New-York Historical Society To Establish Galleries Dedicated To Exploring Race In America

The New-York Historical Society announced a new initiative to dedicate renovated, prime rotating gallery space to the topics of freedom, equality, and civil rights in America. Launching in fall 2018 with the inaugural exhibition Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow (on view September 7, 2018 – March 3, 2019), the galleries will primarily explore the long struggle of African Americans for full rights as citizens, including the right to be accepted and to feel safe, with future exhibitions widening the lens to include other historically marginalized groups. Major funding for the renovated galleries was provided by the New York City Council. The inaugural exhibition, Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow, examines the meaning of citizenship for African Americans following the abolition of slavery, through Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era. Future exhibitions at the Museum include Betye Saar: Keepin’ It Clean (November 2, 2018 – May 27, 2019), highlighting the work of an iconic figure of the Black Arts Movement of the 1970s, whose complex assemblage sculptures address race, memory, and black consciousness; Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman (spring 2019), showcasing the work of the influential Harlem Renaissance sculptor who overcame poverty, racism, and sexual discrimination, and whose work elevated images of black culture into mainstream America; and in summer 2019, a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, the historic turning point in the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement. For more information visit https://www.nyhistory.org.