Planned by the Gilder Lehrman Institute in collaboration with the New-York Historical Society. October 16, 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of John Brown's doomed raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859. Brown, an ardent abolitionist who believed in racial equality, embraced violence as a means to end slavery. Executed in 1859, he has been both vilified as a murderer and celebrated as a martyr. This exhibition of rare materials from the Gilder Lehrman Collection and New-York Historical explores Brown's beliefs and activities at a critical juncture in American history and invites us to ponder the struggle for civil rights down to the present.

Planned by the Gilder Lehrman Institute in collaboration with N-YHS.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/

October 16, 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of John Brown's doomed raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859.  Brown, an ardent abolitionist who believed in racial equality, embraced violence as a means to end slavery. Executed in 1859, he has been both vilified as a murderer and celebrated as a martyr. This exhibition of rare materials from the Gilder Lehrman Collection and N-YHS explores Brown's beliefs and activities at a critical juncture in American history and invites us to ponder the struggle for civil rights down to the present.

Although at first a casual circle, the group became tightly organized after FDR's nomination. After the election, they were publicly christened the "Brain Trust," and became the central component of the New Deal. This exhibition will focus on the three key members of the Brain Trust—Raymond Moley, Rexford Tugwell, and Adolph Berle—and two of the New Deal cabinet members with whom they worked to bring about FDR's radical changes—Frances Perkins and Harry Hopkins. Using contemporary photographs, cartoons, broadsides, articles and newsreels, this exhibition will be supplemented by audio reminisces from the collection of the Columbia University Oral History Research Office.

Tracing the career and achievements of a band that became one of the most significant cultural forces in 20th century America, the New-York Historical Society presents The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society. The exhibition, on view from March 5 to September 5, 2010, represents the first large-scale exhibition of materials from the Grateful Dead Archive, housed at the University of California Santa Cruz.

Through a wealth of original materials, the exhibition will explore the musical creativity and influence of the Grateful Dead from 1965 to 1995, the sociological phenomenon of the Deadheads (the band's network of devoted fans) and the enduring impact of the Dead's pioneering approach to the music business. Among the objects in the exhibition will be documents, instruments, audio and video recordings, album art, photographs, platinum records, posters, programs, newsletters, tickets, and t-shirts and other merchandise. Highlights will include the band's first record contract, tour itineraries, backstage guest lists, decorated fan mail, rare LP test pressings, drawings for the fabled Wall of Sound amplifier array, scripts for the Grateful Dead ticket hotline, notebooks of Dead archivist Dick Latvala, life-size skeleton props used in the band's "Touch of Grey" video and large-scale marionettes and other stage props.

"Despite the Grateful Dead's close association with California, the band and New York have been an important part of each other's history from the first time the Dead played here in 1967 to the band's year-on-year performances in New York from the late 1970s through 1995," commented Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society. "This exhibition not only celebrates the band's relationship with New York but its tremendous impact on American culture."

"The Grateful Dead Archive is one of the most significant popular cultural collections of the 20th century," said Christine Bunting, the head of Special Collections and Archives at the University Library at UC Santa Cruz. "We are delighted that the Historical Society is presenting this unprecedented exhibition, providing the public and the thousands of fans with such an exciting overview of the band's musical journey."

The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society provides unique glimpses into the political and social upheavals and artistic awakenings of the 1960s and 1970s, a tumultuous and transformative period that shaped our current cultural and political landscape, and examines how the Grateful Dead's origin in northern California in the mid-1960s was informed by the ideology and spirit of both the Beat Generation and the burgeoning Hippie scene, including the now-legendary Acid Tests. The exhibition also explores how the band's refusal to follow the established rules of the record industry revealed an unexpected business savvy that led to innovations in a rapidly changing music industry, and also to a host of consumer-driven marketing enrichments that kept fans in frequent contact with the band.

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Hanukkah lamps, or Hannukiot, are candelabra characterized by nine candle branches and used in the ritual candle-lighting associated with the celebration of Hanukkah, the festival that commemorates the 165 B.C.E. liberation of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah lamps were made up of eight oil wells or candle-holders, separated from a ninth traditionally used as a shamash, or server, to light the others. These lamps remain distinct from menorahs, which generally have seven candle branches and are not associated with a specific use or holiday. Hanukkah lamps were present in European synagogues by about the 13th century, and often designed in the form of menorahs or as standing table lamps.

The Hanukkah lamp currently on display was made in 1999 by New York City silversmith Bernard Bernstein in his Bronx, New York workshop. A quintessential New Yorker, Bernstein was born and raised in the city, attended the High School of Music and Art, graduated from City College of New York and New York University, and began his career as a teacher of industrial arts in New York and New Jersey schools. He began making silver Judaica in 1959 after taking a class with the German-Israeli silversmith Ludwig Y. Wolpert (1900–1981), a world-renowned expert in Jewish ceremonial metalwork. The lamp was acquired by the New-York Historical Society in 2010 and will be through January  8, 2012. The lamp will also be featured in the forthcoming catalogue and 2012 exhibition, Stories in Sterling.

Timed to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's sail into the New York bay, The World of Margrieta van Varick explores the life and times of a fascinating woman, her family and possessions. Born in the Netherlands, Margrieta spent the better part of her life at the extremes of the Dutch colonial world: in Malacca (now Malaysia) and Flatbush (now Brooklyn). Arriving in Flatbush with her minister husband Rudolphus in 1686, she set up a textile shop, bringing with her an astonishing array of Asian and European goods. We know about the wealth of objects thanks to an inventory, taken after her death in 1696—and recently rediscovered in the archives of the New-York Historical Society library—documenting her personal belongings and shop goods.

New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War is the final exhibition in the New-York Historical Society's groundbreaking series on slavery and its impact on the people, landscape, institutions and economy of New York. New York Divided offers a bold look at one of the most challenging periods in New York City's history, when it was torn by the violence of the 1863 draft riots, produced some of the most significant figures in the abolitionist movement, and became the economic engine of the country. Featuring precious historical artifacts, many never displayed before, as well as an online exhibit, the exhibition examines New York's little-known history.

Few non-historians recall that during the "secession winter" of 1860-61, pro-Southern voices (including New York City's Mayor Fernando Wood) called for the City's declaration of independence from both the North and the South, aiming to preserve its role as a great port for both sections. New York was a virtual "Capital of the South," with major commercial and political ties to Southern slavery and, at the same time, a major center of the nation's abolitionist movement. The exhibition traces the evolution of New York's rise to national and global economic power and its relationship to the nation's confrontation with issues of slavery and racial inequality against the backdrop of the Civil War. New York Divided shows how the momentum of emancipation was interrupted by the emergence of the cotton revolution, and enhances the public understanding of the efforts of New Yorkers—black and white—in the struggle for freedom that presaged the civil rights movement of the 20th century.

The exhibition is a follow-up to last fall's groundbreaking, highly acclaimed exhibition, Slavery in New York. This is not the American history most of us grew up learning. Exciting new discoveries have upended our understanding of the national past, including that of New York City and State. New York Divided brings the exciting research recently unearthed by scholars to a broad audience. We hope that visitors to this exhibition will have learned something new from their visit, made important connections to the past and the present-day lives and be inspired to action.