Women’s Book Battles

The New York Historical Society is currently showcasing “Circulating Control: Women's Book Battles, 1880-1930,” which explores the influence of New York City’s first librarians – women. In the late 1870s, women in New York started the New York Free Circulating Library, creating the largest network of literature in the city. By managing and keeping this library system, these women naturally began influencing and mediating the kinds of books New Yorkers had had access to.

In the nineteenth century, Christian reformers targeted these efforts, attempting to censor books and publications they saw as immoral. However, the women who ran these libraries resisted control, and still found ways to circulate literature on controversial topics of the time. The exhibit highlights how censorship often sparks greater public support for the ideas censors seek to suppress, a trend we still see to this day.

Visitors can explore preserved texts, photographs, and relics from New York City’s first librarians through November 30, 2025.

“The Schagen Letter”

Four centuries ago, Manhattan was sold by its indigenous Lenape inhabitants to Dutch colonialists for a mere twenty-four dollars, as documented in the renowned Schagen Letter on display at the New York Historical Society. While today it's challenging to find a meal in Manhattan for under twenty-four dollars, this transaction laid the groundwork for the modern city of New York.

Yet, for the Lenape people, this was not a genuine sale but rather an imposition of colonial dominance, stripping them of their ancestral rights. Adjacent to the Schagen Letter, visitors can find a contemporary letter from Lenape leaders (slide four), discrediting the Schagen sale. They assert that this transaction does not define them and that their intrinsic bond with “Manahahtáanung” remains unbreakable.

Take a moment to honor the ancestors and history of New York by viewing the Schagen letter at the New York Historical Society until the exhibit closes on July 14th!

Celebrate Citizenship

This week I was thrilled to attend the citizenship ceremony for my sister. While it's always thrilling to watch foreign nationals naturalize and become US citizens, especially when it’s my sister, this was a special ceremony at the New York Historical Society with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg administering the citizenship oath. Justice Ginsburg, who will mark her 25th year on the bench in August, addressed the 201 new citizens from fifty-nine countries speaking of her father's own immigration story, and said: “We are a nation made strong by people like you.” Acknowledging that the US is an imperfect union, she encouraged the new citizens to vote and foster unity. “We have made huge progress, but the work of perfection is scarcely done,” she said. Yusif Abubakari, born in Ghana, tells the New York Times. “She is supposed to be at home but she came because of me, because of us, and that made me feel so special today. May God bless her and give her more life and prosperity.” My sentiments exactly. Oh yes, and congratulations to my sister!