New-York Historical Society Teen Historians

By Gillian Liman Being part of the great influx of Jews immigrating to the United States in the 1880’s was not easy for Harry, a man from Poland, immigrating on his own. Thankfully, the actual immigration process was not too difficult; He was a strong and smart young man that passed all the tests and…

By Eric Park During the summer of 2007, I made my first trip to my homeland, South Korea. After some time on the mainland, my family decided to visit the quaint Jeju Island just off the coast of the country. The island was a nice place to escape the bustling, urban life of cities like…

Emily Axelson My great-grandfather was the first in my family to immigrate to the United States in the early 20th century. Due to his experience working in a millwork factory in Germany, my great-grandfather built a woodworking business in the United States. Immigrating during the Great Depression presented a new set of difficulties for his…

By Edward Tawil The lace from this tablecloth is one of the few items my family was able to bring over to America after emigrating from their homeland in Aleppo, Syria. It brings me back to my family’s history as merchants selling goods such as linens, oriental rugs, and clothing along the Silk Road in…

Sabrina Barton, 11th Grade Altman Masterpiece is an advertisement created in 1943 for the company B. Altman & Co., a department store that was founded in 1865 by Benjamin Altman and based in New York City. The ad appeared in an issue of Vogue magazine from September 15, 1943. The advertisement is in black and…

The New-York Historical Society Education Division provides dynamic programming and curriculum resources for students in New York and beyond. The Teen Historian blog features research and writing from high school students in our after-school programs who’ve used these resources to deepen their understanding of American history. Witches’ Sabbath was on view at New-York Historical in…

Written by Henry Carroll, 11th Grade Louis Lang’s painting, the Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment, N.Y.S.M. from the Seat of War, carries a great and timeless message regarding an issue close to the hearts and minds of many Americans: immigration. Prominently displayed in the painting are uniformed soldiers marching through the crowd of excited…

Brianna Broderick 12th Grade “Defend our native land, defend our youth.” This message speaks volumes regarding female involvement in the Vietnam War. In this piece of propaganda released by the National Liberation Front (NLF), a woman is depicted holding a lotus flower in one hand with a gun slung across her opposite shoulder. Such imagery…

Jasmine Balderas, College Freshman Student Historian Authored in 1968, the journal depicted above was kept by Don Fedynak during his service in the Vietnam War as a1st Lieutenant in the 221st Signal Company, a sector of the 1st Signal Brigade. Fedynak writes of an internal struggle in which he attempts to decide the importance of…