“This is a landmark exhibition,” said Emory University professor Leslie Harris at a press preview Thursday at the New-York Historical Society, marking the opening of a major show devoted to slavery in New York from the 1600s through state emancipation in 1827. She said the show builds on decades of previous scholars’ work. Summarizing a few points, she said African slavery was foundational to this country (all 13 colonies had slaves) as well as to the New York economy (41% of New York households in the Colonial period owned slaves).

The exhibition, Ms. Harris said, helps to dispel the “simplistic dualism” of thinking of a free North and slaveholding South. The reigning story or dominant trope in the 20th century, she said, is conveyed by images such as those in the film “Gone With the Wind.” Regarding slavery in the North, she said, “This story got lost.” As Mayor Dinkins likewise added, “We don’t think of New York and slavery. We think of the South.”

NYHS vice president Linda Ferber said the society’s collections were the main source of materials for an exhibition that will help to “reconsider an important, complex, and generally unknown narrative.” Richard Rabinowitz, president of the American History Workshop and a principal organizer of the show, said a challenge was “how could we get the voices” of slaves in telling the story. The show uses sculptures, filmed actors, and interactive technology to bring their story to life. “We want to bring you face to face with real documents,” he said. Among those documents is the bill of sale of a 15-year-old girl, a printed form used “the way we sign a lease agreement” today.

Mr. Rabinowitz said the show explores slavery, which was part of global trans-Atlantic trade. “It’s a piece of our history that every New Yorker should know,” a member of a board of scholars advising the exhibition, Eric Foner, said. At the exhibition opening Thursday evening, he was speaking with historian Adele Oltman, who develops school curricula at the History Channel. She has a forthcoming book, “Sacred Mission, Worldly Ambition: Black Christian Nationalism in the Age of Jim Crow” (University of North Carolina Press).

Also at the exhibition opening was Landmarks Preservation Commission chair Robert Tierney; Boston College historian David Quigley; artist LeRoy Neiman; and Burt Sugar, whose book “Boxing’s Greatest Fighters” (Lyons) is coming out in December.

Also present was Rodney Leon of Aarris Architects, whose design was selected for the African Burial Ground Memorial to be built downtown. He was talking with Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, coordinator of interpretive programs at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Downstairs, remarks were given near the display of the Emancipation Proclamation, handwritten by President Lincoln and on exhibit through October 16. Mr. Rabinowitz told the crowd that in the theater “you develop your production” with the cast, but in the museum world, you don’t have your cast until opening night. The cast he was referring to were the museum crowds who arrive to see the exhibition.

“See all these people here?” George Washington University professor James Oliver Horton said, when asked about its importance. The chief historian of the exhibition was gesturing toward a packed floor of hundreds of attendees filling the galleries. He said the exhibition afforded an opportunity to discuss the subject of slavery: “We need to be able to talk about it, if we’re ever going to put it behind us.”

University of Maryland professor Ira Berlin told the Knickerbocker, “This is a central part of New York history” and the show marked the “first major museum exhibit on slavery in the North.” Colgate University historian Graham Hodges added, “It’s long overdue.” He is writing a book on New York City cab drivers as well as a biography of black abolitionist David Ruggles.

A historian at the Schomburg Center, Christopher Moore, said it was a remarkable exhibition, and signaled a “renaissance” whereby historians are carefully re-examining this subject and “letting the chips fall where they may.” He said while the exhibit shows victimization of blacks, it also demonstrates how they helped to build this country.

NYHS trustee David Jones, president of the Community Service Society, said the show marked “a wonderful evolution” of the New-York Historical Society. For many years, it was largely focused on elites, he said. The show was a logical step for an institution that “wants to be relevant in the city” with programming embracing the history of all New Yorkers.

Ms. Harris said such an exhibition could teach us about the multiracial world we live in. There’s no such thing as a black library or white library, or a black or white exhibition, she noted.

gshapiro@nysun.com