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Attraction >Museum
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Description and Basic Information ::
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 The New-York Historical Society began operating as early as 1804. Thomas Jefferson had just been elected for his second term as President of the United States, and New York City consisted of a population of about 70,000 concentrated in an area no larger than the size of the city’s business district today. The Historical Society found its first home at Federal Hall (its first of many locations). It was the same building where Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated for his first term as president fifteen years earlier.
By the late 1900s Federal Hall could no longer accommodate the rapidly growing library and exhibition space of the Historical Society. After the near acquisition of a prominent lot of land in Central Park (now property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art), the financially restricted Historical Society finally settled at Central Park West, and has remained there since.
Though the Historical Society has suffered its share of financial difficulty, namely during the 1970s and 1980s, the organization has not only persevered, but continues to flourish, much to the delight of its countless visitors and supporters. In addition to an immense research library and available public programming, the Society’s museum collection houses an extensive array of historical documents, artifacts, artwork, furniture and other such treasures dating back to the 1600s. But not all on display is so historically distant, as numerous exhibits depict contemporary life in the city as well. Collections on display are conveniently housed in color-coded sections: Paintings, Sculpture, Furniture, Tools for Home and Trade, Decorative Objects, Tiffany Lamps, and Mezzanine Collections. A guide to these exhibitions has been published for more in-depth exploration, easily obtained at the Museum Store on the first floor. All you ever wanted to know about New York City, its incredible impact on cultures around the world, its role as the most significant metropolis in America, and all that you would never imagine about this city, lies within the walls of the Historical Society. |
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:: New York City >Uptown :: |
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