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 Plan of the City of New York in North America

Surrounding 85 Broad Street in downtown Manhattan is a very cool piece of artwork inspired by "The Plan of the City of New York in North America,” the 1767 map created by British military officer Bernard Ratzer from 1766 to 1767. The map, designed by FXCollaborative, made by Jessup Manufacturing Company, and printed by National Marker, is made of a proprietary material called Asphalt Art, and covers 32,000 square feet, according to Untapped Cities. Notable highlights on the map include Stadt Huys (the first City Hall in Manhattan) and Lovelace Tavern, the architectural remnants of which have been preserved and are visible through a glass covering nearby. You can take a walk around old New York (without a time machine) through the fall.