science | New-York Historical Society

Ending the Epidemic: Science Advances on AIDS

Fri, 05/31/2013 - 10:00am

Event Details

Join a stellar panel as we examine the past, present, and future of the AIDS epidemic. With the rate of HIV infection on the rise once more in New York, it’s a critical time to explore the past missteps and victories in the battle against HIV and AIDS. We’ll also look ahead to the future and evaluate the most promising opportunities for breakthroughs.

Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War

Speaker:

Paul Kennedy

Wed, 05/29/2013 - 6:30pm

Due to unforeseen circumstances, this program has been cancelled.

EVENT DETAILS

In January 1943, FDR and Winston Churchill convened in Casablanca to establish the Allied objectives: defeat the Nazi blitzkrieg; establish control over Europe’s sky and sea lanes; take the fight to the European mainland; and end Japan’s imperialism.

Larry Kramer and The Normal Heart

Speaker:

Larry Kramer

Joe Mantello

Tony Kushner (moderator)

Wed, 06/26/2013 - 6:30pm

EVENT DETAILS

Debuting in 1985, Larry Kramer’s award-winning play The Normal Heart encapsulated the fear, confusion, and outrage of the early years of the HIV/ AIDS crisis in New York City. In conjunction with the exhibition AIDS in New York: The First Five Years, this special program reflects on this critical period and the play’s lasting significance.

AIDS in New York: The First Five Years

Jun 7 2013 - Sep 15 2013

For those who lost partners, children, siblings, parents, and friends to HIV/AIDS in the later years of the twentieth century, the memory of grief, fear, and mystery which pervaded New York at the beginning of the epidemic remains vivid. But for many New Yorkers and others today, this early period from 1981 to 1985 is virtually unknown. The activist movements that changed the nation’s approach to catastrophic disease have overshadowed the panic of this period when a new and fatal enemy to public health was in its earliest stages and no one knew how to combat it.

A group advocating AIDS research marches down Fifth Avenue during the 14th annual Lesbian and Gay Pride parade in New York, June 27, 1983. Mario Suriani/Associated Press

AIDS in New York: The First Five Years will explore the impact of the epidemic on personal lives, public health and medical practices, culture, and politics in New York City and the nation. Drawing from the archives of the New York Public Library, New York University, and the National Archive of LGBT History, the show will use posters, photographs, and artifacts to tell the story of the early years of AIDS in New York.

Business and Industry Collections

Teaser:

From small dry goods stores, commission merchants and tradesmen to large banks and shipping firms, business records make up an enormous segment of the collections and document New York’s growth as an economic center from the 17th into the 20th century. Noteworthy collections include correspondence of New Amsterdam merchant Govert Loockermans, and mercantile records of the Beekman, Hendricks and Leverich families, as well as Quaker merchant Isaac Hicks, Ogden, Ferguson and its related partnerships, Brown Brothers Harriman, John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, and the records of the American Institute of the City of New York for the Encouragement of Science and Invention.

Weight:

Breakthrough: The Dramatic Story of the Discovery of Insulin, a Traveling Panel Exhibition

The traveling version of the exhibition Breakthrough: The Dramatic Story of the Discovery of Insulin, which was on display at the New-York Historical Society from October 2010 through January 2011 chronicles the discovery of the world’s first miracle drug, the impact of this breakthrough, and the evolution of insulin production and diabetes patient care throughout the twentieth century.

Girl injecting herself with insulin (Lilly Girl), 1930. Photograph. Courtesy of Eli Lilly and Company Archives.

To lead visitors through this history, from the discovery of insulin in Toronto by Dr. Frederick Banting in 1921 and its first human trials in 1922 to its widespread use today, Breakthrough features reproductions from archives including those of the University of Toronto, Eli Lilly and Company, the Rockefeller Institute, the Joslin Clinic and the New York Academy of Medicine.