions





New-York Historical Society Videos

Presented on May 3, 2023 The eighth annual Diane and Adam E. Max Conference on Women’s History continues by bringing together scholars and contemporary practitioners to discuss how women’s faith has galvanized their efforts to care for their communities, particularly when the very practice of their faith has been on the line. Featuring Hasia Diner, Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, Karma Lekshe Tsomo and Brenda J. Child. *** For more about the New-York Historical Society, visit our website: https://www.nyhistory.org/ *** Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory?sub_confirmation=1 Check out our full video catalog: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nyhistory/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nyhistory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYHistory #newyorkhistoricalsociety #history

Recorded June 29, 2023 After journalist Debra Bruno discovered that her Dutch ancestors were enslavers, she contacted the descendants of the people her family enslaved. Would connecting with the descendants bring anyone healing? She described the details of her journey for the Washington Post Magazine in 2020. Bruno joins writer Russell Shorto to talk about her archival research and record finding, what it meant to publish her family history, and how she’s turning it all into a book. Debra Bruno is a freelance writer and has published her work in outlets such as the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Politico, and Washingtonian. Russell Shorto is the bestselling author of The Island at the Center of the World, Amsterdam, and Revolution Song. He is the director of the New Amsterdam Project at New-York Historical Society. Live From New Amsterdam is an ongoing series hosted by the New Netherland Institute and the New Amsterdam Project at the New-York Historical Society. Through vibrant conversations with scholars and historians, each program will investigate new and exciting research related to New Amsterdam, New Netherland, and the lasting legacies of Dutch rule in New York. Live From New Amsterdam is presented in partnership with the New Netherland Institute. *** For more about the New-York Historical Society, visit our website: https://www.nyhistory.org/ *** Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory?sub_confirmation=1 Check out our full video catalog: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nyhistory/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nyhistory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYHistory #newyorkhistoricalsociety #history

Recorded: May 25, 2023 What did people in New Amsterdam eat? Africans, Native Americans, and a range of Europeans relied on many of the same ingredients but used them in different ways. Watch this conversation with culinary historian Lavada Nahon and writer Russell Shorto about the history of these foodways in New Amsterdam and the legacies they left behind. Lavada Nahon is a culinary historian of 17th- through 19th-century New Netherlands and New York with a focus on the work of enslaved cooks in the homes of the elite class. She is also the interpreter of African American history for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Preservation Bureau of Historic Sites. Russell Shorto is the bestselling author of The Island at the Center of the World, Amsterdam, and Revolution Song. He is the director of the New Amsterdam Project at New-York Historical Society. Live From New Amsterdam is an ongoing series hosted by the New Netherland Institute and the New Amsterdam Project at the New-York Historical Society. Through vibrant conversations with scholars and historians, each program will investigate new and exciting research related to New Amsterdam, New Netherland, and the lasting legacies of Dutch rule in New York. Live From New Amsterdam is presented in partnership with the New Netherland Institute. *** For more about the New-York Historical Society, visit our website: https://www.nyhistory.org/ *** Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory?sub_confirmation=1 Check out our full video catalog: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nyhistory/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nyhistory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYHistory #newyorkhistoricalsociety #history

Recorded: April 28, 2023 Marked by periods of regional cooling in the North Atlantic extending from the 16th to 18th centuries, the Little Ice Age presented challenges to Dutch colonists living in New Netherland. Research shows weather during the Little Ice Age was irregular with sometimes harsh winters, dry growing seasons, floods, and failed harvests. But there were also many years without a noteworthy climate event. Chelsea Teale, in conversation with Deborah Hamer, offers a short climate history of New Netherland and explains how the people who lived there understood and adjusted to climate. Live From New Amsterdam is an ongoing series hosted by the New Netherland Institute and the New Amsterdam Project at the New-York Historical Society. Through vibrant conversations with scholars and historians, each program will investigate new and exciting research related to New Amsterdam, New Netherland, and the lasting legacies of Dutch rule in New York. Chelsea Teale is a lecturer in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Analysis at Cal Poly Humboldt. Her research emphasizes the integration of proxy records (primarily plant fossils and tree rings) with written sources to reconstruct past environments. Deborah Hamer is Director of the New Netherland Institute, where she is responsible for initiatives aimed at identifying, preserving, digitizing, and translating Dutch language documents in repositories around the world. She is a historian of the Dutch Atlantic world and received her Ph.D. from Columbia University. Thumb image: Hendrick Avercamp, Ice Scene, 1610. The Mauritshuis. https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/our-collection/artworks/785-ice-scene/ *** For more about the New-York Historical Society, visit our website: https://www.nyhistory.org/ *** Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory?sub_confirmation=1 Check out our full video catalog: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nyhistory/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nyhistory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYHistory #newyorkhistoricalsociety #history

Recorded: March 23, 2023 Watch this conversation about the 17th-century connections between two different Dutch colonies: New Netherland and the Guianas in South America. The Dutch West India Company established colonies in these distant and distinct regions, yet their plans for them were surprisingly similar. Melissa Morris and Deborah Hamer will discuss how Dutch colonialism in the Guianas shaped expectations, attitudes, and activities in New Netherland. Live From New Amsterdam is an ongoing series hosted by the New Netherland Institute and the New Amsterdam Project at the New-York Historical Society. Through vibrant conversations with scholars and historians, each program will investigate new and exciting research related to New Amsterdam, New Netherland, and the lasting legacies of Dutch rule in New York. Melissa Morris is an assistant professor of history at the University of Wyoming. She specializes in the history of early America and the seventeenth-century Atlantic World, especially the role of plants in driving European expansion, the dissemination of geographic and agricultural knowledge, and colonial failures in the Americas. Deborah Hamer is Director of the New Netherland Institute, where she is responsible for initiatives aimed at identifying, preserving, digitizing, and translating Dutch language documents in repositories around the world. She is a historian of the Dutch Atlantic world and received her Ph.D. from Columbia University. Live From New Amsterdam is presented with the support of the New Netherland Institute. Thumb image: Dutch West India Company book, New-York Historical Society. *** For more about the New-York Historical Society, visit our website: https://www.nyhistory.org/ *** Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory?sub_confirmation=1 Check out our full video catalog: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nyhistory/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nyhistory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYHistory #newyorkhistoricalsociety #history

Recorded: February 23, 2023 Watch this conversation about the experiences of the Native American peoples who, in the 17th century, lived in the area that would become New York City. For centuries before European colonists landed in North America, Native Americans farmed, fished, and hunted on Mannahatta and traded with other people along the waterways. In 1624, the Dutch West India Company joined that trade, seeking animal furs for European markets, and brought diverse groups of Europeans to build an outpost and later colony there. Duane Blue Spruce and Russell Shorto will discuss the complex aspects of Native life in New Amsterdam, relationships governed by the Dutch West India Company, and the legacies of 17th-century Native Americans in New York City today. Live From New Amsterdam is an ongoing series hosted by the New Netherland Institute and the New Amsterdam Project at the New-York Historical Society. Through vibrant conversations with scholars and historians, each program will investigate new and exciting research related to New Amsterdam, New Netherland, and the lasting legacies of Dutch rule in New York. Duane Blue Spruce (Laguna and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo) is Public Spaces Planning Coordinator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in New York City. He is an architect, editor, and writer and has guided numerous NMAI projects including the development of the Diker Pavilion, the museum store and cafe, the Infinity of Nations permanent exhibition and, most recently, the Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field exhibition. Russell Shorto is the bestselling author of The Island at the Center of the World, Amsterdam, and Revolution Song. He is the director of the New Amsterdam Project at New-York Historical Society. Image thumb: From the New York Public Library https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-2bbe-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 *** For more about the New-York Historical Society, visit our website: https://www.nyhistory.org/ *** Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory?sub_confirmation=1 Check out our full video catalog: https://www.youtube.com/c/nyhistory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nyhistory/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nyhistory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/NYHistory #newyorkhistoricalsociety #history

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World Premiere Of OUR AMERICAN QUEEN to be Presented at The Flea Theater

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Unique Floral Experience Announced At Harlem Sculpture Gardens

On Tuesday, May 1st, three NYC floral designers will flower-bomb sculptures uptown for Harlem Sculpture Gardens. The works selected for this experience will be Echoes of the Path by Dianne Smith; The Unbroken Project by Felipe Jacome and Svetlana Onipko; Gardening Angel by Vera Tineo in Jackie Robinson Park and I Dream of Becoming a Tree by ByeongDoo Moon in Jackie Robinson Park.

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ELEPHANT & PIGGIE'S 'WE ARE IN A PLAY!' Returns To First Stage

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New-York Historical Society Frequently Asked Questions

What are the closest subway stops to New-York Historical Society

The closest subway stops to the New-York Historical Society at 170 Central Park West are:

1. 81st Street-Museum of Natural History Station: This station is served by the B and C trains. It's just a short walk from the museum, making it a convenient option. [Click here for subway updates](http://www.mta.info)

2. 79th Street Station: This station is served by the 1 train. It's also within walking distance of the New-York Historical Society. [Click here for subway updates](http://www.mta.info)

While you're in the area, here are a few recommendations:

1. Central Park: Take a stroll through one of the most iconic parks in the world. You can enjoy a leisurely walk, rent a bike, or have a picnic. [Central Park website](https://www.centralparknyc.org/)

2. American Museum of Natural History: Located just a block away from the New-York Historical Society, this world-renowned museum is a must-visit. Explore fascinating exhibits, including the famous dinosaur fossils. [American Museum of Natural History website](https://www.amnh.org/)

3. The Dakota: This historic apartment building is located across the street from the New-York Historical Society. It's famous for being the former residence of many notable people, including John Lennon. Take a moment to admire its beautiful architecture.

I hope you have a wonderful time exploring the area and visiting the New-York Historical Society!


What's the best way to get to New-York Historical Society by bus?

The closest bus stops to the New-York Historical Society at 170 Central Park West are:

1. Central Park West/W 77 St: This stop is served by the M10 bus. You can check for updates on the M10 bus schedule [here](http://bustime.mta.info/m/index?q=400001).

2. Central Park West/W 81 St: This stop is served by the M10 and M79-SBS buses. You can check for updates on the M10 bus schedule [here](http://bustime.mta.info/m/index?q=400001) and the M79-SBS bus schedule [here](http://bustime.mta.info/m/index?q=400079).

Please note that bus schedules and routes are subject to change, so it's always a good idea to check for updates closer to your visit.


How much time should I plan to spend at New-York Historical Society?

The ideal length of time to plan to spend at the New-York Historical Society in New York City depends on your level of interest in history and the specific exhibits you wish to explore. On average, visitors spend about 2 to 3 hours exploring the museum. However, if you have a deep passion for history or plan to thoroughly explore all the exhibits, you may want to allocate more time. It's always a good idea to check the museum's website or inquire about any temporary exhibits that may be of interest to help you plan your visit accordingly. Enjoy your time at the New-York Historical Society!


Can I bring food and drinks into New-York Historical Society?

The New-York Historical Society is primarily a museum and does not have a dedicated food and drink policy. However, please note that food and drinks are generally not allowed in the exhibition areas to help preserve the artifacts and maintain a clean environment.

If you're looking for a bite to eat before or after your visit, there are plenty of dining options in the vicinity. The Upper West Side, where the New-York Historical Society is located, offers a diverse range of restaurants and cafes to suit various tastes and budgets. Whether you're in the mood for a quick snack, a casual meal, or a fine dining experience, you'll find something to satisfy your cravings nearby.

Additionally, Central Park is just a short walk away from the museum, and it's a fantastic spot for a picnic if weather permits. You can grab some takeout from a nearby deli or restaurant and enjoy a leisurely meal in the park while taking in the beautiful surroundings.

Remember to check the opening hours and availability of any dining establishments you plan to visit, as they may have specific COVID-19 guidelines or restrictions in place.


Does New-York Historical Society offer luggage storage?

The New-York Historical Society in New York City does not have a luggage storage facility on its premises. However, there are several options available nearby for storing your luggage while you explore the museum and its surrounding area.

One convenient option is to use a luggage storage service such as Vertoe or LuggageHero. These services provide secure storage locations throughout the city where you can drop off your bags for a few hours or even a full day. Simply book online or through their mobile apps, and you'll receive a unique tag for each bag that you can use to retrieve your belongings later.

Another alternative is to check with your hotel if they offer luggage storage for their guests. Many hotels in New York City provide this service, allowing you to store your bags before check-in or after check-out.

Lastly, if you're traveling with larger items or need long-term storage, there are various self-storage facilities in the city that offer lockers or units for rent on a daily or monthly basis.

Remember to plan ahead and check the specific policies and prices of these services to ensure a smooth and hassle-free experience. Enjoy your visit to the New-York Historical Society and have a wonderful time exploring the city!


Is New-York Historical Society a good place to visit for foreign travelers who are not native English speakers?

Yes, the New-York Historical Society is a great destination for visitors from other countries and non-English language speakers. While English is the primary language used in the museum, there are many visual displays and exhibits that can be enjoyed by all visitors, regardless of language proficiency. The museum offers audio guides in multiple languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Mandarin, which provide detailed explanations of the exhibits. Additionally, the museum staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and they are always ready to assist visitors in any way they can. So, whether you are a history buff or simply interested in exploring New York City's rich past, the New-York Historical Society is definitely worth a visit.


What ages are appropriate for New-York Historical Society?

The New-York Historical Society in New York City is a fantastic destination for visitors of all ages! While it may be particularly interesting for history buffs and older children, there is something for everyone to enjoy. The museum offers a range of exhibits and interactive displays that cater to various age groups. Younger children can explore the DiMenna Children's History Museum, which is specifically designed to engage and educate kids about American history through hands-on activities and games. Additionally, the New-York Historical Society often hosts special events and programs for families, making it a great choice for a day of fun and learning for visitors of all ages.


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