New-York Historical Society

Location & Contact:

170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
212-873-3400
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Description:

The library at the New-York Historical Society is one of the oldest independent research libraries in the United States. Collection strengths include local history of New York City and State; colonial history; the Revolutionary War; American military and naval history; religions and religious movements, 18th and 19th century; the Anglo-American slave trade and conditions of slavery in the United States; the Civil War; American biography and genealogy; American art and art patronage; the development of American architecture from the late 18th to the present; and 19th and 20th century portraiture and documentary photographs of New York City.

The collections include 2 million manuscripts, 500,000 photographs, 400,000 prints, 350,000 books and pamphlets, 150,000 architectural drawings, 20,000 broadsides, 15,000 printed maps, 10,000 newspapers and 10,000 dining menus. Among the historic icons are manuscript maps drawn by George Washingtons cartographers in the field, Robert Erskine and Simeon DeWitt (1778-1783); Napoleons authorization for the Louisiana Purchase (1803); and Grants handwritten terms of surrender to Lee (1865).

Hours:

Monday: CLOSED
Tuesday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday: CLOSED