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In 1787, at a time when slavery was crucial to the prosperity and expansion of New York, the New York African Free School was created by the New York Manumission Society, a group dedicated to advocating for African-Americans. The school's explicit mission was to educate black children to take their place as equals to white American citizens.

Lincoln and New York probes the myths and controversies surrounding Abraham Lincoln. Starting with the iconic Mathew Brady image of Lincoln without his beard, the exhibition follows his earliest efforts to gain the blessing of the political and journalistic leaders of New York for a presidential run. Reproductions of rare period artifacts and caricatures show the political passions of the day, depicting the rising impact of the media and the first racial scare tactics used in a national political campaign Original research explores New York’s influence on the Civil War, the impact of emancipation, and the promotion of Lincoln’s persona as he evolved from an obscure Illinois politician to a national martyr. Visitors who think they know everything about Lincoln will be startled to see so much that is new.

For most of its history, New York has been the largest, most diverse, and most economically ambitious city in the nation. No place on earth has welcomed human enterprise more warmly. New York was also, paradoxically, the capital of American slavery for more than two centuries. In October 2005, the New-York Historical Society begins an unprecedented two-year exploration of this largely unknown chapter of the city's story. Slavery in New York, the first of two exhibitions, spans the period from the 1600s to 1827, when slavery was legally abolished in New York State. With the display of treasures from The New-York Historical Society, as well as other great repositories, it focuses on the rediscovery of the collective and personal experiences of Africans and African-Americans in New York City.

Slavery ended in New York State in 1827, yet this victory did not sever the city's connections to enslaved labor. New York City capitalized on the expanding trade in southern cotton and sugar to become the leading American port, a global financial center, and a hotbed of pro-slavery politics.At the same time, it nurtured a determined anti-slavery movement. In less than half a century, abolitionists convinced many northerners that American slavery could not be reconciled with American freedom. Conflict between the two sides, one favorable to slavery and one opposed, was all but inevitable.
New York Divided, the second of two major exhibits, draws from the New-York Historical Society's rich collection to explore the turbulent half-century of the city's history with southern slavery.