Series V. Exhibitions, 1969-2011 (bulk, 1992-2001)
Extent
Scope and Contents Note
The series includes files concerning various installed and proposed exhibitions. These files are only those found as standalone records during processing; many other exhibition files found with curatorial and conservation lab records remain with those series. Principal exhibitions represented in this series are actual and proposed "Library Treasures" shows from 1969-1995, Letters from a War (1993-1994) and the related Pray for Me (2000), Militant Metropolis: New York City and the Spanish-American War (1998), and Inventing the Skyline: The Architecture of Cass Gilbert (2000). The series also holds many original exhibition labels, though most are not identified as to which exhibition they were part of.
Arrangement Note
The exhibition files are presented first, in chronological order, followed by the boxes of exhibition labels.
General Exhibitions File, 1980s
Blizzard of '88, 1988
George Washington in New York, 1989
Scope and Contents Note
Includes bound exhibition text only.
Library Treasures / Treasury of the Past (1 of 2 boxes), 1969-1991
Scope and Contents Note
These two boxes include documents related to N-YHS's 1995 exhibition Treasury of the Past and predecessor exhibitions (actual and proposed) that had a similar thematic underpinning. This first box includes the checklist for the 1969 exhibition Treasures of Americana from the Library of the N-YHS, a checklist from a 1971-1972 "manuscripts show," documents related to the 1984 Treasures of Manuscript Americana, and principally files on selections for a proposed Library Treasures exhibition (circa 1991) that was not installed.
Library Treasures / Treasury of the Past (2 of 2 boxes), 1994-1996
Letters from a War / Pray for Me (23 folders), 1992-2000
Scope and Contents Note
Includes the files of, principally, curator Margaret Heilbrun concerning two related exhibitions: Letters from a War, held at New York University in 1993-94, and Pray for Me, an extended version of Letters, held at N-YHS in 2000.
Navy Signal Books, 1992
Curators Lab exhibition (proposed), 1993
Creating American Cultural Heroes (proposed), 1993
Edith Wharton / Age of Innocence, 1993
Clement Clarke Moore, 1995
Becoming Eleanor Roosevelt: The Early New York Years, 1996
New York's Independence Day, 1996
Presidential Politics: Election Year Documents, 1996
Negative Politics (not installed), 1996
Robert Fulton (2 folders), 1996
Audubon, 1997
To Hell with Reform: The Race to Become Mayor of Greater New York, 1997
Love Letters (2 folders), 1997
Henry James (3 folders), 1997
William Sidney Mount, 1998
Militant Metropolis: New York City and the Spanish-American War (4 folders), 1998
New York City Police, 1998
George Washington: A Man of His Time, A Man for All Times (3 folders), 1998
John Genin / American Institute, 1998
General Exhibitions File, 1999-2001
Scope and Contents Note
Includes schedules and proposals.
Inventing the Skyline: The Architecture of Cass Gilbert (1 of 4 boxes), 1992-1994, 1999-2000
Scope and Contents Note
These four boxes include files concerning the exhibition and catalogue for Inventing the Skyline. In large part, they appear to be those of exhibition curator and catalogue editor Margaret Heilbrun. Most of the documents relate to the catalogue but exhibition material can be found in the first two boxes.
Inventing the Skyline: The Architecture of Cass Gilbert (2 of 4 boxes), 2000
Scope and Contents Note
Includes color slides of the exhibition and actual labels. Also includes photographs used in the catalogue.
Inventing the Skyline: The Architecture of Cass Gilbert (3 of 4 boxes), 1997-2000
Scope and Contents Note
Includes correspondence related to the production of the catalogue and drafts of the text. (Later drafts, especially those from the copy editor and print proofs, were discarded by the processing archivist.)
Inventing the Skyline: The Architecture of Cass Gilbert (4 of 4 boxes), 1999-2000
Scope and Contents Note
Includes drafts of catalogue text, photographs and floppy disks from the essay authors with their submissions.
75 Years of Holiday Magic: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 2001
The British in New York Since 1770, 2001
The Literature of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (proposed), 2003
Scope and Contents Note
Traveling expedition proposed to N-YHS by Lewis & Clark College.
John Lansing, 2011
Exhibition Labels (1 of 4 boxes), circa 1995-2004
Scope and Contents Note
These four boxes include original labels, some associated with identified exhibitions, others not. Identified exhibitions in this box include: George Washington: A Man of His Time (1998), Letters from a War (1992), Erskine-DeWitt Maps, First Ladies (2004), Abraham Lincoln Selections, Treasures Show (1984), and possibly Treasury of the Past (1995).
Exhibition Labels (2 of 4 boxes), 1970s?
Scope and Contents Note
Includes no specifically identified exhibition.
Exhibition Labels (3 of 4 boxes), circa 1995-2005
Scope and Contents Note
Identified exhibitions in this box include: Presidential Manuscripts, possibly Clement C. Moore (1995), Cass Gilbert (2005), possibly Treasury of the Past (1995), possibly Robert Fulton.
Exhibition Labels (4 of 4 boxes), Undated
Scope and Contents Note
Includes no specifically identified exhibition.
Exhibition Files (17 folders), 1973-2006, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Most of these files were transfered to the Archives in 2021 by long-time N-YHS librarian Mariam Touba. Exhibitions include Treasury of the Past, Evacuation Day, Greetings f the Year, blizzard of '88, First in the Hearts, Ardent Spirits and Demon Rum, To the Publick, Militant Metropolis Suspicious Truths, Thomas Paine, Independence and its Enemies. Also, here is a docent resource manual for Without Sanctuary.