Written by Kelly Morgan Last week we looked at a few selections of World War I propaganda posters promoting enlistment culled from the New-York Historical Society. This week, we’ll examine how the posters called on women to support the war effort and utilized female imagery both for the purpose of enlisting soldiers and for their...

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Written by Kelly Morgan In this final installment of the propaganda posters series, we’ll be examining the mobilization of the home front through Liberty loan drives and through manufacturing by appealing to the labor force, immigrant groups, and citizens unable to serve in the military or Red Cross. All posters discussed in this post are...

The post “Together We Win”: Unifying the Home Front appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

On September 1, 1939, in New York City, the World’s Fair was in its opening months of presenting an imponderable “world of tomorrow” to the wonder of the exposition’s visitors. At the same time in Europe, Hitler was setting in motion events that would constitute the very real underpinnings of a modern epoch. Standing then on...

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Written by Kelly Morgan, N-YHS Intern, Ph.D. candidate, Drew University Propaganda posters weren’t the only means of transmitting popular sentiment to the American public during World War I. Sheet music, both for popular songs and songs never even recorded, were ubiquitous in American homes. In the early 20th century, even the most popular songs sold...

The post “Over There”: Sheet Music and Propaganda during World War I appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Written by Ina Bort In our last two posts, we explored the life of Alva Vanderbilt Belmont and dropped in at her Marble House suffrage conferences in Newport, where “Votes for Women” plates like this one may very well have been used. But it may be that these plates were instead (or also) used—that is,...

The post Suffrage on the Menu, Part III: Alva’s Political Equality Association Lunchroom appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Written by Debra Schmidt Bach, Curator of Decorative Arts The New-York Historical Society recently acquired a pair of custom-made boots created for actor Kevin Smith Kirkwood for his role in the hit Broadway musical Kinky Boots, which tells the story of Charlie Price, a young Englishman who inherits his family’s failing shoe factory. While trying...

The post Heels and History: What sparkly, red platform boots tell us about American culture appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Written by Louise Mirrer, President and CEO, New-York Historical Society I was born in 1953, three months before the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War. My uncle, a U.S. soldier stationed in the Philippines, came home to New York that summer, bearing souvenirs. Among them was an exquisite embroidered silk kimono. A...

The post Bringing It All Back Home: The Vietnam War in Public History and Personal Memory appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

In July 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives designated the second week of September as National Arts in Education Week. This annual celebration showcases and promotes the positive impact of arts education across the nation and its power to transform student learning. At the New-York Historical Society, arts education is a pillar of our educational mission. The...

The post National Art in Education Week: Meet the Art Educators of the Institution appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Sunday, September 17 marked the 228th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, a day commonly honored as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day—acknowledging the role not only of our founding document but also of the citizens who live by it. How special, then, that one day after this noteworthy anniversary, we welcomed more than...

The post “Live Your American Dream”: Celebrating 200 New U.S. Citizens appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

It’s not every day you welcome the NYPD Bomb Squad into your museum…but that’s what happened recently at the New-York Historical Society! This week, we’re opening our groundbreaking new exhibition, The Vietnam War: 1945-1975, exploring the causes and consequences of one of the most divisive and controversial events in American history. The expansive exhibition features...

The post Scanning Bomblets: NYPD Bomb Squad Visits the Museum appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

On Tuesday, October 24, the New-York Historical Society hosted its first Frederick Douglass Council event. The program — a look at the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia — welcomed Dorothy E. Roberts as the guest speaker and featured Brent Staples as a moderator. Dorothy E. Roberts is an award-winning professor who has...

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Contrary to our notions of a Thanksgiving feast, the first harvest celebrated by the Pilgrims with the Wampanoag in 1621 did not focus on roast turkey. According to the one preserved written account, the menu pivoted around duck, venison, seafood, and corn. Turkey only became part of the annual Thanksgiving ritual after 1863, when Abraham...

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You have to think a little before you realize they want to talk peace and get ready to fight. – Crystal Eastman Benedict, chair of Woman’s Peace Party, in “Women Ridicule Security League,” The New York Times, June 6, 1915 The outbreak of World War I in Europe launched competing movements for “preparedness” and peace...

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Thanksgiving in the modern-day American consciousness often evokes images of turkeys, balloons, pumpkin pies, and, of course, the inevitable reference to the Pilgrims. More than any other Thanksgiving icon, the Pilgrim emerged as the exemplary American success story: religious refugees banned from openly practicing their brand of Protestantism and desperate to retain their English identity....

The post “Pilgrims Going to Church”: Thanksgiving and the Pilgrim in Public Memory appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

On Tuesday, November 14, the New-York Historical Society hosted a discussion, “A Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition.” This Frederick Douglass Council event featured Manisha Sinha as the guest speaker and Eric Foner as the moderator. Manisha Sinha, a James L. and Shirley A. Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut, is...

The post Program Recap: The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

On December 6, 2017, the New-York Historical Society hosted a lecture featuring distinguished historian Stephen Kotkin. Stephen Kotkin, author of the book Stalin: Waiting For Hitler, 1929-1941, explored Joseph Stalin’s forced industrialization of the Soviet Union and assessed his relationship with Hitler’s Nazi Germany during World War II.  When Kotkin took the stage, he opened...

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Toy drives are a beloved feature of the holiday season, and have been for over a century. In New York City, women have long been at the center of efforts to care for poor and orphaned children. In 1806, Elizabeth Hamilton (yes, that Eliza) was one of the founders of the Orphan Asylum Society of...

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On December 15, 2017, the Center for Women’s History at the New-York Historical Society hosted a Salon Conversation titled “Women of the Village.” A hearty crowd filled the Museum’s fourth-floor Skylight Gallery on a snowy Friday evening for a tour of Hotbed in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery, followed by a conversation between Scholarly...

The post Event Recap: Women of the Village with Blanche Wiesen Cook and Lara Vapnek appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

This year we opened the Center for Women’s History at the New-York Historical Society, the first institution of its kind within the walls of a major U.S. museum. Since then, we’ve been sharing the stories of formidable women whose courage, activism, and determination in the face of resistance inspire us all. It’s been a busy year! A...

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Nursing, which as a profession has long been associated with women, offered opportunities not only for education and employment, but leadership. Long before American women could vote, they were able to influence public policy, often through professional organizations, such as those formed by nurses in the early 20th century. Student Nurses in the Orrin Sage...

The post Finding Women in the Archives: Student Nurses appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Currently, only 13 percent of the historical figures in history textbooks are women. Why does this matter? As one teacher put it, in his response to our national survey: “You can’t be what you can’t see.” Girls and young women make up more than half of K-12 students and college undergraduates. If women are considered...

The post “You Can’t Be What You Can’t See”: Teaching Women’s History appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Women in New York City have a long history of taking to streets and stages to make their voices heard. The suffrage parades of the 1910s captured the attention of the city and helped convince men that women were engaged citizens who deserved the right to vote. This past weekend, 200,000 women and men again...

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No visit to Hotbed, the exhibition currently on view in New-York Historical’s Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery, is complete without a stop in the “nickelodeon,” our re-creation of an early movie theater. Inside, visitors can see excerpts from the pro- and anti-suffrage films that proliferated in the early 20th century. However, you may be...

The post Finding Women in the Archives: “Ladies without escorts cordially invited” appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

If you’ve ever visited the New-York Historical Society, you’ve probably enjoyed saying hello to (or even taking a selfie with!) our Frederick Douglass statue outside our 77th Street entrance. While we’re thrilled to celebrate his work every day as he welcomes visitors to the Museum, we’re especially excited this year to celebrate his life and...

The post Family, Legacy, and Citizenship: Celebrating Frederick Douglass at 200 appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

What do diversity and inclusivity mean in a museum-based digital interactive installation? This question was central to the design of our Women’s Voices exhibit, a wall of touchscreens that allow visitors to explore individuals, groups, and events spanning New York State and City women’s history. Our goal was to balance the appeal of biographies while...

The post Listening to Black Women’s Voices appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Americans have a long history of advocating for their rights and principles. With our Women and the American Story (WAMS) curriculum, teachers can trace this narrative of activism through the women reformers of the 1800s who worked for social change alongside and apart from men—inspiring their students, both boys and girls, to be engaged citizens...

The post The Edmonson Sisters: Teaching Black Women’s Activism in the 19th Century appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Our groundbreaking exhibition The Vietnam War: 1945–1975 is now in its fourth month on display. As its name implies, the exhibition begins the story of the Vietnam War at the end of World War II—but don’t be misled into thinking the exhibition ends when the troops were called home in 1975. It actually continues into...

The post “Where have all the comments gone?”—Visitor Thoughts on the Vietnam War appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Formerly reserved for royalty, the red carpet has been a Hollywood fixture since 1922, when Sid Grauman hosted the premiere of Robin Hood at his Egyptian Theater. The film starred Douglas Fairbanks, the “First King of Hollywood.” Today, the red carpet is synonymous with the Academy Awards, and the parade of stars outside the theater...

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Last year at the New-York Historical Society, we opened the Center for Women’s History—the first initiative within the walls of a major U.S. museum dedicated to sharing the untold stories of women throughout American history. It’s been an honor to share stories on the life and legacies of leaders, from Billie Jean King to Harriet...

The post Leaders Among Us: Inspiring Women on Inspiring Women appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

One of the highlights of our North Gallery in our 4th-floor Luce Center, which reopened last April, is the magnificent painting Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment, N.Y.S.M. from the Seat of War, painted by Louis Lang (1812-1893) in 1862. The painting depicts the regiment marching off the ship and into the Battery in Lower Manhattan,...

The post Putting the “Fight” in the “Fighting 69th”: Louis Lang and the Historic Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

This past February, we brought history and technology together for our first cohort of Tech Scholars. Throughout this one-week program, we welcomed a group of 15 high school students from across the city to design and build their own websites to exhibit their research on notable events and figures in women’s history.   The group of...

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One of the highlights of our North Gallery in our 4th-floor Luce Center, which reopened last April, is the magnificent painting Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment, N.Y.S.M. from the Seat of War, painted by Louis Lang (1812-1893) in 1862. The painting depicts the regiment marching off the ship and into the Battery in Lower Manhattan, welcomed by...

The post Resurrecting the Regiment: The Return of Louis Lang’s Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, and Robert F. Kennedy on June 6, 1968, our exhibition Rebel Spirits: Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. showcases photographs and artifacts honoring these visionary leaders who irrevocably changed the United States. Sixty images taken by some of the...

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Dear Ms. Markle, We have learned that you will soon be cramming (or as they say in the UK, “swotting”) for the British citizenship test, an exam that is typically flunked by one-third to one-half of all applicants. To pass the test, you will have to correctly answer 75 percent of 24 questions, like How...

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This spring, the Tech Commons @ N-YHS welcomed our second cohort of Tech Scholars. Young women grades 9-12 from four of the five boroughs came every day for a week to the Tech Commons to explore the intersections of women’s history and web development. The group was tasked with building websites to share not only...

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We are building a research railroad! In 2017 the New-York Historical Society received a special grant to begin the enormous task of cataloging the Jerni Collection in an effort share its wonders with the greater public. These funds come from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Founded in 1996, IMLS serves as an...

The post Laying Tracks: Behind the Scenes of the  Jerni Collection Cataloging Project appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

This fall, we opened a powerful new exhibition Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow, which explores the struggle for full citizenship and racial equality that unfolded in the 50 years after the Civil War, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Fourteenth Amendment. On September 7, to open the exhibition, we welcomed Dr. Brenda...

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As October 31 draws near, ghosts appear in New York windows, and cobwebs creep over city bushes. Crisp leaves heap in piles along sidewalks where wrinkled gourds line up to watch crunchy commutes. All across the state New Yorkers still “inhale the witching influence of the air, and begin to grow imaginative, to dream dreams,...

The post History and Halloween: John Rogers’ “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Revolutionary War hero, treasury secretary, founder of the Bank of New York, architect of America’s financial system—Alexander Hamilton’s accomplishments are too numerous to list. In his lifetime of just 47 years, Hamilton helped secure America’s freedom and shaped the contours of the young republic in its earliest days. The Bank of New York (now BNY...

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This week, the New-York Historical Society turned 214! To celebrate our birthday we’re taking a look back on the construction of the New-York Historical Society’s permanent home at 170 Central Park West. Before settling along the park, New-York Historical lived at seven other locations around the city between 1804 and 1908. Here’s a retro map...

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Yikes! This aggressive-looking machine is patented under the name “Lightning” and is cold to the touch.  Because it’s made from cast iron, when you lift it, its weight drags your whole body down and turns your arm to pudding. It has four gears; each is a different size, and each is necessary. When activated, these...

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If you were watching television in the 1990s, you are probably familiar with the jingle “the touch, the feel, of cotton. The fabric of our lives.” In many ways, cotton has also long been the fabric of our country. Many correctly associate the growing of cotton in the United States with the institution of slavery....

The post From Cotton Fields to Laundry Strikes: Black Women’s Labor During Reconstruction and Jim Crow appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

It is fitting that the exhibition Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow coincides with Betye Saar: Keepin’ It Clean, for it is the legacy of Jim Crow that the contemporary artists Betye Saar tackles. Black Citizenship begins with the struggle for equality during the tumultuous years of Reconstruction and ends with the late-19th and 20th century...

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Phoebe Snow lives up to her surname. She has pale skin and is dressed entirely in white. From the pristine ostrich plumes that adorn her hat to the spotless boots that protect her feet, Phoebe Snow is obsessively, almost compulsively, clean. She’s also a fictional character, invented by an advertising firm in an early push...

The post Meet Phoebe Snow, the Fictional Woman Who Gave Glamour to Train Travel—and Coal?! appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

The late, legendary Pete Seeger knew how to sing for a cause. Throughout his career, he performed, rallied, and wrote music for labor rights, civil rights, and the end of the Vietnam War. He was also deeply involved in the environmental movement, particularly when it came to the Hudson River. A longtime resident of Beacon,...

The post Celebrating Pete Seeger: A Producer and Friend on How the Folk Legend’s Music Changed the World appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Most Christian and Jewish Americans, reading about Christ’s resurrection or the Jewish exodus from Egypt during the upcoming Easter and Passover holidays, will not consider the Bible to be an American book. And yet, the Bible was our first American book; its earliest printings, translations, and interpretations reflected the experiences of the first Europeans to...

The post The Bible, America’s First Book: ‘In God We Trust’ at New-York Historical appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

Every year on April 22, people around the world pause to rally for the planet. Earth Day has become a global event, part demonstration, part celebration, as concerned citizens lend their support to a natural world that’s increasingly in peril. That sense of urgency was there from the very beginning: April 22, 1970, marked the...

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The champion racing yacht Marietta set sail from Pier A in lower Manhattan on the chilly late morning of September 22, 1897. Mrs. Edith Gifford was aboard along with fellow members of the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs (NJSFWC) and their male allies from the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society (ASHPS). This...

The post The Palisades in Peril: Meet the Forgotten Women Who Fought to Save the Great Cliffs of the Hudson River appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

May 3, 2019, is an auspicious day in music history. It would’ve been the 100th birthday of Pete Seeger, the late, legendary singer-songwriter and one of the pioneers of American folk music. Seeger, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 94, had an incredible career that stretched from his early days in the 1940s...

The post Pete Seeger at 100: How the Folk Legend Built a Sailboat to Help Revive the Hudson River appeared first on Behind The Scenes.

The first Bible to be printed in America was special for many reasons, but perhaps the most remarkable is this: It was translated into a language that most English colonists couldn’t read. A Geneva Bible, it was printed in Natick, an Algonquin language spoken by the Massachusett people who lived on the land surrounding the...

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