I LIVE. SEND HELP., THE BLACK FIVES and More Highlight New-York Historical Society's June 2014 Exhibitions

The New-York Historical Society (170 Central Park West, New York, NY) has announced its June 2014 exhibitions. Details below! All exhibitions are presented at the New-York Historical Society unless otherwise noted. Call (212) 873-3400 or visit www.nyhistory.org for more information.

TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS:

"I Live. Send Help." 100 Years of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

June 13, 2014 - September 21, 2014

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) was founded in New York City in 1914 as a response to the plight of Jews in Europe and Palestine at the outset of World War I. Since then, JDC has become a premiere humanitarian organization helping Jews and non-Jews the world over in times of need. On the occasion of its 100 year anniversary, this exhibition will recount the history of the JDC from its creation to its most recent relief activities rebuilding Jewish communities of the former Soviet Union, and in aiding Filipinos in the wake of the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan. Included in this celebratory exhibition will be photographs, objects, and films that bring the JDC's poignant stories to life.

Making American Taste: Narrative Art for a New Democracy

June 20, 2014 - February 08, 2015

Making American Taste provides a new perspective on American art by approaching narrative subject matter through the lens of taste as it was defined roughly from 1825 to 1870, when the place of the arts in a democracy was hotly debated in the United States. By integrating history, literary, and religious subjects with now better-known examples of rural and domestic genre, this ground-breaking exhibition introduces to modern audiences the broad range of styles and narrative themes through which nineteenth-century American viewers were expected to attain cultural refinement.

Bill Cunningham: Facades

March 14, 2014 - June 15, 2014

In 1968, photographer Bill Cunningham embarked on an eight-year project to document the architectural riches and fashion history of New York City. Scouring the city's thrift stores, auction houses, and street fairs for vintage clothing, and scouting sites on his bicycle, Cunningham generated a photographic essay entitled Facades, which paired models-in particular his muse, fellow photographer Editta Sherman-in period costumes with historic settings. Although by turns whimsical and bold, Cunningham's project also was part of the larger cultural zeitgeist in New York City, during an era in which issues surrounding both the preservation and the problems of the urban landscape loomed large. The photographer donated 88 silver gelatin prints from the series to the New-York Historical Society in 1976, and now, almost four decades later, Cunningham's work will be reconsidered in a show that will highlight the historical perspective the photographs suggest-not just of the distant past, but of the particular time in which they were created.

The Black Fives

March 14, 2014 - July 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. 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. The overarching significance of the Black Fives Era is that it is as much about the forward progress of black culture as a whole as it is about the history of basketball. This history is relevant today not only as a realization of our collective basketball roots but also as a search for identity.

Homefront & Battlefield: Quilts & Context in the Civil War

April 4, 2014 - August 24, 2014

To mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War (1861-1865), the New-York Historical Society presents a groundbreaking traveling exhibition, Homefront & Battlefield: Quilts & Context in the Civil War, organized by the American Textile History Museum. The exhibition uses quilts, textiles, clothing, and other artifacts to connect deeply moving and insightful personal stories about the war, its causes, and its aftermath with the broader national context and public history.

PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS:

DiMenna Children's History Museum

Explore 300 years of New York and American history through the eyes and lives of children of the past! The DiMenna Children's History Museum is a museum-within-a-museum and occupies the New-York Historical Society's entire lower level. It includes character-based pavilions, a children's library, a Whiz Bang Quiz Machine, and interactive exhibits and games. The DCHM encourages children to identify with the people whose enterprise and creativity changed the course of our history. All ages can enjoy and learn in DCHM, but the exhibits are targeted at age 8-13.

The Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History

Dedicated to telling the story of America through the lens of New York, this new gallery features such works as a piece of ceiling from Keith Haring's "Pop Shop;" Here is New York, a rotating selection from the approximately 6,200 photographs taken by the people of New York City on September 11, 2001, and immediately afterward; History Under Your Feet, an educational scavenger hunt for visitors featuring our "history manholes;" and Liberty/Liberté, an installation by New York-based artist Fred Wilson. This permanent installation provides an overview of New-York Historical's diverse collections and orients visitors to the experiences and exhibitions waiting deeper in the Museum.

The Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture

The Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture on the fourth floor provides public access to nearly 40,000 objects from the New-York Historical Society's permanent collection. In the Luce Center, visitors can see art and artifacts spanning four centuries, ranging from masterworks of American painting, to the nation's premiere collection of Tiffany lamps, to historical touchstones such as the draft wheel that played a role in one of the worst urban riots in United States history.

For more information, call (212) 873-3400 or visit www.nyhistory.org.

MUSEUM AND STORE HOURS:

Tuesday - Thursday: 10 am-6 pm
Friday: 10 am-8 pm (pay as you wish from 6 pm-8 pm)
Saturday: 10 am-6 pm
Sunday: 11 am-5 pm

MUSEUM ADMISSION:

Adults - $18
Teachers and Seniors - $14
Students - $12
Children (5-13)- $6
Children (4 and under) -free

Pictured: Simchat Torah celebration in Romanian synagogue, Bucharest, 1969.