New-York Historical Society

Education Mission

The Education Department at the New-York Historical Society offers a wealth of resources and learning opportunities designed to make history come alive!

Education programs are made possible through endowments established by the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Hearst Foundations. Programs are supported, in part, by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council and by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. Additional support is provided by The Barker Welfare Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation and Verizon.

Support the New-York Historical Society

Help us present groundbreaking exhibitions and develop educational programs about our nation's history for more than 200,000 schoolchildren annually.

DONATE TODAY

Educators

American Musicals Project >

The New-York Historical Society is proud to introduce
A NEW HOME FOR HOMESCHOOLERS

Make history come alive! This fall the New-York Historical Society launches a new program for homeschooled students, designed to enrich and support the study of American History through its unique program, the American Musicals Project.

By coupling the power and emotional energy of American musical theater masterworks with evocative and thought-provoking exhibitions and primary sources from the collections of the New-York Historical Society, students explore four significant themes in American History: Independence, Slavery, Suffrage, and the Great Depression. Over the course of the classes, students will explore the museum’s vast treasures, participate in hands-on history, and engage in group work.

Each theme is taught in four hands-on sessions and is designed to:

Develop critical thinking skills as the student engages with primary source materials and experiences the wonder of making historical discoveries.
Develop media literacy as the student forms observations and interpretations of scenes from American musicals that shape his/her understanding of history.
Engage the student with in-class projects that promote inter-disciplinary learning.

Appropriate for students ages 11–14

Fridays, 1:30–3 pm
Independence: November 18, December 2, 9, and 16, 2011
Slavery: January 6, 13, 20, and 27, 2012
Suffrage: March 2, 9, 16, and 23, 2012
Great Depression: May 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2012

Register for all four themes for $200, or $65 per theme, per student.
To register, please contact us at (212) 485-9236 or amp@nyhistory.org.

Run for Your Life

Since 2004, the New-York Historical Society has presented a series of exhibitions that explore the idea of freedom, emphasizing the history of slavery, resistance, abolition and the Underground Railroad. These major exhibitions have been complemented with an array of public programs, educational programs, websites and cell phone/iPod tours of sources and sites relating to New York’s role in the Underground Railroad and abolitionist movement. The New-York Historical Society was one of the very first institutions collecting during the height of the Underground Railroad movement from the 1830s to 1860s, an effort that began even earlier in the aftermath of the American Revolution with the founding of the Manumission Society. Following is a list of resources that you can access throughout the New-York Historical Society website.

The Run for Your Life Project of recent and current exhibitions, tours, programs and educational activities was developed with grant funds from the  U.S. Department of Education Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural (URR) Program.

Collections

The New-York Historical Society has collections dating to the Dutch era which offer insight into slavery, its opponents and the stories of those who escaped from bondage. Artifacts include documents from the trial of a slave uprising in 1712; merchant accounts about the slave trade; letters from victims of the anti-slavery rioters in 1834; thousands of abolitionist pamphlets; broadsides and journalism from the black press and the Committee of Vigilance, which helped such notable freedom seekers as Frederick Douglass; and the papers of the New York Manumission Society which detail the long, slow struggle to end slavery in New York and to supply the free black community with schools and skills. Paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings and photographs also document African American history relating to slavery, abolition and resistance, providing a rich context for the study of escaping slaves and the Underground Railroad.

Library Research Guides

Researching Slavery and the Underground Railroad at the New-York Historical Society [PDF]

Audio and Visual Tours

Walking Talking Tours  Hidden Sites of Slavery and Freedom : Click here to download
Exhibition Podcast  "Run for Your Life":  Click here to download

Exhibitions and Websites

Educational Programs

Professional Development for Teachers
The education department offers a variety of professional development programs for teachers and administrators, ranging in length from afternoon workshops to week-long sessions. Many of these programs address the history of the Underground Railroad and provide context for understanding the organization and the social and political issues that challenged it.

Click here for more information about our current offerings.

School Group Tours 

Students take on the role of historians in workshops related to the Underground Railroad based on our permanent collections and special exhibitions. Take a field trip to the museum, or bring the museum to your classroom through an outreach program.

Programs include:

The Underground Railroad
History of Slavery in New York from Colonization to Emancipation
History of the African American Experience in New York: 1827–1865

Click here for more information about special exhibition-related student workshops.

American Musicals Project

 Three units of the New-York Historical Society’s unique American Musicals Project curriculum tie together the Revolutionary period with the Underground Railroad.

Click here for more information.