New-York Historical Society

In honor of Black history month, we thought we would take a look at some items from the library collections spanning the first four centuries of African-American history in New York; and where better to start than the beginning (just about)! Conveyance of Judith Stuyvesant to Frans Bastiaensz, 24 September 1674. (BY NYC Deeds, MS…

Dreaming of warmer climes? All this snow has us wondering . . . where did 19th century New Yorkers travel to escape the winter blahs? For those that could afford it, the Ward Line of steamships offered runs to Nassau, Cuba and Mexico, as advertised in this circa 1890’s brochure: Within 36 hours of leaving…

That is especially true in this lighthearted note (discovered by our volunteer Carol while re-housing the collection) from Ashcan School painter and printmaker John Sloan, to art collector, critic and patron Albert Eugene Gallatin. It seems his words of apology just could not do justice to his predicament. So, to illustrate the situation, Sloan adds…

Post written by Timothy Wroten, N-YHS Communications The Historical Society is holding a prize contest through January 31, 2011 for contemporary photographs of Times Square to help us document the ever-changing neighborhood. Everyone from the serious to the amateur photographer is invited to contribute; the first-prize winner receives $500 and all contestants get the chance…

Snowbanks on Madison Avenue Since the blizzard has been quite the topic of conversation lately, we thought it might be a good opportunity to take a look back at New York’s legendary Blizzard of 1888. On March 12, twenty-one inches of snow fell in just under twenty-four hours which was exacerbated by gusts upwards of…

In the Society’s manuscript collections is a cache of letters sent by former sign-painter, Pvt. Salvatore Cillis of the 306th Field Artillery from Camp Upton, Long Island and France. Written between 1917 and 1918, Cillis’ good-natured, humorous observations are complemented by several pen and ink and watercolor sketches enlightening his former co-workers about camp life….

Most people do not associate Santa Claus with war, but in fact the connection goes back to Santa’s very beginnings. Our popular image of Santa was created by cartoonist Thomas Nast during the Civil War. Nast’s first Santa illustrations, published in the January 3, 1863 edition of Harper’s Weekly, featured Santa visiting dejected Union soldiers….

As we are now in holiday party season, it seems a good time to look back at previous holiday parties at N-YHS. Pictures in the N-YHS Archives show parties from the 1950’s and 1960’s that include dancing, plenty of drinking, and even smoking in the museum. Most of these pictures depict the staff inside what…

The library staff at the New-York Historical Society is happy to announce the publication of When Did the Statue of Liberty Turn Green? And 101 Other Questions About New York City. For years, the librarians at the New-York Historical Society have kept a record of the questions posed to them by curious New Yorkers and…