#CULTUREDPEACHY #WHOMYOUKNOW @NYHISTORY EXPLORE THE CENTER FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY AND MORE AT NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY Exhibitions, Programs, and Free Films March 2018 – April 2018
EXHIBITIONS
Feathers: Fashion and the Fight for Wildlife
COMING SOON: April 6 – July 15, 2018
For years, feathers were a mainstay of the fashionable wardrobe, and New York was the center of the United States’ feather trade. That changed in 1918 when Congress passed the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibited the hunting, killing, trading, and shipping of migratory birds. To commemorate the centennial of this important legislation, Feathers: Fashion and the Fight for Wildlife examines the economic circumstances and social customs that inspired early environmentalists and activists―many of whom were women―to champion the protection of endangered birds. This colorful story is told through paintings and photographs, along with examples of late 19th- and early 20th-century hats, fans, aigrettes, and dresses that spurred activists into action. The exhibition also explores how the legislation impacted the city’s feather importers, clothing manufacturers, retailers, and fashion-conscious consumers. Feathers concludes with images of the bird species saved from extinction by the act, depicted in rich original watercolors from John James Audubon’s The Birds of America.
Walk This Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes
COMING SOON: April 20 – October 8, 2018
Shoes in recent years have culturally transcended their utilitarian purpose to become an object of desire and deliberation, calling up abstract considerations—like the freighted meanings of femininity, power, domination, and aspiration—for both women and men alike. Walk This Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes highlights examples from the shoe designer’s extensive private collection, assembled over three decades. The exhibition considers the story of the shoe from the perspectives of collection, consumption, presentation, and production with more than 100 pairs of shoes on view. Walk This Way also explores larger trends in American economic history, from industrialization to the rise of consumer culture, with a focus on women’s contributions as makers, designers, and entrepreneurs.
Hotbed
LAST CHANCE: through March 25, 2018
In the early 20th century, Greenwich Village was a hotbed of political activism and social change—where men and women joined forces across the boundaries of class and race to fight for a better world. At the heart of the downtown radicals’ crusade lay women’s rights: to control their own bodies, to do meaningful work, and above all, to vote. Celebrating the centennial of women’s right to vote in New York and on view in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery, Hotbed features immersive installations and more than 100 artifacts and images—drawn from New-York Historical’s archives and several private collections—that bring to life the neighborhood’s bohemian scene and energetic activist spirit.
The Vietnam War: 1945 – 1975
LAST CHANCE: through April 22, 2018
Join us for this groundbreaking look at one of the most controversial events of the 20th century. Featuring interpretive displays, digital media, artwork, artifacts, photographs, and documents, The Vietnam War: 1945 – 1975 provides an enlightening account of the causes, progression, and impact of the war. Spanning the duration of U.S. involvement in Indochina, the narrative incorporates perspectives covering both the home and the war fronts. Displays touch upon the Cold War, the draft, military campaigns initiated by both sides, the growth of the antiwar movement, the role of the president, and the loss of political consensus. Throughout the exhibition, visitors explore themes of patriotism, duty, and citizenship. Key objects include a troopship berthing unit, interactive murals, vibrant antiwar posters, artwork by Vietnam vets, a Viet Cong bicycle, the Pentagon Papers, and news and film clips.
Rebel Spirits: Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Now through May 20, 2018
On the surface, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were born worlds apart―culturally, geographically, racially, financially, and politically. But by the time they were killed within two months of each other in 1968, their worlds had come together. Images taken by some of the most renowned photojournalists of the era―alongside original correspondence, publications, and ephemera―illustrate the overlapping trajectory of their lives, exploring their deepening tie as well as how their interests expanded beyond civil rights and organized crime to encompass shared concerns for the poor and opposition to the war in Vietnam.
New York through the Lens of George Kalinsky
Now through September 30, 2018
Some of New York’s most iconic cultural moments over the past 50 years have been captured by George Kalinsky. Serving as Madison Square Garden’s official photographer, Kalinsky has turned truly memorable moments―sporting events, legendary performances, and notable occasions―into lasting images that have defined the city. Among the quintessential photographs on view are Pope John Paul II hoisting a seven-year-old child onto the Popemobile in Madison Square Garden, Bill Bradley celebrating a New York Knicks victory, Sloane Stephens winning the 2017 US Open, and Jesse Orosco falling to his knees on the mound as the Mets won the 1986 World Series.
Collecting the Women’s Marches
Now on view through September 30, 2018
On January 21, 2017, hundreds of thousands rallied at the Women’s March on Washington for diverse issues including women’s rights, racial equality, and the environment. Counting more than 500 sister marches across the United States, it was the largest single-day protest in the nation’s history. As part of its History Responds program, the New-York Historical Society collected a range of artifacts, including signs, sashes, pussyhats, and colorful props, to document the moment. One year later, Collecting the Women’s Marches highlights some of the political and visual themes that emerged, as well as the efforts of individuals and groups that worked behind the scenes. An adjunct display of protest clothing by Olek (Agata Oleksiak), an artist who works in crochet, and Brick x Brick, a public art performance group, is also on view.
Audubon’s Birds of America
Ongoing
Visitors have the unique experience of viewing John James Audubon’s spectacular watercolor models for the 435 plates of The Birds of America (1827–38) with their corresponding plates from the double-elephant-folio series, engraved by Robert Havell Jr. Each month, the exhibition rotates to highlight new species—featured in the order they appear in Audubon’s publication—which showcase the artist’s creative process and his contributions to ornithological illustration. Other works from New-York Historical’s collection, the world’s largest repository of Auduboniana, illuminate Audubon’s process. In March, we welcome the Canada Warbler, and in April, the Wild Turkey will be on display.
Visit the New Fourth Floor: Objects Tell Stories, the Gallery of Tiffany Lamps, and More
Ongoing
Explore American history through stunning exhibitions and captivating interactive media on our transformed fourth floor. Themed displays in the North Gallery present a variety of topics—such as slavery, war, infrastructure, childhood, recreation, and 9/11—offering unexpected and surprising perspectives on collection highlights. Touchscreens and interactive kiosks allow visitors to explore American history and engage with objects like never before. As the centerpiece of the fourth floor, the Gallery of Tiffany Lamps features 100 illuminated Tiffany lampshades from our spectacular collection displayed within a dramatically lit jewel-like space. Within our new Center for Women’s History, visitors discover the hidden connections among exceptional and unknown women who left their mark on New York and the nation with the multimedia digital installation, Women’s Voices, and through rotating exhibitions in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery. Objects from the Billie Jean King Archive are also on view.
Collector’s Choice: Highlights from the Permanent Collection
Ongoing
Since 1804, the New-York Historical Society has been welcoming to its collection some of the most esteemed artworks of the modern world.Collector’s Choice: Highlights from the Permanent Collection showcases a selection of paintings that reflect the individual tastes of several New York City collectors who donated their holdings to New-York Historical. Joining Picasso’s Le Tricorne ballet curtain are featured American and European masterpieces spanning the 14th through the 21st centuries from Luman Reed, Thomas Jefferson Bryan, and Robert L. Stuart, including colonial portraits of children, marine and maritime subjects, and an installation showcasing recently collected contemporary works.
NEW FILM
We Rise
Now Playing in Daily in Rotation with Our Film New York Story
Free with Museum Admission
Narrated by Meryl Streep and featuring the song “We Are Here” written and composed by Alicia Keys, New-York Historical’s new film We Risecelebrates the centennial of women’s suffrage in New York State, placing women at the center of political thought and action that reshaped the country in the early 20th century. We Rise, a cornerstone of the new Center for Women’s History, is shown every day in our state-of-the-art ground-floor theater, in regular rotation with the destination film New York Story. Through artistic projections, immersive sound, and theatrical lighting, the unique 17-minute film We Rise profiles some of the remarkable women whose advocacy for change had lasting effects, including Lillian Wald, nurse and founder of Henry Street Settlement; Addie Hunton, suffragist and leader of black women’s organizations; Margaret Sanger, birth control activist; and Clara Lemlich, a leader of the massive strike of shirtwaist workers in New York’s garment industry in 1909; as well as women like Clara Driscoll, head of the Tiffany Studios Women’s Glass Cutting Department, who found new opportunities for work and independence in New York City in that time period.
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
The ’60s from Both Sides, Now: An Evening with Judy Collins
Judy Collins, Harold Holzer
Tuesday, March 13, 6:30 pm
SOLD OUT
Nearly half a century ago, Judy Collins recorded her mega-hit “Both Sides, Now”—an anthem of the ’60s written for her by Joni Mitchell. Collins won further acclaim with “Chelsea Morning” and “Send in the Clowns.” The singer known as “Judy Blue Eyes” also confronted the dark side of the ’60s as well as her own personal struggles. Throughout, she has remained an outspoken activist who began singing Pete Seeger’s protest song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” while testifying at the 1969 trial of the Chicago Seven. Now this enduring and courageous artist looks back at the decade that launched, inspired, and tested her.
American Foreign Policy after the Arab Spring
Elliott Abrams, Justin Vogt
Wednesday, March 14, 6:30 pm
$38 (Members $24)
Experts discuss American foreign policy in the Middle East, uncovering how the United States addressed the tension between tyranny and democracy from the Cold War through the Obama era and illuminating how politics in the Middle East have evolved since the 2011 Arab Spring protests.
An Evening with Drew Gilpin Faust
Drew Gilpin Faust, David M. Rubenstein
Tuesday, March 20, 6:30 pm
$48 (Members $38)
Join us for an evening with esteemed American historian Drew Gilpin Faust, President of Harvard University. In an intimate conversation, Faust discusses her work as a Civil War historian and uncovers the pivotal role universities play in modeling cultural and political understanding and strengthening American society.
The Village: New York’s Bohemia
Barry Lewis
Thursday, March 22, 6:30 pm
$48 (Members $38)
In conjunction with New-York Historical’s exhibition Hotbed, architectural historian Barry Lewis takes us inside the vibrant political and artistic scene of Greenwich Village—New York’s first Bohemian neighborhood—in the early 20th century, when everyone from Edna St. Vincent Millay to John Sloan made “the Village” their hangout.
The Presidents: William Howard Taft
Jeffrey Rosen, Akhil Reed Amar
Tuesday, March 27, 6:30 pm
$38 (Members $24)
Leading scholar Jeffrey Rosen, in conversation with Akhil Reed Amar, explores the extraordinary story of the only man ever to serve as President of the United States and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Discover how President William Howard Taft defended the Founding Fathers’ vision of American democracy.
Le Conversazioni: An Evening with Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Rossellini, Antonio Monda
Wednesday, March 28, 7 pm
$38 (Members $24)
Actress, model, and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini, in conversation with Antonio Monda, artistic director of the Rome Film Festival, discusses her multifaceted life and career—from her famous roots as the daughter of legendary director Roberto Rossellini and actress Ingrid Bergman to her latest project as author of the new book My Chickens and I.
The American Economy in the Age of Trump
James Grant, Byron R. Wien
Thursday, March 29, 6:30 pm
$44 (Members $32)
During the 2016 presidential election, the U.S. economy was a top issue for American voters—but where does the U.S. economy stand today? Experts discuss the state of the economy under President Trump and uncover how the current administration might shape America’s financial future.
North Korea in the Age of Trump
Sue Mi Terry, Max Boot
Tuesday, April 3, 6:30 pm
$44 (Members $32)
With tensions between the U.S. and North Korea reaching unprecedented heights and the threat of nuclear confrontation dominating American news headlines, experts discuss the tenuous situation, uncover the political and diplomatic history of North Korea, and reveal the consequences of escalating conflict.
Hamilton’s Best Friend and the French Revolution
Richard Brookhiser, Dale Gregory
Thursday, April 5, 6:30 pm
$38 (Members $24)
Follow Alexander Hamilton’s best friend, Gouverneur Morris, to Paris on the eve of the French Revolution where a cast of Americans including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin bore witness to the rumblings of democratic furor.
The Presidents: Thomas Jefferson: From Monticello to Versailles
Annette Gordon-Reed, Carol Berkin
Saturday, April 7, 9–9:30 am: Registration and Continental Breakfast | 9:30–11 am: Program
$48 (Members $38)
Celebrated historians explore the complex legacy of Thomas Jefferson—from his leadership style to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, as well as his tenure as America’s first Secretary of State and the Minister to France during the Revolutionary era.
The Presidents: George Washington
Joanne Freeman, Douglas Brinkley
Monday, April 9, 8 pm
$38 (Members $24) | 35 and under $10
Joanne Freeman—co-host of the podcast BackStory—joins Douglas Brinkley, Presidential Historian at the New-York Historical Society, for a journey into George Washington’s America, uncovering the challenges of a young nation’s developing democracy and revealing the cast of characters—including Alexander Hamilton—who founded the nation.
Women and the White House
Carol Berkin, Cokie Roberts, Gil Troy, Lesley Stahl
Wednesday, April 11, 6:30 pm
$38 (Members $24)
From Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison to the present day, women have wrought enormous influence on the U.S. government. Experts survey and celebrate how women have affected the executive branch and the American republic as a whole.
The Presidents: Abraham Lincoln
Harold Holzer
Monday, April 16, 6:30 pm
$38 (Members $24)
For all his other remarkable gifts, America’s 16th President was perhaps most talented of all in the art of political persuasion—both in person and in print. During the dark days of the Civil War, Lincoln truly functioned as America’s “communicator-in-chief,” reaching out to an anxious, divided, tearful nation with warmth, humor, and great eloquence in order to seal the endurance and loyalty of the people. Lincoln used a rare combination of eloquence and technological know-how to reach the most people in the fastest way possible—perhaps doing as much to preserve the Union with his words as his armies did with their bullets. Lincoln Prize winner Harold Holzer takes a new look at this extraordinary communicator as well as both his most famous and most neglected messages.
Winston Churchill’s Brushes with Death
Andrew Roberts
Thursday, April 19, 6:30 pm
SOLD OUT
One of the most extraordinary things about Winston Churchill becoming British Prime Minister in May 1940 was that he was alive at all. He survived more than 20 near-death experiences in his life, including a very serious accident on Fifth Avenue. Andrew Roberts tells us how they shaped his thoughts on life, ambition, death, and fate.
The Supreme Court vs. Martin Luther King Jr.
Randall Kennedy
Monday, April 23, 6:30 pm
$38 (Members $24)
In the spring of 1963, a state court judge in Alabama ordered Martin Luther King Jr. and his associates to desist from protesting. King disobeyed the injunction, was jailed, and was later prevented from challenging the constitutionality of the order. In the 1967 case Walker v. City of Birmingham, the Supreme Court upheld the Alabama court’s rulings against King, declaring that “respect for judicial process is a small price to pay for the civilizing hand of law.” Did the Supreme Court rule rightly?
An Evening with Barry Lewis: Paris
Barry Lewis
Thursday, April 26, 6:30 pm
$48 (Members $38)
Architectural historian Barry Lewis takes us on a journey to Paris, where, in the 19th century, the French became pioneers of iron and glass construction—evolving from early century shopping galleries to the magnificent, mid-century iron-framed Saint Genevieve and National Libraries to the celebrated fin-de-siècle works: the Grand Palais and Eiffel Tower.
Ending the Great War
John H. Maurer
Satuday, April 28, 9–9:30 am: Registration and Continental Breakfast | 9:30–11 am: Program
$48 (Members $38)
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. Why did Germany lose the war? What role did the United States play in winning the war? How did the war’s ending lead to an even greater conflict a generation later? John Maurer explores these questions in a lecture on the dramatic and tragic events of 1918.
JUSTICE IN FILM SERIES
This series explores how film has tackled social conflict, morality, and the perennial struggle between right and wrong. Entrance to the film series is included with Museum Admission during New-York Historical’s Pay-as-you-wish Friday Nights (6–8 pm). No advance reservations. Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 6 pm.
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Friday, March 23, 7 pm
This classic comedy stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as married lawyers who oppose each other in court. Introduced by Annette Gordon-Reed, Robert R. Reed, Ron Simon, and Dale Gregory.
Directed by George Cukor. Starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn. 101 min.
Marius (1931)
Friday, April 20, 7 pm
Introduced by Michael Korda, nephew of Marius director Alexander Korda, this French romantic classic tells a story about love and adventure on the shores of Marseilles and a man who is forced to choose between fulfilling his life’s passion and marrying the woman he loves. (French with English subtitles.) Directed by Alexander Korda. Starring Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis. 127 min.
OTHER EVENTS AT NEW-YORK HISTORICAL
The Citizenship Project
Free Civics Classes for Green Card Holders
Registration is open for free civics classes to help green card holders prepare for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization exam. Part of New-York Historical Society’s Citizenship Project, this initiative, in partnership with CUNY’s Citizenship Now!, aims to help legal immigrants in the New York region become American citizens through workshops, classes, educational tools, museum guides, and special installations. Through these courses, participants learn about pivotal moments in U.S. history as they examine treasures from New-York Historical’s collections. Visit nyhistory.org/citizenship to apply or to learn more about the Citizenship Project, its programs, and related educational resources.
Behind-the-Scenes Tour: An Exclusive Look at Conservation at the New-York Historical Society
Wednesday, March 14, 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Purchase tickets at nyadventureclub.com
On this behind-the-scenes tour, take an intimate and interactive journey through the conservation lab where staff preserve some of the most illuminating paper-based treasures in New-York Historical’s collection, primarily held within the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library. Witness firsthand how conservators prepare, treat, install, and de-install Library and Museum paper-based collections for exhibitions and loans, as well as stabilize large collections for storage and use. Try out conservation treatment techniques led by our conservation staff!
Stroller Tour Through History
Second Friday and third Sunday of each month: April 13; 9:15 – 10 am | Sunday, April 15, 10:15 – 11 am
Children 3 years and under and their adults
$25 per family (includes up to two adults and their children)
Take a stroll through history with your little one! Grown-ups and their children (up to 3 years old) explore America’s past, present, and future in this lively and interactive tour. Our early childhood educator leads you and your child on an exploration of art, history, and creativity―all before the Museum opens for the day. Singing, movement, texture exploration, and art-making in the galleries make for a memorable morning.
CONTACT INFORMATION
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West (at 77th Street)
New York, NY 10024
MUSEUM AND NYHISTORY STORE HOURS:
Tuesday – Thursday: 10 am – 6 pm
Friday: 10 am – 8 pm
Saturday: 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday: 11 am – 5 pm
Please check the calendar at nyhistory.org for the latest updates.
MUSEUM ADMISSION
Adults: $21
Teachers and Seniors: $16
Students: $13
Children (5–13): $6
Children (4 and under): Free
*Pay-as-you-wish Fridays from 6 pm – 8 pm.
Unidentified photographer. Inez Milholland on horseback, 1913. New-York Historical Society Library
Rebel Spirits: Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. is now on display. Photo credit: Glenn Castellano, New-York Historical Society
