May 2011 Programs & Exhibitions Set For N-Y Historical Society

PLEASE NOTE LOCATION: Evening Public Programs will be presented at the New York Society for Ethical Culture at 2 West 64th Street at Central Park West, unless otherwise noted.

To purchase tickets by phone, call SmartTix at (212) 868-4444 or go to smarttix.com. Programs $20 (Members $10) unless otherwise noted.

The Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers Series

IN GOLD WE TRUST? A GREAT DEBATE
Thursday, May 5, 6:30 PM
James Grant, David Stockman, Richard Sylla, John Dizard, Edward Chancellor

Since 1971, the U.S. dollar has not been convertible into anything except small change. Like every other modern currency, it derives its value from the perceived acumen of the government that prints it. But in this era of financial insecurity, is the soaring price of gold evidence that faith in this system has wilted? Experts debate the future of our monetary system: Should the United States return to the gold standard or should it carry on by printing dollars with each successive financial crisis?

The Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers Series

ANTIETAM AND THE BATTLES OF 1862
Thursday, May 12, 6:30 PM
James M. McPherson, Stephen W. Sears, Harold Holzer

The bloodiest day in American history took place at Sharpsburg, Maryland in September 1862, when Union and Confederate forces met at the Battle of Antietam. Historians James M. McPherson and Stephen W. Sears, both of whom have written award-winning books on the battle, discuss the strategies of Generals Robert E. Lee and George McClellan, as well as the society-altering event the Union victory made possible: emancipation.

THE STORM OF WAR: A NEW HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Tuesday, May 17, 8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Andrew Roberts

Join us at New York's landmark '21' Club for this singular program, which includes a breakfast, lecture, and book signing for $55 (members $45). This event at '21' will be offered free to first-time members of the New-York Historical Society who join at the $500 level or greater or who upgrade an existing membership to $500 or more. Tickets will not be sold at the door for this event.

 

THIS EVENT WILL BE AT THE 21 CLUB LOCATED AT ‘21' W. 52ND STREET

The Richard Gilder Distinguished Lecturer Series

FACES OF AMERICA
Tuesday, May 17, 6:30 PM
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

In African American Lives 1 and 2, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., revealed, through a combination of cutting-edge DNA research and old-fashioned genealogical sleuthing, the histories of more than a dozen notable African Americans. In Faces of America, he did the same for twelve notable Americans of numerous ethnicities, revealing that underneath our different skin, we have more in common than we know. Among those he will speak about are Yo Yo Ma, Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols, Malcolm Gladwell, and Kristi Yamaguchi.

The Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers Series

JOHN F. KENNEDY
Tuesday, May 24, 6:30 PM
Robert Dallek, Bob Herbert

It's been fifty years since John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the nation's 35th president, yet his specter remains ever present in the American consciousness. In conversation with Bob Herbert, celebrated biographer Robert Dallek examines the trials and tribulations Kennedy faced during his political career-obstacles that are surprisingly resonant to issues facing our current president-including the Cold War, conflict in Southeast Asia, and the resistance he faced in passing domestic policy.

The Bernard and Irene Schwartz Distinguished Speakers Series

INHERENTLY UNEQUAL: THE BETRAYAL OF EQUAL RIGHTS BY THE SUPREME COURT, 1865-1903
Thursday, May 26, 6:30 PM
Lawrence Goldstone, Eric Foner, Khalil Gibran Muhammad

In the years following the Civil War, a series of extraordinary laws-beginning with the post-war Constitutional Amendments and culminating with the Civil Rights Act of 1875-remade America's social landscape, abolishing slavery, and conferring equal protection of the law to all Americans. But by 1883, the Supreme Court had ruled the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional and turned a blind eye to the reality of racism, essentially legalizing the brutal prejudice of the Jim Crow era. Three experts discuss this pivotal moment in American history and the tragic fallout of the Court's failure to protect equal rights.

The President Bill Clinton Lecture Series in American History

MAKING OUR DEMOCRACY WORK: A JUDGE'S VIEW
Tuesday, May 31, 6:30 PM
Associate United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer

How does the Constitution, an 18th-century document, relate to and dictate the laws of a 21st-century society? Through the analysis of past cases, including those concerning slavery, the Cherokee Indians, and detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Justice Stephen Breyer examines the Court's arduous-and often turbulent-journey to establish its legitimacy as guardian of the Constitution. Having earned the public's confidence, he expounds how the Court can continue promoting a workable democracy going forward.

TRAVELING EXHIBITIONS
The Hudson River School: Nature and the American Vision
February 26 - June 19, 2011
Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, TX
The New-York Society has organized an exhibition drawn from the rich collections of 19th-century American landscape painting to travel while the galleries are closed during renovations in 2011. This hiatus offers us an opportunity to share works that are not often available for loan. Nature and the American Vision: Masterpieces of the Hudson River School will include forty-five iconic works including Thomas Cole's five-part series: The Course of Empire and other masterworks by Cole, John F. Kensett, Albert Bierstadt, Jasper F. Cropsey, Asher B. Durand, and many others.

John Rogers: AMERICAN STORIES
February 22, 2011 - May 15, 2011
The Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

By far the most popular American sculptor of his eventful era, John Rogers (1829-1904) was unprecedented in the United States as an astute and tireless maker and marketer of artworks for a broad audience. From the beginning of the Civil War to the end of the Gilded Age, he sold more than 80,000 narrative figural groups in plaster, reaching the American public en masse and addressing the issues that most touched their lives. Drawing on its premier collection of Rogers's work, the New-York Historical Society has organized the first full retrospective of this singularly influential American artist.

A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls

May 8 - August 21, 2011

The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History

New Light on Tiffany presents groundbreaking research revealing the many women who played a crucial role in the design and creation of Tiffany Studios' masterpieces, in particular, Clara Driscoll (1861-1944), head of the Women's Glass cutting Department. Driscoll's recently discovered correspondence, written during her employment at Tiffany Studios at the turn of the century, reveals that she was responsible for many of the firm's most iconic lampshades, including the Wisteria, Dragonfly, and Poppy, as well as numerous other objects made with glass, bronze, and mosaic. In addition to designing, Driscoll managed a large department of young women, known as the "Tiffany Girls," who specialized in selecting and cutting glass for windows, shades, and mosaics. A New Light on Tiffany features approximately 60 Tiffany lamps, windows, mosaics, enamels, and ceramics designed by Clara Driscoll and other women at Tiffany Studios, as well as numerous objects made under her direction. Supplementary archival material documents the activities at Tiffany Studios and sheds light on Driscoll's experience as a New York working woman at the turn of the century.

INFORMATION HOTLINE:
To reach Museum's offices call: 212-873-3400
ONLINE INFORMATION:
www.nyhistory.org

MUSEUM STORE HOURS:
Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sunday: 11:00 am to 5:45 pm

 

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