The New York Historical Society, a preeminent educational and research institution, is home to both New York City's oldest museum and one of the nation's most distinguished independent research libraries.
The Society is dedicated to presenting exhibitions and public programs, and fostering research that reveal the dynamism of history and its influence on the world of today. Founded in 1804, its holdings cover four centuries of American history, and include one of the world’s greatest collections of historical artifacts, American art and other materials documenting the history of the United States as seen through the prism of New York City and State.
The New-York Historical Society houses a treasure trove of materials relating to the founding of our country, the history of art in America, and the history of New York and its people. The museum collection of more than 60,000 objects and works of art may be viewed online at emuseum.nyhistory.org, and in the Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture, an innovative, "visible storage" installation. Fine art holdings include renowned Hudson River School landscapes; masterpieces of colonial and later portraiture; John James Audubon's watercolors for The Birds of America; an encyclopedic collection of sculpture; and much more. Great achievements in the making of silver, ceramics, and furniture, along with one of the most important Tiffany lamp collections, are the stars of our decorative arts holdings. Artifacts relating to New York's participation in local and global events, among them the slave trade, the American Revolution, and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, chronicle the history of New York and the nation through our own day. Three million manuscripts, photographs, prints, maps and books complement these art and artifact collections and are accessible at Bobcat. Also accessible online is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, on deposit at the Society. We draw from all of these holdings to create interpretive exhibitions illuminating the past.
