On November 10, 1898, a group of white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina—upset by the results of a local election and angered by the writing of the local black press—violently overthrew the newly elected government and installed their own supporters instead. This is known as a coup d’état—and it’s the only such event in American…

The midterm elections are coming up! On Tuesday, November 6, most Americans who choose to participate (and that number is far too small) will show up at a polling station to vote. Nowadays, voters fill out a paper ballot and run it through a scanner. Or votes can cast ballots early or using absentee ballots….

In the last couple of decades, cats have reigned supreme as the royalty of the internet. But cats have been American favorites long before they entertained us on YouTube! Just take a look at these seven amazing cats we found in our Museum and Library collections. (For the record, there are way more cats in…

It’s that time of year when 19th and early 20th century Americans celebrated the end of a cycle of seasons and began to look forward to the year ahead. I’m not talking about New Year’s though—I’m talking about Halloween! Halloween is always special to us here at DiMenna Children’s History Museum, especially now that we…

 “He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased.” —J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone It’s a very magical time here at Museum as we celebrate 20 years of Harry Potter with the British Library exhibition  Harry Potter: A History…

Imagine you are just starting a new school year and your teacher gives you an assignment: create a scrapbook of news stories about the president of the United States. Then, unexpectedly, a terrifying international conflict brews while you’re on the president’s beat. The weeks of this assignment end up being so memorable that you hold…

Meet the Living Historians Bringing Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow to Life Planning a trip to New-York Historical this fall or winter? Join us on Saturdays and Sundays to experience the past at one of our Living History programs. When you do, you’ll notice a few new faces helping us bring to…

In 1866 a ship departed from New York Harbor with an unusual group—nearly every passenger onboard was a young, unmarried women from Lowell, Massachusetts, leaving behind a life on the East Coast for the very different world of Washington Territory. In the press, these women came to be known as the “Mercer Girls,” named for…

Please note: Included below are links to two historical resources that include graphic language and racial slurs. When you visit Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow, two of the first objects you’ll see are books: The First Dixie Reader, used in the South, and The Gospel of Slavery: A Primer of Freedom, used…