Happy October everyone! Halloween is upon us which means it’s time to pick out a costume. The Costume Ball Photograph Collection (PR 223) is the perfect collection to inspire your choice. The collection contains photographs and mounted clippings of members of high society attending New York balls from 1875 to 1932. The New-York Historical Society Collection of…

Among the odder holdings of our Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections are two albums of pictures taken at a Halloween party given by one Alan Lloyd Wolfe (Album File, PR-0020-359.1 and 359.2). Why odd? For one thing we don’t know much about Mr. Wolfe other than that he lived from 1889 to 1970….

In a set of early records from Westchester County is an unassuming reminder of the history of witchcraft in colonial New York.  Although written in a daunting-to-read seventeenth century hand, the reminder is a statement dated September 5, 1670, acknowledging payment of fourteen pounds to a Katharine Harrison by Joseph Palmer, “fully and abessolutely” satisfying his debt….

This post was written by Damla Bek, Library Page. New York City abounds with tales of ghosts, and with each retelling, we breathe new life into these stories. Every story is descended from some grain of truth, but over time, we spin them into something far more spectacular and memorable, where New York City is…

This post was written by Marybeth Kavanagh, Reference Librarian for the Department of Prints, Photographs and Architectural Collections. Looking for inspiration to get into the spirit of the season, I found a small, sweet  volume in our Printed Collections called Games For Halloween. In less than 60 pages, author Mary E. Blain lays out a plan that Martha Stewart…