About New York Historical

The New York Historical (known as the New-York Historical Society until 2024) is an American history museum and library on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. It presents exhibitions, public programs, and research that explore the history of New York and the nation. The New York Historical Museum & Library has been at its present location since 1908. The granite building was designed by York & Sawyer in a classic Roman Eclectic style. The building, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, is a New York City designated landmark. A renovation, completed in November 2011, made the building more accessible to the public, provided space for an interactive children's museum, and facilitated access to its collections.

Louise Mirrer has been the president of the New York Historical since 2004. Beginning in 2005, the museum presented a two-year exhibit on Slavery in New York, its largest theme exhibition in 200 years on a topic which it had never addressed before. It included an art exhibit by artists invited to use museum collections in their works. The Society generally focuses on the developing city center in Manhattan. Another historical society, the Long Island Historical Society (later Brooklyn Historical Society) was founded in Brooklyn in 1863.

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Founded
1804

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Photos of New York Historical

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  1. New York Historical, New York01New YorkDavid Shankbone · CC BY-SA 3.0
  2. Inside New York Historical02Inside New York HistoricalKenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY 4.0
  3. Robert Caro exhibit at New-York Historical Society03Robert Caro exhibit at New-York Historical SocietyKenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY 4.0
  4. Robert Caro's Smith Corona Electra 210 Typewriter04Robert Caro's Smith Corona Electra TypewriterKenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY 4.0
  5. Robert Caro's Francis Parkman Prize Medal05Robert Caro's Francis Parkman Prize MedalKenneth C. Zirkel · Public domain
  6. Robert Caro's Francis Parkman Prize - description06Robert Caro's Francis Parkman Prize - descriptionKenneth C. Zirkel · Public domain

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Nearby museums

Make a day of it. 4 more museums are within a mile of New York Historical; the closest, Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture, is practically next door.