History Detectives

This November, the Reading into History Family Book Club is digging into Albert Marrin’s Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and its Legacy. We’ll meet to discuss this book on Sunday, December 8th, at 3 pm. This work of non-fiction tells the story of how a fire broke out on the upper floors…

Each week in Little New-Yorkers we explore the theme of New York with our littlest historians. In October we were inspired by Maurie J. Manning’s Laundry Day and created clothesline necklaces with cut cloth pieces. We explored how diverse New York City is through this beautiful book, set in the Lower East Side. It follows a…

Gaining the right to rock the vote hasn’t been easy, historically speaking! And if you’re under 18, you still can’t vote in the United States (along with most other countries around the world). While some people and organizations favor lowering that age restriction or eliminating it completely, chances are you still have a few years…

The origins of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” lie shrouded in mystery. Some say that the character of the Headless Horseman was inspired by the German folktale “The Wild Huntsman.” Washington Irving may have heard this tale while traveling abroad. Others insist that the Headless Horseman was based on an actual Hessian soldier who was…

This Sunday, author Adam Osterweil will join our Reading into History Family Book Club to discuss his novel Cooper and the Enchanted Metal Detector. There is so much to sink our teeth into in this book, from its layered characters to the tough American Revolution history that it sheds light on. We asked Osterweil our usual questions below. Take…

Halloween has a fascinating history, and the New-York Historical Society will explore some of it at our first Spirits of Hallowe’ens Past family party. The party will take place on Halloween from 5-7 pm and is free with Museum admission. The night’s activities are inspiring a series of Halloween History blog posts. This first post…

Reading into History Family Book Club was terrific this past Sunday at our book wrap for 90 Miles to Havana. Thank you to everyone who came to discuss Operation Pedro Pan and this marvelous book.  Now it’s time to start reading Cooper and the Enchanted Metal Detector by Adam Osterweil. We’ll have the author present…

How far back can you trace your family tree? The Beekman family can trace its roots in New York City all the way back to 1647, when Wilhelmus Beekman arrived in New Amsterdam on the same ship as Director-General Peter Stuyvesant! Wilhelmus Beekman was born on April 28, 1623 in Holland. As a young man…

The author and his publicist This month, our family book club is exploring the complicated historical relationship between Cuba and the United States in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month. We are reading Enrique Flores-Galbis’ 90 Miles to Havana, a fascinating work of historical fiction that follows a boy named Julian and his two brothers in their…