PR: COOTM: NY Historical Society

CONTACTS: Lisa Mortman / Arleen Kropf 212-484-1270, nymedia@nycvisit.com Kim Esp/Jamie Strohmenger 212-575-4545, kesp@lakpr.com Linden Alschuler & Kaplan Public Relations, Inc.

NEW YORKERS DISCOVER HISTORY
THIS DECEMBER AS NYC & COMPANY NAMES
THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CULTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE MONTH

Special Discount Offered at the Society throughout December

Note to editors: Images of New-York Historical Society are available upon request.

New York, NY (December 1, 2006) — History heats up this winter as the New-York Historical Society is named NYC & Company’s Cultural Organization of the Month. To celebrate the designation throughout December this Upper West Side institution will offer visitors a 10% discount when they spend $25 or more in the Society’s gift shop and mention “Cultural Organization of the Month.” NYC & Company is the city’s official tourism marketing organization.

The New-York Historical Society, a preeminent educational and research institution, is home to both New York City’s oldest museum and one of the nation’s most distinguished independent research libraries. The Society is dedicated to presenting exhibitions and public programs and fostering research that reveals the dynamism of history and its influence on the world today. Founded in 1804, the New-York Historical Society holdings cover four centuries of American history and include one of the world’s greatest collections of historical artifacts, American art, and other materials documenting the history of the United States as seen through the prism of New York City and State.

Forty thousand of the Society’s most treasured pieces are on permanent display in the Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture and a self-guided audio tour brings these artifacts to life with anecdotes and stories. The Society’s collections provide the foundation for exploration of the nation’s richly layered past and support the Society’s mission to provide a forum for debate and examination of issues surrounding the making and meaning of history.

“This is the perfect time of year to explore New York City’s historical treasures at The New-York Historical Society,” said Cristyne L. Nicholas, president of NYC & Company. “I encourage New Yorkers and visitors to explore the Historical Society – one of the city’s oldest cultural organizations and to discover new and interesting facts about our nation, state, and city through a unique New York perspective.”

“As the New-York Historical Society enters its 203rd year, I see an institution transformed in ways that reflect our deep conviction that telling the story of American history is important,” said Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society. “We are pleased to be NYC & Company’s Cultural Organization of the Month and invite visitors to view our groundbreaking exhibitions and attend lectures by great historians and authors at 170 Central Park West at 77th Street. We believe that every individual that we touch through our exhibitions and programs will have learned something new and made important connections between the past and their present-day lives. Do take time to visit, for it is only with your support that we will continue to thrive.”

To get to the Society by subway, take the B or C train to 81st Street. To get there by bus, take the M10 to 77th Street or the M79 to 81st Street and Central Park West.
The New-York Historical Society Calendar of Events:

For a complete calendar of The New-York Historical Society events for December, please visit NYC & Company’s website at nycgo.com.

NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY EXHIBITION SCHEDULE

Legacies: Contemporary Artists Reflect on Slavery
A generation of critically acclaimed contemporary artists has thought deeply about how America’s history of racially based slavery has shaped our society. Legacies brings together the works of Faith Ringgold, Carrie Mae Weems, Fred Wilson, Whitefield Lovell, Mel Edwards, Lorenzo Pace, Betye Saar, Marc Latamie, Willie Birch, and a host of others in a remarkable ensemble of innovative art and historical reflection. The exhibition embodies provocative interpretations that capture the tension between the reprehensible past and the emotions of the present. This exhibition complements the historical exhibitions mounted by The New-York Historical Society from 2005 to 2007, emphasizing how history affects our current day concerns and perceptions.

New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War
The New-York Historical Society will host its second major exhibition on the topic of New York’s relationship to slavery and the abolitionist movement. The focus of the second exhibition will be on New York’s rise to national and global economic power as the nation, itself, confronted slavery and racial inequality. The period under investigation will begin about 1815 and continue through the Civil War and its aftermath. Although hundreds of significant works of art, objects, and documents will be on display primarily from N-YHS collection, this exhibition will have a special focus on lithography, photography, and book illustrations to emphasize that New York City, as the nation’s publishing center, had a very special role in the formulating of images on both sides of the sectional dispute in the 1850s.

Fifth Anniversary of 9/11 Exhibition: Chelsea Jeans
Chelsea Jeans, a retail store turned September 11th artifact and shrine, closed forever on October 26, 2002. Owner David Cohen entrusted the N-YHS with preserving the Chelsea Jeans Memorial, as the 50 square feet of retail space became known to the thousands who filed past the glass-encased time capsule, as a place of pilgrimage for those visiting ground zero. A spontaneous memorial to all victims of the World Trade Center tragedy and a symbol of the still-unfolding aftermath of the terrorist attach, the Chelsea Jeans Memorial will serve as the focal point of this exhibition.

Suspicious Truths: Politics and the Press in American History
As storms of controversy swirl around the role of a free press in the modern world, the need to understand and define the responsibilities of the media has become of increasing concern. Suspicious Truths: Politics and the Press in American History, an exhibition organized by the New-York Historical Society and Columbia University School of Journalism looks back to the 18th- and 19th-centuries when newspapers, once vehicles for the arguments of an educated elite, were gradually transformed into the mass circulation dailies that we know today, as capable of making news as reporting it. The title is derived from Thomas Jefferson’s scathing attack on the press in response to a letter from a17 year-old boy in which the third President claims that “the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them,” that “truth itself becomes suspicious when put into that polluted vehicle.”

Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society will continue showcasing together more than 100 famous paintings by artists of the Hudson River School, including Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, John F. Kensett, Jasper F. Cropsey, and Albert Bierstadt, in a series of exhibitions drawn from the Society’s extraordinary American art collection.

December Programs at the New-York Historical Society

ADULT Evening Programs

Prospero’s Daughter
Tuesday, December 5, 2006; 6:30pm
In her novel Prospero's Daughter, Elizabeth Nunez treats William Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, as a paradigm for the colonial experience in the Caribbean. This special program will feature a dramatic performance of a short scene from the Shakespearean play after which Nunez and scholar Elizabeth Schmidt will explore, through readings and conversation, the theme of slavery in both works and in western literature. (Elizabeth Nunez is a CUNY Distinguished Professor of English at Medgar Evers College, CUNY. Prospero's Daughter is her sixth novel. Elizabeth Schmidt teaches English at Barnard College and is a contributing editor to the literary magazine Open City. Thomas Bradshaw, an actor and playwright, is a Playwriting Fellow at New York Theater Workshop and a member of Lincoln Center's Writer/Director lab). General admission: $15; seniors, educators, and students: $10; New-York Historical Society members: $8 To order tickets, call SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com.

Israel on the Appomattox
Thursday, December 7, 2006; 6:30pm
Thomas Jefferson denied that whites and free blacks could live in harmony. His cousin, Richard Randolph, enabled ninety African Americans to prove Jefferson wrong. In the free community of Israel Hill, Virginia, founded in 1810, free blacks and whites did business, worked side by side for equal wages, joined forces to found a Baptist congregation, and occasionally settled down in marriage. Amid the horrors of slavery, Melvin Patrick Ely finds a moving story of hardship and hope that defies our expectations of the Old South. (Melvin Patrick Ely is the Newton Family Professor of History and Black Studies at the College of William & Mary. His most recent book, Israel on the Appomattox: A Southern Experiment in Black Freedom from the 1790s Through the Civil War, was awarded the Bancroft Prize.)
General admission: $15; seniors, educators, and students: $10; New-York Historical Society members: $8 To order tickets, call SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com.

Legacies: Contemporary Artists Reflect on Slavery Gallery Tours
Saturday, December 9, 2006; 3pm
Slavery and its repercussions have provoked compelling responses in the world of visual art. This unique exhibition of forty-four contemporary works on that theme reveals how history and art can spark a powerful conversation. Take the insider tour with co-curator Kathleen Hulser and discover the fascinating stories of the works created specially for this exhibition. General admission: $15; seniors, educators, and students: $10; New-York Historical Society members: $8 To order tickets, call SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com.

Frederick Douglass, Lincoln and the Civil War
Thursday, December 14, 2006 6:30 PM
David Blight, Harold Holzer, and James O. Horton will discuss Lincoln, Douglass, and their changing views on liberty, slavery, and American society. The speakers will also explore the meaning of the Civil War and African American participation in the conflict, the personal relationship between the two men, and the significance of that relationship for all Americans. Readings from the writings of Frederick Douglass will be performed by actor Charles Turner. (David Blight is Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition at Yale University. Harold Holzer, co-chairman of the U.S. Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, has authored, co-authored, or edited 26 books on Lincoln and the Civil War. James O. Horton is Benjamin Banneker Professor of American Studies and History at The George Washington University and co-author of Slavery and the Making of America. Charles Turner is an accomplished actor of the stage and screen who also has taught and directed at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, among others).
General admission: $15; seniors, educators, and students: $10; New-York Historical Society members: $8 To order tickets, call SmartTix at 212-868-4444 or visit www.smarttix.com.

Daily Readings: The Last Days of Slavery
Tuesdays through Fridays at 2pm
The Historical Society will present short afternoon readings. Stories of freed and recaptured slaves, the city’s struggling free blacks, and the impassioned debate among the city’s press reveal the struggle for freedom in New York.
Free with Museum admission
For additional information, call the New-York Historical Society Public Programs Department at 212-485-9205.

Weekend Concerts
Saturday, December 2; Saturday, December 9; Saturday, December 16; and Sunday, December 17, 2006; 2pm and 4pm Gospel and spiritual music will be presented featuring a variety of choirs and musical groups from the New York City area. Free with Museum admission For additional information, call the New-York Historical Society Public Programs Department at 212-485-9205.

For more programs and information, visitors can pick up a copy of the New-York Historical Society’s Programs & Exhibitions Brochure at NYC & Company’s Visitor Information Center at 810 Seventh Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets or at the visitors information desks at the New-York Historical Society.

FAMILY PROGRAM

Musical Theater Mania
Tuesday, December 26; Wednesday, December 27, and Thursday, December 28, 2006; 12pm–4pm
With vibrant colors and vivid imagery, theatre poster lining Broadway tell classic stories of love and betrayal. You can be the star when you design a poster for your own show!
Free with Museum admission
For additional information, call 212-485-9264.

About The New-York Historical Society:
The New-York Historical Society is a preeminent educational and research institution home to both New York City’s oldest museum and one of the nation’s most distinguished independent research libraries. Hours of operation for the Museum and Store: Tuesday – Sunday 10am to 6pm; Fridays open until 8pm. Library Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 10am to 5pm. Admission: New-York Historical Society members are free; Adults $10; Senior Citizens (65 and over) and Educators $7; Students $6; Children 12 and under accompanied by an adult are free. There is no admission fee for researchers using the library and free Museum admission on Fridays from 6pm-8pm is made possible courtesy of American Express. The New-York Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West between 76th & 77th Streets in Manhattan. For more information, call 212-873-3400 or visit nycgo.com. To get there by subway, take the B or C train to 81st Street. To get there by bus, take the M10 to 77th Street or the M79 to 81st Street and Central Park West.

About Cultural Organization of the Month:
Produced by NYC & Company, the city’s official tourism marketing organization, the Cultural Organization of the Month program promotes cultural tourism in all five boroughs. By spotlighting a different arts organization each month, the program encourages visitors to discover the cultural opportunities available throughout New York City. For information visit nycgo.com.

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About NYC & Company:
NYC & Company is the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York, dedicated to maximizing travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, building economic prosperity and spreading the positive image of New York City worldwide.