New-York Historical Society to Present SUPERHEROES IN GOTHAM, THE NIXON TAPES, and Many More Exhibitions in the Fall

The New York Historical Society has announced its exhibitions and programs for September-October 2015.

Superheroes in Gotham
October 9, 2015 - February 21, 2016
Superheroes are a part of our daily lives engaging our imaginations on the pages of comic books, television and movie screens, as well as across the Broadway stage and the virtual world of gaming. Since their introduction in the late 1930s, superheroes have been societal role models, inspirational and enviable. Based on mythological archetypes, they navigate the twists and turns of modern life. Through comic books, original drawings, posters, video clips, costumes, early merchandise, and props, Superheroes in Gotham will tell the story of comic book superheroes in New York City; the leap of comic book superheroes from print to radio, to television, and ultimately to film; the role of fandom, including the yearly mega-event known as New York Comic Con; and explore how superheroes continue to inspire the work of contemporary comic book artists, cartoonists, and painters in New York City. Organized by New-York Historical's Debra Schmidt Bach, Associate Curator of Decorative Arts, and Nina Nazionale, Director of Library Operations.

Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection
October 30, 2015 - February 28, 2016
This holiday season, the New-York Historical Society will be transformed into a magical wonderland with a dynamic installation from its renowned Jerni Collection of model trains, scenic elements, and toys from a bygone era. Featuring several treasures exhibited for the first time since New-York Historical acquired the collection, Holiday Express will unfold over a broad swath of the first floor and continue throughout the lower-level DiMenna Children's History Museum. With the aid of theatrical lighting, an ambient audio "soundscape," and other visual effects, visitors will be engaged in all-new and captivating holiday experience. Organized by New-York Historical's Mike Thornton, Assistant Curator of Material Culture.

Picasso's Le Tricorne
May 29 - Ongoing
The show will position Picasso's curtain in a dialogue with other New-York Historical Society objects, including paintings from the European tradition that provide background to the artist's work as well as to the traditions against which the revolutionary artist rebelled. Other thematic threads pivot around dance subjects and explore roughly contemporary American paintings, sculpture, posters, and watercolors. Among the works included will be examples by William Adolphe Bouguereau, Will H. Bradley, Philippe de Champaigne, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Childe Hassam, Malvina Hoffman, Ricardo de Madrazo y Garreta, Elie Nadelman, Edward Penfield, Maurice Prendergast, John Sloan, and Adriaen van Utrecht.

The Hirschfeld Century: The Art of Al Hirschfeld
Until October 12, 2015
The Hirschfeld Century: The Art of Al Hirschfeld examines his influences, his iconography, and his techniques, from his earliest works to his last drawings. Visitors will have the opportunity to trace this unique artist's evolution by viewing his own body of work, including drawings, paintings, selections from sketchbooks, ephemera, and video. The exhibition is being organized in partnership with the Al Hirschfeld Foundation and is guest-curated by David Leopold, the Foundation's Archivist.

Freedom Journey 1965: Photographs of the Selma to Montgomery March by Stephen Somerstein
Until October 25, 2015
This exhibit features the stunning and historic photographs of Stephen Somerstein, documenting the Selma-to-Montgomery Civil Rights March in January 1965. Somerstein was a student in City College of New York's night school and Picture Editor of his student newspaper when he traveled to Alabama to document the March. He joined the marchers and gained unfettered access to everyone from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Rosa Parks, James Baldwin, and Bayard Rustin. "I had five cameras slung around my neck," he recalled. Over the five-day, 54-mile march, Somerstein took about four hundred photographs including poignant images of hopeful blacks lining the rural roads as they cheered on the marchers walking past their front porches and whites crowded on city sidewalks, some looking on silently-others jeering as the activists walked to the Alabama capital.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS
The Court and the World: American Law and the New Global Realities
Tuesday, September 15, 6:30 pm
Stephen Breyer
SOLD OUT
Associate Justice Stephen Breyer examines the work of the nation's highest court in our increasingly interconnected and globalized world-a world in which both public and private activity has obliged the Court to consider foreign events, laws, and practices.

Coming of Age with Joyce Carol Oates
Thursday, September 17, 7:30 pm
$34 (members $20)
Award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates-known for her raw and poignant writing which often explores themes of class tensions, violence, and unapologetic portraits of human nature-reflects upon her prolific career and her coming-of-age in rural western New York State.

The Nixon Tapes
Thursday, September 23, 6:30 pm
Douglas Brinkley
$38 (members $24)
Between 1971 and 1973, President Nixon's infamous voice-activated taping system secretly recorded 3,700 hours of unfiltered conversation within executive offices, including the Oval Office. Historian Douglas Brinkley, who was involved with the transcription project, provides a compelling overview of the tapes and how they offer an unprecedented glimpse into Nixon's intellectual yet flawed presidency.

Being Nixon: A Man Divided
Wednesday, September 30, 6:30 pm
Evan Thomas and Julian E. Zelizer
Both maudlin and Machiavellian, Richard Nixon transcended his origins as a shy outcast in Washington society to become a leader capable of great bravery and extraordinary deviousness. Award-winning author Evan Thomas peels back the layers on the nation's 37th president, delivering a fascinating portrait of one of American history's most infamous, paradoxical, and enigmatic politicians.

A Conversation with Justice Stevens
Friday, October 2, 11 am
$44 (member $32)
Upon his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens was the third longest-serving Justice in American history. In an intimate conversation presented in anticipation of his 40th anniversary since taking his seat on the nation's highest court, Justice Stevens reflects on his decades of experience and shares his unique insight into the U.S. legal system.

How Washington Won
Saturday, October 3, 9:30- 11 am
$44 (members $32)
Jeremy Black
After a series of devastating losses and retreats, General George Washington ultimately led the colonial armies to triumph over one of the most formidable imperial powers in history. Celebrated military historian Jeremy Black surveys Washington's distinguished leadership qualities and examines the forces-both internal and external-that aided Washington in his arduous path to victory.

The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944
Tuesday, October 6, 6:30 pm
$38 (member $24)
Ian W. Toll
Beginning with Pearl Harbor and culminating in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the great Pacific War would become the largest, bloodiest, and most complicated amphibious war in history. Using firsthand accounts, naval historian Ian W. Toll explores how the U.S. and Allied Forces rolled back the Japanese Pacific Empire island-by-island as they blazed their way towards Tokyo.

The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s
Thursday, October 8, 6:30 pm
$34 (member $20)
Gil Troy
Under the leadership of President Bill Clinton, dramatic political, cultural, and technological shifts ushered in an age of prosperity and transformed America's sociopolitical landscape. Historian Gil Troy reflects upon Clinton's presidency, his evolving legacy, and the nation as it was under his guidance: a post-Cold War, pre-9/11 nation defined by boundless opportunity and great anxiety.

Robert A. Caro: Robert Moses, Power, and the Powerless
Tuesday, October 13, 6:30 pm
$44 (member $32)
"In that moment I knew that if I wanted to write about power, I would have to write about the powerless as well, would have to write not only about the man who wielded power, but about its effect-for good or ill-on those on whom it was wielded."
Robert Caro recounts an incident that occurred while he was writing his biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker, that suddenly made him understand his book had to be very different from the one he had started out to write-and that changed his views on the very nature of political biography.

1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History and the Year That Changed History
Wednesday, October 14, 6:30 pm
$34 (member $20)
Jay Winik
1944 was a year of titanic events that weighed heavy on the ailing President Franklin D. Roosevelt: reelection, the D-Day invasion, the liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, and the mounting evidence of the extermination of European Jews. Bestselling author Jay Winik reveals the extraordinary struggles FDR faced during 1944 and how his decisive actions shaped the outcome of history.

The American Revolution: Writings from the Pamphlet Debate 1764-1776
Tuesday, October 20, 6:30 pm
$38 (member $24)
Gordon S. Wood
Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Stamp Act Crisis ignited the American Revolution and foreshadowed a long series of events that would culminate in the birth of a new nation. Celebrated historian Gordon S. Wood examines the underlying political and intellectual debates between Britain and the American colonies and how these exchanges shaped the War of Independence.

Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist
Wednesday, October 21, 6:30 pm
$44 (member $32)
Niall Ferguson
Henry Kissinger's road to prominence was anything but easy, and the achievements and disappointments he faced in his early years would ultimately define the man he would become. Historian Niall Ferguson discusses Kissinger's life prior to his appointment as Richard Nixon's national security adviser, illuminating his dramatic rise from a Jewish refugee fleeing Nazi Germany to one of the most influential strategic thinkers in American history.

Leaders in War: Adolf Hitler
Tuesday, October 27, 6:30 pm
$38 (member $24)
Andrew Roberts
Why, after starting World War II with a string of Blitzkrieg victories hardly seen before in the history of warfare, did Adolf Hitler make the series of disastrous blunders that led him to losing it? In the first talk in a series examining the governing forces behind World War II, award-winning historian Andrew Roberts surveys the evolving military priorities of the most evil man who ever lived. Future talks in the Leaders in War series include Charles de Gaulle and Joseph Stalin.

JUSTICE IN FILM SERIES
This series will explore how film has tackled social conflict, morality, and the perennial struggles between right and wrong. Entrance to the film series is included with Museum Admission during New-York Historical's Pay-as-you-wish Friday Nights (6 - 8 pm). No advanced reservations. Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 6 pm.

DOUBLE FEATURE
Friday, October 16, 7 pm
The Mark of Zorro | 1920 | 107 min.
The Mark of Zorro | 1940 | 93 min.
Author and historian Ted Widmer introduces the 1920 and 1940 films that follow the story of the masked vigilante Zorro, a wealthy man who uses a secret identity to fight injustice against the poor. Join us for this special program that focuses on the character that inspired future heroes, including-most notably-Gotham's own Batman.

Friday, October 23, 7 pm
Mildred Pierce | 1945 | 111 min.
Author Kati Marton and film critic David Denby introduce the drama starring Joan Crawford as a recently single mother who struggles to support and please her spoiled daughter.

CONTACT INFORMATION
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West (at 77th Street)
New York, NY 10024
www.nyhistory.org
(212) 873-3400

MUSEUM AND STORE HOURS:
Tuesday- Thursday: 10 am - 6 pm
Friday: 10 am - 8 pm
Saturday: 10 am - 6 pm
Sunday: 11 am - 5 pm

MUSEUM ADMISSION
Adults- $20
Teachers and Seniors- $15
Students- $12
Children (5-13) - $6
Children (4 and under)- free
*Pay-as-you-wish Fridays from 6 pm - 8 pm.