I was lucky enough to see the Broadway revival of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs in the company of Harold Newman, Co-Chair of the New-York Historical Society Chairman's Council, before the play's early and unfortunate closing. As we left the theater, Harold and I were still caught...

Work hard and play by the rules: that's how you're supposed to achieve the American Dream. But with unemployment climbing toward the double digits, and income levels sinking for many of those who do have jobs, the "hard work" part of the formula seems to be questionable. And with the...

As the Independence Day celebration rolls out across our land -- from the redwood forests, to the Gulf Stream waters, to the bytes and pixels on Huffington Post -- one marvel of our early history that we might recall is that the American Revolution had its own bloggers.

They were...

Although it is one of America's most beautiful and historic waterways, the Hudson River has had some ups and downs over the past 400 years. Visitors to the New York Historical Society recently had occasion to recall how the fortunes of the river have changed since 1609 -- the year...

Broadway shows have their own fascinating stories -- and the opening of the current hit revival of West Side Story so close to Easter and Passover is a good reminder of the twists and turns of both theatrical and world history.

Although it's often forgotten now, the initial idea for...

No one has yet suggested that First Lady Michelle Obama might someday run for president, but neither would anyone dismiss her out of hand if she ever decided to campaign. She is a highly recognized public figure, known for having previously built a career of her own in a...

I've been thinking about an old letter we just put into a display case at the New-York Historical Society--a fragile bit of ink on paper, too delicate to see the light very often, but so full of meaning and emotion that we knew we had to get it out of...

It is a coincidence of history, though a powerful one, that our nation's first African American President is being inaugurated in 2009, the same year as we celebrate the bicentennial of the President who ended the enslavement of African Americans. The theme chosen for the inauguration of Barack Obama...

"We need action -- and action now."

These words have recently rung out in the broad Midwestern baritone of Barack Obama. But the thought behind them has been forcefully stated before, at a strikingly similar moment in our nation's history -- not coming from the President Elect's beloved Chicago...