New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

McKim Mead and White

Brooklyn Museum Planning Permanent Galleries for Arts of Africa Collection

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Image courtesy of Peterson Rich OfficeThe Brooklyn Museum is launching a major new project to renovate and design permanent galleries for its historic African art collection, one of the largest and most renowned in the United States.

The revamped 6,400-square-foot galleries, located on the Museum’s third floor, adjacent to the iconic Beaux-Arts Court, is expected to feature an inaugural installation of over three hundred works from antiquity to the present. [Read more…] about Brooklyn Museum Planning Permanent Galleries for Arts of Africa Collection

Ventriloquism & America’s First Modern Public Libraries

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The New York Public Library Main Branch during its late stage construction in 1908 with the lion statues not yet installed at the entranceNew York-born John Bigelow started his career in 1849 as co-owner with William Cullen Bryant of the New York Evening Post. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him Consul in Paris and promoted him to American Ambassador four years later.

His diplomatic efforts were aimed at influencing the French in favor of the federal government. Working with Charles Francis Adams, U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom, he blocked political attempts to have France and Britain intervene in the Civil War on behalf of the Confederacy, thus paving the way for the United States victory. [Read more…] about Ventriloquism & America’s First Modern Public Libraries

Remembering the British Prison Ship Martyrs of New York City

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Map of Manhattan - New York City in 1776About 11,500 Americans lost their lives aboard British prison ships from 1776 to 1783. More soldiers, sailors and civilians died aboard the prison ships than in all of the Revolutionary War battles combined. It started with the Battle of Brooklyn (the Battle of Long Island).

The City of New York played an important role throughout the American Revolution. Not only was the city an important port of commerce, providing supplies and food to the Continental Army, but it served as a central communications route between the northern and southern states. [Read more…] about Remembering the British Prison Ship Martyrs of New York City

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