Series I. Press Releases, circa 1939-2006
Extent
Scope and Contents Note
This series includes press releases distributed by N-YHS to various publications from 1941-1993, primarily publicizing the institution's public events, such as exhibitions, lectures, film series, school programs, and walking tours. These materials include fact sheets, schedules and calendars of events, checklists, exhibition contributor biographies, brochures, and other background information. This information often includes historical and other context related to the publicized program; examples include a "Sampler of Ballroom Etiquette" from a 1988 exhibition. The series includes a small amount of material from prior to 1941 and after 1993.
Press releases also concern N-YHS organizational matters, such as new collection acquisitions, changes in senior management positions, the establishment of a new conservation program, and fundraising initiatives, such as the announcement for N-YHS's first ever major fundraising gala in 1988. The final press releases of the series, from 1993, concern N-YHS's efforts to resolve its financial troubles.
Particularly for the 1980s-1990s, the files include so-called "press round-ups." These were summaries compiled by N-YHS of the coverage in the press of N-YHS exhibitions and other events.
Arrangement Note
This series is arranged chronologically. The bulk of the releases appear to have come from the original files of the Public Relations Department, but these have been filled out with additional copies by releases found by the archivists in the files of other departments.
Press Releases (17 folders), circa 1939-1958
Scope and Contents Note
The first folder includes a list, possibly incomplete, of press releases from 1955-1960. The 1958 folder includes a checklist of objects from the Stuyvesant Family Portraits exhibition.
Press Releases (20 folders), 1959-1975
Scope and Contents Note
The 1959 folder includes the checklists for The Hudson, River of History, from Lake Champlain to the Sea, 1609-1959 and Rediscovered Painters of Upstate New York, 1700-1875 exhibitions. There are two lists of releases: one for 1968 through 1973, the other for 1974-1979.
Press Releases (13 folders), 1975-1983
Scope and Contents Note
The 1980 folder includes the checklist for the exhibition Tiffany Silver. The 1981 folder includes a Report of the Museum Committee concerning the acquisition of Portrait of Philip Hone (1780-1851) by Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860). The 1982 folder includes the press release for A Collector's Sampler: Library Accessions 1980-1982, which includes significant library gifts and purchases of the prior two years. The 1983 folder includes the location plan for paintings in the North Gallery of the 4th floor.
Press Releases (9 folders), 1984-1988
Scope and Contents Note
The 1984 (July-Dec.) folder includes a list of Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates between 1789-1984 and the winner of the election. The 1986 (July-Dec.) folder includes a "Sampler of Ballroom Etiquette" to accompany the press release for The Pleasure of Your Company: Parties and Balls in NYC exhibition. The 1987 (Jan-June) folder includes materials on a series of walking tours organized through N-YHS to notable neighborhoods including Astor Place and Gramercy Park.
Press Releases (8 folders), 1988-1991
Scope and Contents Note
The 1988 (Jan.-June) folder includes the release for the film series "Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem: Crime Films at the New-York Historical Society." Descriptions of each film are included as well as descriptions of the original newsreels that preceded each film presented. The 1988 (July-Dec.) folder includes the press release regarding N-YHS's first-ever Fundraising Gala, held October 31, 1988. Major celebrities and dignitaries such as George Plimpton, Mayor Ed Koch, and Mary Tyler Moore were guests.
Press Releases (13 folders), 1991-2006
Scope and Contents Note
Includes the 1994 press release from the New York State Attorney General announcing the conditions under which the office agreed that N-YHS could sell (deaccession) collection items. Includes the 1995 press release from Town & Country concerning the display of a previously unseen Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis portrait at N-YHS (with photograph and related issue of Town & Country), as well as the releases related to the exhibitions marking the re-opening of N-YHS's galleries in 1995. Press releases after 1993 are spotty and are often print-outs of announcements from N-YHS's Internet website.