WWII & NYC (October 5, 2012-May 27, 2013)

WWII & NYC explores the critical role that the metropolis played in the national war effort. The story is told through interviews, images, and objects, including the cyclotron, an actual particle accelerator used as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first atomic bomb. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn about WWII from a new perspective that is unique and illuminating for all audiences.

Audubon’s Aviary: Part I of the Complete Flock (March 8, 2013-May 19, 2013)

This is the first of three exciting annual exhibitions that will offer an unprecedented opportunity for visitors to explore the evolution of Audubon’s dazzling watercolors. Approximately 200 watercolors will tell the earliest chapter of how Audubon developed his innovative, and signature depictions of “The Birds of America.” The entire series will reveal the multiple reasons why history has acclaimed John James Audubon an American icon and deemed New-York Historical's watercolors a national treasure. Click here to watch a video interview of the curator Dr. Roberta Olson about this exhibition: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21636703

The Armory Show at 100 (October 11, 2013 - February 23, 2014)

Be transported back to 1913, the year that the most important art exhibition ever held in the U.S. was on display in New York City. Modern European art was brought to America, delivering a cultural shock and causing rampant controversy throughout New York and the nation. Here the New-York Historical Society is recreating this bombshell exhibition by offering visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the iconic works of artists such as Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso and Van Gogh, the way they were displayed 100 years ago. Celebrate the Armory Show at 100 with us!

Swingtime: Reginald Marsh and 1930s New York (June 21, 2013 - September 1, 2013)

With his calligraphic brushstrokes and densely cluttered, multi-figured compositions, Reginald Marsh recorded the vibrancy and energetic pulse of New York City. In paintings, prints, watercolors and photographs, he captured the animation and visual turbulence that made urban New York life an exhilarating spectacle. His work depicted the visual energy the city, its helter-skelter signs, newspaper and magazine headlines and the crowded conditions of its street life and recreational pastimes.

Civil War in 50 Objects (mid-June through early-September)

From 1861 to 1865, the United States fought a civil war from which it would emerge radically transformed. To mark the sesquicentennial of this pivotal event, the New-York Historical Society will be showing fifty treasures from it's collection that help tell the stories of the men and women who lived through this struggle.

Rarely seen objects will be on display including a pike that John Brown's raiders carried at Harper's Ferry, the impeccably preserved uniform of a Union soldier and a series of rotating documents, including Ulysses S. Grant's handwritten terms of surrender at Appomattox and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Other items will tell the stories of everyday Americans: a wooden draft wheel containing the names of prospective draftees, a soldier's footlocker still packed with its belongings and a soldier's diary with the pencil still attached.

Renowned Civil War and Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer, has hand selected these artifacts to create a dramatically original account of the war. With the aid of these objects, this tour will capture the experience of the war from all perspectives - Union and Confederate, military and civilian, black and white, male and female.

Highlights of the Permanent Collection Tour

Explore our world-renowned permanent collection and learn about New York’s oldest museum via our one-of-a-kind highlights tour. Our specially trained guides will lead you through our newly designed Robert H. and Clarice Smith Gallery that showcases New York’s central role in America’s history. Then be led through our incredible Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at a working museum collection and displays nearly 40,000 objects, including the nation’s premiere collection of Tiffany lamps.

Objects Tell Stories: The American Revolution and NYC

In broad strokes, the story of the American Revolution is one of the triumphs of social and political forces for independence battling insurmountable odds against the British Empire. It is the tale of great men moved by republican values and controversial ideologies, culminating in the birth of a unique and powerful new nation. But what do we remember of New York City’s role in the proceedings? While it may have been home to founding fathers like Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the City nevertheless was a loyalist stronghold. It also was the site of Washington’s most resounding defeat and the largest conflict of the war, after which the British seized the city and occupied it, leaving it in ruins by November 1783, when the British marched out on Evacuation Day. This tour chronicles the American Revolution both in New York and in its key battlegrounds with the aid of original documents, art, and artifacts from the collections of the New-York Historical Society.

Objects Tell Stories: The History of the City of New York

“Gotham.” “The Empire City.” “Fun City.” “The Big Apple.” “The City that Never Sleeps.” How did a small Dutch outpost become the distinctive city of New York? Using original documents, art, and artifacts from the collections of the New-York Historical Society, this tour is a thematic, chronologically organized exploration of the metropolis’s history.