News Articles

Objects from the NYSM Shaker Collection

From the Collections: Shakers and the New York State Museum 

Published January 17, 2024 | Social History

2024 marks the 250th anniversary of the Shakers coming to colonial America. The Shakers were a small sect of Quakers that started in Manchester, England in 1747. They were formally known as the United Society of Believers in Christ’s First and Second Appearing. Because of the zealous fervor...

Spiller Newspaper Weight Collection

Spiller Newspaper Paperweight Collection

Published December 7, 2023 | Cultural History

Mortimer Spiller was born in 1922 to Russian immigrants who settled in LeRoy, New York. Spiller’s college training in business and advertising was interrupted by service in World War II. After the war, he was eager to complete his education and put his degree into practice. In 1947, while...

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) The Atlantic Cable Projectors, 1895

The Atlantic Cable Projectors (1895) returns to the New York State Museum

Published December 5, 2023 | Cultural History

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906)
The Atlantic Cable Projectors, 1895...

Juneteenth Across New York State

Celebrating Juneteenth in New York

Published June 12, 2023 | History

Although slavery in New York State was abolished on July 4, 1827, the institution of slavery in the United States did not officially come to an end for another thirty-eight years. On June 19, 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and two months after the end of the Civil...

Madam C.J. Walker’s Glossine hair paste and an advertisement (NYSM Collection H-2010.45.30-31)

From the Collections: Madam C.J. Walker’s Glossine Hair Paste and Advertisement

Published February 22, 2023 | Social History

Madam C. J. Walker (1867–1919) was a successful entrepreneur, businesswoman, philanthropist, and social and political activist during a time when both African Americans and women were not common in the world of business. In 1906, she started her own hair product business specifically for African...

Erie Canal, double locks in Rexford, NY

Transporting Grains on the Erie Canal

Published October 25, 2022 | Economic History

On October 26, 1825, the Erie Canal officially opened from Albany to Buffalo. The canal was an immediate success: shipping costs plummeted, and new services and goods became widely available. Cheap, reliable transportation opened new markets to farmers and businessmen, creating a commercial...

Singer industrial sewing machine, ca. 1972, collection of the NYSM.

New Acquisition: Singer Industrial Sewing Machine, ca. 1972

Published September 14, 2022 | Social History

One sewing machine, two stories:

Some artifacts in our collection hold the stories of multiple individuals. This ca. 1972 Singer industrial sewing machine, recently donated to the NYSM, belonged to Tsui Ping Chu, an immigrant from Hong Kong. Chu used it in her home to sew clothing for her...

Play Furniture, 1960

New Acquisition: Play Furniture

Published July 25, 2022 | Cultural History

This set of child-sized furniture was a birthday gift to the donor, Mary Alice Cole, from her parents, in the 1960s. She recalled many families in Watervliet, NY, having play houses in the back yard, where “playing house” was a popular activity for girls. 

Through much of the 20th century...

Stoneware detail

New Acquisition: Stoneware Water Cooler

Published May 18, 2022 | Cultural History

This impressive stoneware water cooler is incised and impressed with decorations that depict the celebration of the Great National Jubilee of the Order of the Sons of Temperance, an organization founded in New York City in 1842.

Temperance iconography is portrayed throughout the design....

Handkerchief by Marion Weeber, 1937

New Acquisition: Souvenir Handkerchief Designed by Marion Weeber

Published March 14, 2022 | Cultural History

This screen-printed linen handkerchief was designed by Marion Weeber (1905-2000) in honor of King George VI’s coronation in England on March 8, 1937. It was manufactured by Burmel and sold at finer department stores. The handkerchief was framed and given as a gift to one of Weeber’s friends who...

Clufffalo: Art Omi, 2017 by Charles Cough

Now on View: Charles Clough's "Clufffalo: Art Omi"

Published January 10, 2022 | Cultural History

A gift to the NYSM last year, Charles Clough's monumental painting—an awe-inspiring 9 x 16 feet—has just been installed in New York Hall. To create it, Clough invited visitors to Art Omi, a contemporary art gallery and sculpture park in Ghent,...

Decorative Stoneware

New Acquisition: Decorative Stoneware

Published July 1, 2021 | Cultural History

Since 1996, Adam Weitsman has donated over 500 pieces of decorated stoneware to the New York State Museum.  While only a portion of these are on view in the galleries, this collection receives lots of attention from researchers and other museums requesting loans.  Here are two new pieces...

Nevin’s Street, 1974 Oil on linen 23 ¾ x 19 ¼ in. H-2020.22.3

New Acquisitions: Artwork by Ken Rush

Published April 8, 2021 | Cultural History

The NYSM History Collection recently acquired a collection of paintings by Ken Rush (b.1948). Rush divides his time between Vermont and Brooklyn producing rural and urban subjects that move between the realistic and the abstract.  In this group of quiet, almost haunting subway paintings, he...

Let’s Vote, Big Apple!, 2020 Emily Ree Digital print on card stock, 11 in. x 17 in.

New Acquisition: Voter Campaign Poster by Emily Ree

Published February 11, 2021 | Social History

Since 2017, LinkNYC Wi-Fi stations have been used to display the work of local artists on digital billboards across New York City. Hudson Valley comic artist Emily Ree’s work was one of 40 submissions chosen for the “Visualize the Vote” campaign in the fall of 2020. The project was a...

Harriet Alonso - My Autobiographical Bag  

New Acquisition: Harriet Alonso Needlework

Published December 7, 2020 | Social History

Harriet Alonso began working with embroidery in 1974. Influenced by the imagery of political posters, she soon used the medium to express her ideas about the causes she was passionate about, including women’s rights,...

1947 Tavern Television

New Acquisition: 1947 Tavern Television

Published August 4, 2016 | Social History

The State Museum recently acquired a fully-restored 1947 Tavern Television made by the United States Television Manufacturing Corporation (USTMC). Made in New York City, this unit is believed to be one of only five known sets left in the United States and the only one that is in operating...

Liquor Chest

New Acquisition: Liquor Chest Used by NYS Soldiers in American Revolution and War of 1812

Published February 29, 2016 | Political History

A liquor chest used by soldiers in the American Revolution and the War of 1812 was recently donated to the New York State Museum. The chest was donated by the descendants of Captain Abraham Swartwout (an officer on General George Washington's staff during the American Revolution) and Brigadier...

old petition

Museum Adds 1917 Women's Suffrage Petitions to Collection

Published June 26, 2015 | Social History

The Museum recently acquired a series of 1917 Franklin County women's suffrage petitions from Jean Kubaryk, a teacher at North Warren Central School District. Ms. Kubaryk had been displaying the petitions in her classroom for years, but decided to donate the petitions to the Museum so they can...

Frog lady costume mask

Human Frogs in the History Collections!

Published December 9, 2013 | Cultural History

The New York State Museum’s history collections contain two frog costumes for humans and one frog costume for a dog. These costumes belonged to Harry and Friede DeMarlo, a vaudeville couple that once played circuses and vaudeville houses all over the world, ultimately retiring to a farm in...