New-York Historical Society Teen Historians

Within the museum at the New-York Historical Society, one object stands out for its shiny luster, intricate structure, and aesthetic appeal: The aeronautical trophy.  In the shape of a large hot air balloon made of silver with intertwining lines connecting the balloon to the basket at the base, creating a diamond pattern lay out. Held…

In the process of researching Abraham Manievich, I also looked into the reasons behind the amount of Jewish immigration from Russia to Eastern Europe, eventually followed by the United States. There were numerous factors encouraging Jewish emigration from Russia to Eastern Europe in the late 19th to early 20th century.  The rising population and increasing…

Have you ever asked yourself, “What good could come out of an accident?” Well, on January 8th, 1902, there was a train crash in Grand Central that helped it become the useful and safe terminal it is today. During this time, New York City’s population was increasing, and a vast amount of people were traveling…

When our group took a trip to Grand Central yesterday, I suddenly noticed architectural and structural details I had previously overlooked. For instance, on almost every lighting fixture, ventilation grate, and even water fountain there are embellishments of ornate acorns and oak leaves. As I learned through my research,the acorn is a symbol of self-made…

Now that I’ve gathered some background information on Tiffany Studios and Clara Driscoll, I hope to investigate the specific relationships among Tiffany workers and relate them back to the overall time period.  In particular, I am looking forward to visiting the Queens Historical Society, which will afford me the opportunity to look at letters written…

This week has been a very productive and exciting week at the N-YHS! We’ve taken great strides in our research and we are ready to start putting together our creative project next week. The highlight of this week was our visit to the Babcock galleries on 57th and 5th. Though it took us a little…

Continuing on my group’s project on Grand Central Terminal, I finished my research and started weaving everything together in a short paper. I learned about two conceptual influences on the terminal’s architecture: the Beaux-Arts style and the City Beautiful movement. Beaux-Arts is basically a fusion of classical Greek and Roman architecture with more modern forms…

This week, my group and I finished our research papers and began working on our creative project. Our group decided to do a video tour of Grand Central Terminal consisting of a walking tour of the terminal and a question and answer piece involving commuters using Grand Central Terminal. For my research paper, I focused…

The traveling salesman was known for his effective and sometimes dubious sales pitches used to draw in a customer. Before brand names and huge company logos, the travelling salesman was the face of small local companies. The travelling salesman usually travelled outside of large cities and into more suburban areas. These salesmen valued the importance…