November 2011 Public Programs Announced For N-Y Historical Society

The New-York Historical Society will re-open its landmark building to the public at 11 am on Veterans' Day, Friday, November 11, 2011. A three-year renovation of the Central Park West building has sensitively but thoroughly transformed the face of the institution-the first museum established in New York-to welcome visitors of all ages to a great cultural destination, and to immerse them, from the moment they enter the building, in New-York Historical's collection of extraordinary objects and sweeping ideas.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS:

To purchase tickets to public programs and gallery tours by phone, please call the New-York Historical Society's new call center at (212) 485-9268 or visit nyhistory.org/programs. Programs and walking tours $24 (Members $12) unless otherwise noted.

Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers Series:

American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era
Presented at the New York Society for Ethical Culture at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West
Thursday, November 3, 6:30 PM
David W. Blight, Drew Gilpin Faust

This program transports us to the 1963 centennial celebration of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation to explore how Americans made sense of the suffering, loss and liberation that had wracked the United States a century earlier. David W. Blight and Drew Gilpin Faust discuss how four of America's most incisive writers-including Robert Penn Warren, a white southerner who recanted his support for segregation, and James Baldwin, the searing African-American essayist and activist-explored the gulf between remembrance and reality.

New York on the Cusp: The City When Carnegie Hall Debuted
Presented at the New York Society for Ethical Culture at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West

Thursday, November 10, 6:30 PM
Barry Lewis

When Carnegie Hall opened in 1891, New York was still an intensely Victorian commercial city, and rock-hewn neo-Romanesque and arts and crafts Queen Anne were the predominant styles. Elevators were sending buildings to unprecedented heights and middle class people were gingerly trying the brand-new idea of apartment house living. But McKim, Mead & White's recently completed Villard Houses and their fantastic Madison Square Garden announced to New York that things were about to change.

George Washington Night!

Tuesday, November 15, 6:30 PM

Presented at the Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West

Joseph J. Ellis, David Hackett Fischer, Theodore J. Crackel, Stacy Schiff

There is no more iconic figure in American history than George Washington, our first president and most famous Founding Father. Come celebrate the grand reopening of the New-York Historical Society and its newly renovated theater at this in-depth discussion of Washington's life with some of the nation's most distinguished historians of the founding era.

Dangerous Ambition: Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson
Wednesday, November 16, 6:30 PM
Presented at the Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West

Susan Hertog

Dorothy Thompson was the first female head of a European news bureau, and a columnist and commentator whom Time magazine once ranked alongside Eleanor Roosevelt as the most influential woman in America. Rebecca West blazed a trail for herself as a journalist, literary critic, novelist and historian. In a pre-feminist era when speaking truth to power could get anyone- of either gender-ostracized, blacklisted or worse, these two smart, self-made women lived strikingly parallel lives that placed them at the center of the social and historical upheavals of the 20th century. Join us for a special Stephen Starr restaurant tasting following the program.

American and Haitian Revolutions and the Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade

Thursday, November 17, 6:30 PM
Presented at the Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West

David Brion Davis, Peter P. Hinks, Richard J. M. Blackett, David W. Blight

The late 18th and early 19th centuries were a time of upheaval and revolution. In conjunction with the new exhibition, Revolution!, historians examine the tumultuous 30-year period which saw the American and Haitian Revolutions and the end of the transatlantic slave trade to the U.S. and the British colonies. How were these events related and what forces combined to effect so much social change in such a short span?

A Contest for Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia
Special Breakfast & Talk with Aaron L. Friedberg at the "21" Club

Monday, November 28, 8:00 AM
Presented at the "21" Club, 21 West 52nd St. between Fifth and Sixth Avenues

Program $65 (members $55)

Join us at New York's landmark ‘21' Club for this singular program, which includes a breakfast, lecture and book signing for $65 (members $55). In his recent New York Times op-ed piece, "China's Challenge at Sea," political scientist Aaron L. Friedberg examined China's growing military strength and how it threatens to displace the United States' dominance in the region. While China is fueled by economic growth of nearly 10 percent a year, America's fiscal woes are inhibiting the country's ability to keep up with China's growing influence. In this lecture, Professor Friedberg discusses how the 21st century will be shaped by the relationship between these two nations, the strategies each is employing to achieve its goals, and the escalating Sino-American struggle for geopolitical predominance.

The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States
Tuesday, November 29, 6:30 PM
Presented at the Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West

Gordon S. Wood, Richard Brookiser

More than almost any other nation in the world, the United States began as an idea. For this reason, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Gordon S. Wood believes that the American Revolution is the most important event in our history. Professor Wood, in conversation with Richard Brookhiser, reflects on the birth of American nationhood and explains why the Revolution remains so essential.

Scavenger Hunt:

The New York History Mysteries Scavenger Hunt

Presented at New-York Historical Society at 170 Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets
Friday, November 11, 6:30 pm

$17.50 all tickets to be purchased through watsonadventures.com

Test your wits and see how much you know about history at the New York History Mysteries Scavenger Hunt. Participants will form teams, compete for a special prize and search for answers to tricky and humorous questions about revolutions in America, France, and Haiti, historical, literary, and religious subjects of the varied tastes of 19th-century New Yorkers, civil rights photography. Contestants will search for clues in the Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History. Teams will also find clues and solutions in the Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture-home to some 40,000 historical objects of Americana including George Washington's camp bed at Valley Forge, and his inaugural armchair, the world's largest collection of Tiffany lamps and glasswork, and many other paintings sculptures, and decorative objects.

Quiz:

The Big Quiz Thing at the New-York Historical Society

Presented at New-York Historical Society at 170 Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets
Friday, November 11, 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

$10.00 tickets available at the door

Prepare yourselves, history geniuses: NYC's own live game show spectacular, the Big Quiz Thing, will present a multimedia live trivia game show for history buffs, in celebration of the New-York Historical Society's grand reopening. Gather a team of friends-or join on on site-and win excellent prizes and glory! For more on the Big Quiz Thing, visit bigquizthing.com.

Gallery Tours:

Revolution! The Atlantic World Reborn
Monday, November 21, 11:00 am
Presented at the Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West

Valerie Paley

The new pathbreaking exhibition Revolution! compares three globally influential revolutions in America, France and Haiti. Join Valerie Paley for an exploration of the origins of the revolutionary ideals of freedom, equality and self-rule. See the British Stamp Act that imposed the taxes that enraged colonial Americans, along with rare images from the first successful slave revolt in the Western Hemisphere. Gallery tours are limited to 35 guests per tour. Please buy tickets in advance.

Making American Taste

Monday, November 28, 11:00 am
Presented at the Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West

Linda S. Ferber

In the 19th century, the place of the arts in a democracy was a hotly debated topic in the United States. The new exhibition Making American Taste: Narrative Art for a New Democracy integrates the broad range of styles and narrative themes - from history, literary and religious subjects to the more familiar rural and domestic genres - through which Americans were expected to attain cultural refinement. Join Senior Art Historian Linda S. Ferber for an intimate tour of the exhibition, featuring 55 works from the New-York Historical Society's collection. Gallery tours are limited to 35 guests per tour. Please buy tickets in advance.

INFORMATION HOTLINE:

To reach Museum's offices call: (212) 873-3400

ONLINE INFORMATION:

www.nyhistory.org

MUSEUM AND STORE HOURS:

Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Sunday, 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM