New-York Historical Society Teen Historians

Last weekend marked the start of New-York Historical Society’s third consecutive summer pop-up exhibition on Governors Island! The teen-curated exhibition, Revolution: NYC & the War for Independence, welcomed nearly 800 visitors over the weekend. People of all ages greatly enjoyed the experience! In addition to the thought-provoking content presented in the free exhibition, the success…

Our first week with the summer 2015 Student Historians has come and gone! We accomplished a lot—ranging from icebreakers and getting to know each other to meeting N-YHS staff members who helped us get to know the institution and how each of our roles contribute to the institutional goal of “making history matter.” We definitely…

For the past few months, the New-York Historical Society has displayed a marvelous collection of historical street style photography in the Bill Cunningham: Facades exhibit. From 1968 to 1976, the world-renowned photographer staged models in period costume in front of iconic New York streets and buildings, simultaneously invoking the vestiges of the past while documenting…

Fernando Wood is not the most common name associated with the Civil War, but, he was, and should be known for his “southern states-rights” sentiments.  Wood was the Mayor of New York City from 1859 until 1865.  He is known as a man of contradictions.  According to Horace Greeley’s Tribune “no man ever went into…

At the turn of the 19th Century, America was expanding at an exponential rate. As more and more territory was acquired, the debate between whether or not to create new lands of inequality with the presence of slavery grew. As the country continually expanded, boths sides – pro and against – vowed to fight for…

This building, located between Leonard and Franklin Streets, in the Tribeca neighborhood in Manhattan, looks rather typical and is not very noticeable from the outside. More than just a utilitarian structure, 359 Broadway has a history that reveals much about the unknown aspects of life of Matthew Brady, who is arguably the most famous Civil…

1.Confederate general Robert E. Lee had his sprawling Virginia home confiscated by the Union. Ever heard of Arlington National Cemetery? In the 1850s it was just called ‘Arlington’, and it was the home of General Lee, his wife Mary and their children. Once war broke out the Lees fled their estate and eventually it was…

Battle of Spotsylvania Chapter 17 of Netflix original show House of Cards coincided nicely with our preparations for the upcoming Governor’s Island exhibit, as anti-hero Frank Underwood visited Spotsylvania, Virginia, to commemorate a battle of the Civil War campaign. The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House was the second major battle of the Overland Campaign and…

When it was lost on February 17, 1864, the H. L. Hunley was the first submarine to successfully sink an enemy vessel.  Surprisingly, the Hunley, named after its inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, would not be raised from its resting spot in 1864 until 2000, nearly a century and a half later. Powered by a hand-cranked…