History Responds
Focus
Our collecting around the events of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement is an extension of an ongoing collecting initiative, History Responds, that the New-York Historical Society initiated in the days after September 11, 2001.
History
Founded in 1804, New-York Historical has long collected materials related to recent or current events. The Patricia D. Klingenstein Library at New-York Historical holds rare broadsides from the months and years leading up to the Revolutionary war that point to an early objective of the institution being collecting materials that reflect current or recent events. Many of the Library’s collection of over 20,000 broadsides document social and political events and movements. In addition, the Museum and Library hold collections of materials gathered in the weeks and months following September 11, 2001, at Zuccotti Park during Occupy Wall Street, and at marches and rallies held in support of Black Lives Matter, the Marriage Equality Act, March for Our Lives, and the Women’s Marches.
Collection
During 2020, photographs, artifacts, written reminiscences, artwork, and ephemera intended for public distribution have been collected. While the Historical Society does not have an oral history program, curators have conducted interviews with donors to the extent possible.
Form of collection
All formats, from as many different perspectives as possible.
Emphasis
The COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Time Period
We have been collecting on the Black Lives Matter movement since 2013, and our COVID-19 collecting dates to March 2020.
Public Access
The COVID-19 and most recently collected Black Lives Matter collections are not yet available.
Director
New-York Historical Society
Contact Person
Nina Nazionale (Library division) or Rebecca Klassen (Museum division) at
Website: nyhistory.org/historyresponds