African-American | New-York Historical Society

The Black Fives

Mar 14 2014 - Jul 20 2014

This exhibition covers the pioneering history of the African American basketball teams that existed in New York City and elsewhere from the early 1900s through 1950, the year the National Basketball Association became racially integrated. Just after the game of basketball was invented in 1891, teams were often called “fives” in reference to their five starting players. Teams made up entirely of African American players were referred to as “colored fives,” “Negro fives,” or black fives—the period became known as the Black Fives Era.

Charles “Tarzan” Cooper (1907-1980) was a star center with the Philadelphia Panthers, New York Rens, Grumman Hellcats, and Washington Bears, winning two World Pro Basketball Tournament championships – with the Rens (1939) and the Bears (1943). The Rens won 1,303 out of 1,505 games with Cooper, who is considered one of the greatest centers of his time and was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977. Photograph courtesy the Black Fives Foundation.

Dozens of all-black teams emerged during the Black Fives Era, in New York City, Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlantic City, Cleveland, and other cities where a substantial African American population lived. The Black Fives Era came to an end in the late 1940s with the growth in stature of black college basketball programs combined with the gradual racial integration of previously whites-only collegiate basketball conferences and professional basketball leagues.

Reading Into History Book Wrap Event: Home Is With Our Family

Speaker:

Joyce Hansen

Wed, 06/19/2013 - 3:30pm

Wednesday, June 19, 3:30 pm
Free with Museum admission. Ages 9-12.

Home with Toni Morrison

Speaker:

Toni Morrison

Bob Herbert (moderator)

Thu, 04/11/2013 - 6:30pm

EVENT DETAILS

Join us for a conversation between Bob Herbert and Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison about her latest novel, Home. The book tells the story of Frank Money, an angry veteran of the Korean War who, after traumatic experiences on the front lines, finds himself back in racist America with more than just physical scars.

The King Years

Speaker:

Taylor Branch

Bob Herbert (moderator)

Tue, 02/26/2013 - 6:30pm

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Harry Belafonte will no longer deliver opening remarks.

EVENT DETAILS

In 1955, on the first night of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, an untested, 26-year-old Baptist pastor made an impromptu speech that catapulted him into the public consciousness as one of the faces of the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement.

Reading into History Book Wrap: Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York's African Burial Ground

Sun, 02/24/2013 - 3:00pm

Reading into History Book Wrap: Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York's African Burial Ground
Meet Co-Author Gary McGowan
Sunday, February 24, 3 pm

Ages 9 - 12

Scavenger Hunt: Celebrate James McCune Smith: Abolitionist, Physician, New Yorker

Sat, 01/19/2013 - 10:00am - 6:00pm

Sun, 01/20/2013 - 10:00am - 6:00pm

Mon, 01/21/2013 - 10:00am - 6:00pm

Saturday - Monday, January 19 - 21, 2013: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Ages 6 and up

Learn about the abolitionist who spoke up against injustice in America and discover the story of James McCune Smith, the first African-American university-trained physician practicing in 19th century New York City. This scavenger hunt will take families throughout the whole New-York Historical Society.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation with author Tonya Bolden

Mon, 01/21/2013 - 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Celebrate the 150th anniversary of this essential part of American history with a special reading from Author Tonya Bolden! Hear Tonya, author of Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, read from her new children’s book Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty. Tonya will also be doing a Q&A, and signing copies of her book.

The Dream Continues: Photographs of Martin Luther King Murals by Vergara

Jan 18 2013 - May 5 2013

Since the 1970s Camilo Vergara has been traveling across the United States photographing and thus documenting hand-painted murals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as they appeared on the walls of establishments such as car repair shops, barbershops, and fast food restaurants in city streets and alley ways. The folk art portraits have expressed how the inner-city residents saw the slain civil rights leader—at times a statesman, a hero, a visionary, or a martyr. Vergara also discovered that these images were often based on iconic photographs of Dr. King but that, depending upon the neighborhood where they were created, the portraits could take on the likeness of Latinos, Native Americans, or Asians.

Camilo José Vergara , Untitled, 2009, Frederick Douglass at West 154 th Street, Harlem, New York. Digital c-print. Collection of the artist.

Vergara remarked about his work that “most murals and street portraits of Dr. King are ephemeral. Paint fades, businesses change hands and neighborhood demographics shift. Gradually, images reflecting the culture and values of poor communities are lost….Often, my photographs are the only lasting record of these public works of art.” This exhibition offers the opportunity to study the manner in which Martin Luther King, Jr.

Macy's Sunday Story Time: How Martin Changed the USA

Sun, 01/20/2013 - 11:30am

Recommended for children ages 4 - 7.

Each week New-York Historical Society educators read one to two engaging picture books around a theme. The themes are related to New York City, American history, current holidays, or new exhibitions.

What ideas did Martin Luther King, Jr. share with others that changed our country’s history? Everyone can be great and anyone can make the world a more loving place—big ideas that are alive today thanks to Dr. King.

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport

The Thirteenth Amendment

Feb 1 2012 - Apr 30 2012

In honor of Black History Month and Abraham Lincoln's birthday, the New-York Historical Society is proud to display a rare handwritten copy of the Thirteenth Amendment—signed by Lincoln himself—in our Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History. The document, which was recently acquired by David Rubenstein, managing director of The Carlyle Group, is on loan to the New-York Historical Society through April 1.

Abraham Lincoln. Manuscript Document Signed (“Abraham Lincoln”) as President, with his Autograph Endorsement (“Approved. February 1, 1865.”) Washington, DC, ca. February 1, 1865. Co-signed by Hannibal Hamlin as Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate, Schuyler Colfax as Speaker of the House, and John W. Forney as Secretary of the Senate. 1 p., 15 1/16 x 20 in., on lined vellum with ruled borders.

One of about thirteen manuscripts Lincoln signed in addition to the original, this copy belonged to Schuyler Colfax, House Speaker in 1863 and later Vice President under Ulysses S. Grant. According to Seth Kaller, president of Seth Kaller, Inc., who acquired the document for Mr. Rubenstein in a private transaction, and arranged its loan to New-York Historical, “this is the one that is directly traceable to a leader instrumental in the amendment’s passage. It has not been displayed in New York for more than forty years."