Before Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks, Elizabeth Jennings
Most American students learn about Rosa Parks, the African American civil rights activist who was famously refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in 1955. A few learn of Claudette Colvin,...
View ArticleInterview With Photographer Stephen Somerstein
On January 16, the New-York Historical Society will open Freedom Journey 1965: Stephen Somerstein Photographs from Selma to Montgomery. This exhibit features the stunning and historic photographs of...
View Article“How Long, Not Long:” Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Today the New-York Historical Society’s newest exhibit, Freedom Journey 1965: Photographs of the Selma to Montgomery March by Stephen Somerstein opens to the public just in time for Martin Luther King,...
View ArticleStephen Somerstein on the Road to Montgomery
This year, we’ll be celebrating Black History Month with highlights from our photography and art collections. To kick-off this series, let’s take a look at our own on-going exhibition, Freedom Journey...
View ArticleA Look at Harlem’s History of Protest
In today’s installment of our Black History Month celebration, we’ll be exploring Harlem. The first wave of African Americans landed in Harlem after World War I, when hundreds of thousands left the Jim...
View ArticleUnpublished Jupiter Hammon Poem Discovered at N-YHS
April is National Poetry Month, so what better time to share our exciting news! Independent Scholar Claire Bellerjeau made a miraculous discovery in the New-York Historical Society’s collections; she...
View ArticleBlack Panthers: Art and History
Opening Friday, June 26, our provocative exhibition Art as Activism features 72 posters from the 1930s through 1970s. Despite their varying messages—some promote violence, others peace; some champion...
View ArticleThe Legacy of Voting Rights 50 Years After Selma
“Write right from left to the right as you see it spelled here.” Did you print your answer? If so, you got it wrong—it should have been written in cursive. “Spell backwards, forwards.” Did you include...
View ArticleArtist Augusta Savage and the Tragic Story of Her Lost Masterwork
An estimated 44 million people attended the 1939 New York World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, and witnessed its vision for a shimmering, Art Deco “World of Tomorrow.” Some five...
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