New – York Historical Society and the Morgan

Library and Museum

Stephen Atwood16 April 2008

FPA4900

''I guess collecting is in my blood,'' Mr. Adams [, former director of the Morgan Library and Museum,] told The New Yorker in 1948, adding: ''I'm sure people realize how useful the Morgan Library is. It contains the crowning achievements -- what you might call the crests of creativeness -- of mankind for several thousand years. Unless we preserved these great feats of humanity in the past, we wouldn't know of mankind's past capabilities -- we'd be starting everything from scratch.''

The New - York Historical Society

“Having formed an association, for the purpose of discovering, procuring, and preserving whatever may relate to the natural, civil, literary, and ecclesiastical history of our country, and ... of the State of New York, we solicit the aid of the liberal, patriotic, and learned, to promote the objects of our institution.” Issued Feb. 18, 1805

Founded in 1804

New York city's oldest museum

Embodies four centuries of American treasures which includes an incredible potpourri of “historical artifacts, American art and other materials documenting the history of the United States as seen through the prism of New York City and State.”

“Forty thousand of the Society's most treasured pieces are on permanent display in the Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture.”

Today's Mission statement: The mission of the New-York Historical

Society is to engage a broad range of people in American history through a series of initiatives that enliven and illuminate the past, from groundbreaking exhibitions that capitalize on the New-York Historical Society's extraordinary museum and library collections to intellectually engaging programming and educational activities.

The Society holds many collections on ...

The pamphlets on slavery: sermons; tracts for and against; etc...

The fourth largest collection of 18th century newspapers;

Comprehensive collection of documentation of local history: biographical; politics (legislative records); geographical data (maps).

Naval and military history;

Extensive genealogical records;

Photographic archive

etc....

The Controversial Betsy Gotbaum Years Appointed as executive director in 1994 during a period of fiscal hardship.

February 19th, 1993: The Society closed the library, canceled all public programs, and laid off 41 employees.

Early 1995, began plan to “deaccession approximately $20 million worth of Society's [materials]” such as paintings from the Byron collection and works from the “American and Decorative Arts.”

All proceeds went to a “permanent endowment restricted to care and maintenance of the remaining collection.

The Society appropriated $10 million from the state and the city to start a major renovation on the building's infrastructure: roof, heating, etc....

Changed primary entrance to 77th St., facing the Natural History Museum.

Restructured the first floor galleries, widened the main hallway “to create a brighter, more open environment for visitors.

After mid1990's renovation, still only 3000 visitors per month.

The 1995 to 1996 budget was a meager $5.2 million.

June 1995, the Society received a $7.5 million grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Established the Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture, a state of the Art storage facility that help the Society save $500,000 in per year which opened in November 2000.

10-Year Strategic Plan in effect since 2006;

Infrastructure repair that will modernize and “initiate projects that will impact the security of our visitors and our collections.”

Part of the latest proposed renovation plans includes a new condominium tower and “to provide housing intended for teachers and others important to the Society's education mission. The condominium would be built on the footprint of, and replace, the Society's current, antiquated 15-story library stack building.”

The newest wing would increase exhibit space for the permanent collection. Traffic will “converge on a rational central hub that will offer access to special exhibition galleries and the Library, as well as to the Museum Shop and a Café, which will be the new home of New York artist Keith Haring's famous "Pop Shop" ceiling.”

Morgan Library and Museum

to function as a center and source for research and publication in the permanent collections and to promote their scholarly study;

to preserve and care for the collections that are held in trust for the American people;

to acquire, through purchase and gift, significant works in the fields established by Pierpont Morgan;

to present the collections, related exhibitions, and interpretive programming to the general public, students, collectors, and scholars in a manner consistent with the highest educational and artistic standards.

The Pierpont Morgan Library was established in 1924 “as an educational institution dedicated to fostering a greater knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of primarily Western history and culture.

The collection is populated mostly from J. P. Morgan's (1837–1913) personal accumulation of wealth which encompasses/ed objects from European and American literature, music, art, and history in forms of illuminated manuscripts, master drawings, rare books, fine bindings, and literary, historical, and music manuscripts.

As of April 2006, the newest addition opened, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano.

The newest addition united the three buildings on Madison Avenue at 36th Street with a light-filled atrium and increased its exhibition space by 75 percent.

The initial library building was designed by McKim, Mead & White, ca. 1902

In 1928, the Annex building was erected on the corner of Madison Avenue and 36th Street, Pierpont Morgan's residence, connected to the original McKim library by means of a gallery.

The 1991 garden court was constructed as a means to unite the various elements of the Morgan campus.

Presently, the Morgan Library and Museum is a complex of formerly separate buildings, including a concert hall, connected by the latest renovation costing about $106 million.

The current director, Charles E. Pierce Jr, from 1987 to the present. He oversaw the last major renovation.

He raised the endowment from $30 million to $150 million.

William M. Griswold, a former curator at the Morgan for six years and present director and president of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, will replace Charles E, Pierce Jr. in early 2008.

Images Cited

http://www.adopt-a-greyhound.org/gallery/2phoebus3-l.jpg

Thomas Cole. The Course of Empire: Desolation. 1836. Oil on canvas. The New York Historical Society, NY, USA.http://www.abcgallery.com/C/cole/cole6.html

http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/image/33081625

http://i.pbase.com/u23/hjsteed/small/33081611.14NYHistoricalSocietyat76thSt.jpg

http://www.inetours.com/New_York/Images/Famous/NY_Historical_Soc_9305.jpg

http://brickwindow.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/assault.JPG

https://www.nyhistory.org/web/images/Education/top_image.jpg

Exhibition design for “New York Divided: Slavery and the Civil War,”which included custom-made typefaces. Design Firm: Heavy Meta; Co-Creative Directors/Designers: Barbara Glauber, Emily Lessard; Client: New-York Historical Society.http://www.printmag.com/Portals/1/Current%20issue%20images/MarchApril2007/NVA/lessard.jpg

1941: Arm wrestling in Harlem, Manhattan

(Andreas Feininger, courtesy of the New York Historical Society, NY)http://www.streetplay.com/cityplay/03-2000/images/armwrestling.jpg

Thomas Cole. The Course of Empire: The Savage State. 1836. Oil on canvas. The New York Historical Society, NY, USA.http://www.abcgallery.com/C/cole/cole5.JPG

https://www.nyhistory.org/future/images/east.persp.jpg

http://www.arcspace.com/architects/piano/morgan_library/16morgan.jpg

http://blog.joins.com/usr/a/n/anastasia105/11/Lindau%20Gospels-morgan%20library.jpg

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2007/07/05/1183662629_5667.jpg

http://www.themorgan.org/visit/images/dining-rm.jpg

Allen Brisson-Smith for The New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/arts/design/24morg.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Works Cited

Guthrie, Kevin M. New – York Historical Society: Lessons from One Non-profit Long Struggle for Survival. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996.

Honan, William H. “ Historical Society To Close Library.” New York Times Online. February 4, 1993 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3DE1E3DF937A35751C0A965958260 April 16, 2008.

New York Historical Society, https://www.nyhistory.org/web/ April 16, 2008.