Education Mission
The Education Department at the New-York Historical Society offers a wealth of resources and learning opportunities designed to make history come alive!
Education programs are made possible through endowments established by the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Hearst Foundations. Programs are supported, in part, by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council and by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. Additional support is provided by The Barker Welfare Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, the May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation and Verizon.
Support the New-York Historical Society
Help us present groundbreaking exhibitions and develop educational programs about our nation's history for more than 200,000 schoolchildren annually.
Sunday Scholars: Hands-on History for Teens
Sunday Scholars is a seven-week program for history-loving high school students, grades 9-12, that offers an exciting opportunity to research objects within the New-York Historical Society’s extensive collection of historical artifacts and create a multi-media project that tells their story. The program seeks to strengthen visual literacy skills and the ability to conduct in-depth historical research. Based on current or recent exhibitions at New-York Historical, participants will identify a historical period or topic within New York City’s history, choose a research theme of interest, and collaborate on creative projects to compellingly convey that particular topic in New York and American History to a broader audience. The program is designed for students with a passion for New York City history and an interest in creating a multimedia narrative that is both informative and entertaining.
Here’s what we’re up to!
Fall 2012 Sunday Scholars studied artist Camilo José Vergara’s time-lapse photography in order to reflect on the changing social and cultural fabric of urban geography, and produced their own “before” and “after” images to preserve history on their own terms. The Scholars also created a documentary of their photographs and related research. View it here.
Spring 2013 Sunday Scholars will explore the photography of Camilo José Vergara, focusing on his photographs of Martin Luther King Jr. murals (featured in the current exhibition The Dream Continues: Photographs of Martin Luther King Murals by Vergara at New-York Historical) to inform their own creative projects. 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. Sunday Scholars will explore his work as well as other examples of creative documentation and re-contextualization of temporary public artwork and structures. The Scholars will then have the opportunity to compose their own multi-media, research-based, documentation projects to be shared online.
Get Involved!
Spring 2013 Schedule
Sundays from 1-3pm at New-York Historical:
- February 24th, 2013
- March 3rd, 2013
- March 10th, 2013
- March 17th, 2013
- March 24th, 2013
- April 7th, 2013
- April 14th, 2013
Please note: Sunday Scholars will skip Sunday, March 31st for the holiday weekend. Participants must be able to commit to all seven days of the program.
Participation is free with Family Membership to the New-York Historical Society or $125 per student for Non-Members. Scholarship opportunities are available. The application form should be completed by the applicant and saved as a Word document or .pdf file, named “your last name_your first name”. The document must be e-mailed to sunday.scholars@nyhistory.org.
Application Deadline: February 19th, 2013
Contact
If you have questions regarding Sunday Scholars, please contact us at sunday.scholars@nyhistory.org
