The fourth session of the Construction History series will examine the various dimensions in which the threat of fire affected skyscraper development. Claims of "fireproof building" were regularly disproved, often in cataclysmic fashion. Iron promised improvements over timber, but Chicago's Great Fire in 1871 revealed its vulnerability to collapse. Brick remained the only truly fireproof […]

Germany entered World War I on August 1, 1914 when the country declared war on Russia. 11 million German soldiers were mobilized, 100,000 of whom were Jewish. A number of these Jewish soldiers were honored for their service with the Iron Cross. In addition, many German Jews supported the war effort at home along with […]

Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢), one of China’s four great classic novels, tells the story of the rise and decline a wealthy imperial Chinese family, and by extension, the rise and decline of the Qing dynasty itself. The novel was adapted as an English-language Opera composed by Bright Sheng with libretto by Sheng and […]

In this lecture, Thomas Balcerski will discuss New York City as the capital of the nation, beginning in 1785 under the Articles of Confederation Congress. Despite debates over whether the capital should be relocated, the first Congress determined to meet there in March 1789, and the first inauguration of an American President happened there in […]

Every year, at the Annual Gathering of Remembrance, the Museum brings thousands together to say with one collective voice: we will never forget. Rooted in a city with one of the world’s largest communities of Holocaust survivors, this Yom HaShoah tribute has power that echoes across generations.

Join the Museum for a special conversation with Congressman Ritchie Torres, Museum President & CEO Jack Kliger, and Rabbi Joseph Potasnik. With some special guests, our speakers will discuss contemporary antisemitism and hate across the range of American politics, the country’s political divides, the Congressman’s connection to Israel, and immigration policy, among other topics.

On October 1, 1937, Wolfgang Jung purchased 178 acres of land in Southbury, Connecticut for the German-American Bund to build a Nazi camp. The residents of Southbury fought back against this Nazi invasion of their town. Organized by the Reverend M.E.N. Lindsay, the Reverend Felix Manley, and town leaders, the townspeople established a zoning commission […]

In a coda to the four-part Construction History series led by Thomas Leslie and Donald Friedman, the Museum adds a special lecture by ALEXANDER WOOD that will focus on George. B. Post's Mills Building, completed in 1882. One of the earliest and largest office blocks in the Wall Street financial district, the 10-story Mills Building, […]

On an autumn morning in 1849, Henry David Thoreau stepped out his front door to walk the beaches of Cape Cod. Over a century and a half later, Ben Shattuck does the same. With little more than a loaf of bread, brick of cheese, and a notebook, Shattuck sets out to retrace Thoreau’s path through […]

Webinar. Lunchtime talk with renowned journalist and master storyteller Roger Lowenstein, as he discusses his revelatory financial investigation into how Lincoln and his administration used the funding of the Civil War as the catalyst to centralize the government and accomplish the most far-reaching reform in the country’s history.

Chinese literature can offer readers an extraordinary window into China, but for newcomers to this rich and complex world, where does one begin? On Wednesday, April 27, China Institute joins Paper Republic to celebrate the publication of their Guide to Contemporary Chinese Literature, a distillation of the knowledge and experience of the Paper Republic team, […]

Webinar. In what the New York Times review calls a "marvelous new biography," journalist Richard K. Rein chronicles the life of William H. Whyte, one of the most influential writers and analysts of American cities and society in the second half of the twentieth century. From his bestselling, seminal book The Organization Man of 1956, […]

Many people became rich or richer off the detestable actions of the Third Reich during WWII through the use of Jewish slave labor, seizing Jewish businesses, and equipping the German military. Some of these families are still prominent today, such as the Quandts, who owned BMW. None have acknowledged the dark histories behind their fortunes. […]

Webinar. Join us for a discussion about the lives of New York City Jews in the colonial era. We’ll look at community spaces such as the Sephardic Mill Street Synagogue, now known as Shearith Israel and the oldest synagogue in America. We’ll examine the influence of the Gomez and Judah families, the scandal of the […]

Virtual, interactive workshop. Learn the three techniques neuroscientists have identified as critical to storytelling for business.

Dr. Julius G. Mendel was born on August 17, 1931 to a Jewish family in Germany. His father, Dr. Herbert Mendel, served in the German military during WWI and later became a doctor. Herbert ran a successful medical practice, where Julius’ mother Ilse worked as a laboratory technician. In October 1938, Herbert was forced to […]

The first two volumes of the eagerly anticipated first complete edition of Auden's poems--including some that have never been published before.

Online lunchtime talk with the host of NPR’s Planet Money, as she uncovers the deeply-investigated story of how one visionary, dogged investor changed American finance forever. Before Bill Gross was known among investors as the Bond King, he was a gambler. In 1966, a fresh college grad, he went to Vegas armed with his net […]

In fifteen masterful stories, Frederic Tuten entertains questions of existential magnitude, pervasive yearning, and the creative impulse. A wealthy older woman reflects on her relationship with her drowned husband, a painter, as she awaits her own watery demise. An exhausted artist, feeling stuck, reads a book of criticism about allegory and symbolism before tossing her […]

Online lecture. To celebrate the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Renwen Society presents a lecture on May 14 on American writers of Chinese descent by UCLA Professor King-Kok Cheung, a renowned scholar of English and Asian American Studies. These writers grapple with issues of gender, racial, national and generational stereotypes within the […]

Webinar. Amid severe digital disruption, economic upheaval and political flux, how can we make sense of the world? Leaders today typically look for answers in economic models, Big Data or artificial intelligence platforms. Gillian Tett points to anthropology—the study of human culture. Anthropologists learn to get inside the minds of other people, helping them not […]

Focusing on four global cities – London, New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore – architect, urban designer, and TED Resident Stefan Al examines rise of global supertalls and the factors that have led to this worldwide boom. He uncovers the latest innovations in sustainable building, from skyscrapers made of wood to tree-covered buildings that promise […]

Virtual, interactive workshop. Learn how to ramp up your voice, value or visibility to create career outcomes you deserve—without being an extrovert or overworking.

The Museum’s exhibition, Boris Lurie: Nothing To Do But To Try centers around the “War Series” of the artist and Holocaust survivor Boris Lurie. However, Lurie is not the only artist who has chronicled war and tragedy. Others such as Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, Francisco Goya, Otto Dix, and Käthe Kollwitz also used art to illustrate their […]

Zoom lecture. In this lecture, Mary Sarah Bilder looks to the 1780s, the Age of the Constitution, to investigate the rise of a radical new idea in the English-speaking world: female genius. Bilder will discuss Eliza Harriot Barons O'Connor, a path-breaking female educator who delivered a University of Pennsylvania lecture that was attended by George […]

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of Summer and a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 at The Millions, LitHub, and The Rumpus. Sharp, heartfelt, and cathartic, The Year of the Horses captures a woman’s journey out of depression and the horses that guide her, physically and emotionally, on a new path forward.

The Waterfront Alliance’s annual Waterfront Conference – now in its 15th year – is the region’s premier forum exploring the challenges of and solutions to climate change, sustaining a strong maritime industry and regional economy, equitable access at our waterfronts and to our shared waterways, and a healthier open-space environment. Communities across the country are […]

Tautly wound and expertly crafted, Two Nights in Lisbon is a riveting thriller about a woman under pressure, and how far she will go when everything is on the line.

A graduate from Columbia University with a Ph.D. in international law and diplomacy in 1912, Wellington Koo (顾维钧) witnessed and participated in many historical international events in the Republican era of China. He was China’s plenipotentiary to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, where he made a decision that would steer the history of China […]

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Plot, Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Latecomer is a layered and immersive literary novel about three siblings, desperate to escape one another, and the upending of their family by the late arrival of a fourth.

Top experts will share their insights and examine the possibilities and challenges associated with China’s Green Belt and Road Initiative. Since its inception in 2013, the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been striving to promote economic development and inter-regional connectivity across the globe, and over 140 member countries have joined the Initiative. To […]

Mother Ocean Father Nation is by Nishant Batsha, tonight in conversation with Kanishk Tharoor. A riveting, tender debut novel, following a brother and sister whose paths diverge—one forced to leave, […]

Many of us have reached a critical phase of burnout, one in which just showing up for work zaps the energy we previously devoted to innovative thinking and inventive solutions. […]

Myths are enduring legends that help reflect and shape human relationships with nature and one another. To better understand how myths and mythology are interwoven within Chinese history and society, […]

Between 1820 and 1924, there was a large influx of Jewish immigrants to the United States from Eastern and Central Europe. They were escaping oppressive laws that many parts of […]