Museum Open

The New-York Historical Society will be open on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27 from 10am to 6pm

Macy's Sunday Story Time: Marching Toward Freedom

Sun, 08/25/2013 - 11:30am

Recommended for children ages 4–7.

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech by reading We March by Shane W. Evans and reflecting on what it means to gather and march together for civil rights.

We March by Shane W. Evans
Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport
 

Support for the Macy's Sunday Story Hour provided by the Macy's Foundation.

 

The King Years

Speaker: 
Taylor Branch
Bob Herbert (moderator)
Tue, 02/26/2013 - 6:30pm

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Harry Belafonte will no longer deliver opening remarks.

 

EVENT DETAILS

In 1955, on the first night of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, an untested, 26-year-old Baptist pastor made an impromptu speech that catapulted him into the public consciousness as one of the faces of the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation with author Tonya Bolden

Mon, 01/21/2013 - 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Celebrate the 150th anniversary of this essential part of American history with a special reading from Author Tonya Bolden! Hear Tonya, author of Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, read from her new children’s book Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty. Tonya will also be doing a Q&A, and signing copies of her book.

The Dream Continues: Photographs of Martin Luther King Murals by Vergara

Jan 18 2013 - May 5 2013

Since the 1970s Camilo Vergara has been traveling across the United States photographing and thus documenting hand-painted murals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as they appeared on the walls of establishments such as car repair shops, barbershops, and fast food restaurants in city streets and alley ways. The folk art portraits have expressed how the inner-city residents saw the slain civil rights leader—at times a statesman, a hero, a visionary, or a martyr. Vergara also discovered that these images were often based on iconic photographs of Dr. King but that, depending upon the neighborhood where they were created, the portraits could take on the likeness of Latinos, Native Americans, or Asians.

Camilo José Vergara , Untitled, 2009, Frederick Douglass at West 154 th Street, Harlem, New York.  Digital c-print. Collection of the artist.

Vergara remarked about his work that “most murals and street portraits of Dr. King are ephemeral. Paint fades, businesses change hands and neighborhood demographics shift. Gradually, images reflecting the culture and values of poor communities are lost….Often, my photographs are the only lasting record of these public works of art.” This exhibition offers the opportunity to study the manner in which Martin Luther King, Jr.

Macy's Sunday Story Time: How Martin Changed the USA

Sun, 01/20/2013 - 11:30am

Recommended for children ages 4 - 7.

Each week New-York Historical Society educators read one to two engaging picture books around a theme. The themes are related to New York City, American history, current holidays, or new exhibitions.

What ideas did Martin Luther King, Jr. share with others that changed our country’s history? Everyone can be great and anyone can make the world a more loving place—big ideas that are alive today thanks to Dr. King.

Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport

Freedom Now: Photographs by Platon

Nov 11 2011 - Apr 29 2012

Note: This Exhibit will be closed April 21, 2012
The African-American struggle for civil rights is the subject of a series created by British photographer, Platon. Seen through a fresh perspective, Platon’s photographs sensitively capture the dreams, fears, disappointments and triumphs of a people who have striven for decades to overcome hardships and achieve equality in our society. Works in the exhibition include photographs of the Little Rock Nine, Dr. King’s Birmingham prison cell, Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Muhammad Ali, and Joseph McNeil and Franklin E. McCain, who were among the students who participated at the famous sit-in for civil rights at the Woolworths in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960. (Many of these images appeared in The New Yorker issue of February 15–22, 2010.)

Platon, John Lewis, January 2010. Light jet print. Courtesy of the artist

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