About the New-York Historical Society
Founded on November 20, 1804, largely through the efforts of merchant and civic organizer John Pintard, the New-York Historical Society is the city's first museum and one of the oldest historical societies in the country. In October 2024 it shortened its public name to The New York Historical, dropping both the 19th-century hyphen and the word "Society," though the institution, its charter, and its collections are unchanged. It occupies a landmark building on Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets whose central block, by York and Sawyer, was completed on December 15, 1908 and extended in 1938 by Walker and Gillette; a $65 million renovation finished in 2011.
The collections are enormous for an institution many visitors have never entered: more than 1.6 million works of art and artifacts, and a library of over three million books, pamphlets, maps, atlases, newspapers, and manuscripts. Among the holdings are all 435 of John James Audubon's surviving preparatory watercolors for "The Birds of America" and one of the world's largest collections of Tiffany lamps, shown in the permanent Gallery of Tiffany Lamps. Long-running installations include "Meet the Presidents and the Oval Office," "Turn Every Page: Inside the Robert A. Caro Archive," "Our Composite Nation: Frederick Douglass' America," and the DiMenna Children's History Museum, a permanent gallery built for young "history detectives."
The newest addition is the Tang Wing for American Democracy, begun in 2023 and opened on June 18, 2026, to coincide with the nation's 250th anniversary. Its inaugural exhibition, "Democracy Matters," runs through November 2026, and the wing also houses the Weitzman Shoe Museum. Civics education has become a stated priority, alongside a rotating schedule of shows such as "Revolutionary Women" (through October 25, 2026).
Collections and Research Services
Researchers use the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, open by appointment Tuesday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and closed weekends and Mondays. Most of the collection is cataloged online, and full-text finding aids cover the manuscript and graphic collections. Three databases are especially useful for New York City house and business history: the Dining Menus collection, the Hotel Files, and the Apartment Building Files. The Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library offers digitized New York City photographs, Revolutionary-era maps and manuscripts, and Civil War material, and research guides include one on slavery and the Underground Railroad in New York. Reference questions are taken by email through the library page, and faculty can arrange class introductions to the collections. For a Manhattan address, pair the library with our guides to finding old photos of a house or neighborhood and old city directories.
Planning Your Visit
The museum is at 170 Central Park West at Richard Gilder Way (77th Street), directly across from Central Park and the American Museum of Natural History; a visit runs about two hours. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Monday. Free guided tours leave daily at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Admission is $24 for adults, $19 for seniors, educators, and active military, $13 for students, $6 for children 5 to 13, and free for children under 5 and members; Friday evenings from 5 to 8 p.m. are pay-as-you-wish, and the museum participates in the public libraries' Culture Pass program. The building is fully ADA accessible. Check nyhistory.org for closures. Elsewhere in the state, the Huntington Historical Society and the Nassau County Historical Society on Long Island are also profiled here.
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