Making History Through Donations
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Giving money can be a way of becoming part of history. At the New-York Historical Society, which is currently looking for more than $90 million to fund a physical and intellectual expansion, giving money can be a way of ensuring the vitality of historical inquiry in the first place.
The society’s slogan is “history matters.” Its library, archives, art collection, and exhibitions help it fulfill its mission of bringing history to life.
At the black-tie gathering at the society on Friday, part of a two-day celebration for high-level donors who are members of the Chairman’s Council, participants not only toasted history, they learned and discussed it.
“You will be the first to hear this Madeleine,” author Christopher Hitchens said to about 150 guests gathered at the cocktail reception. He was introducing a newly discovered letter written in 1801 by Thomas Paine to Robert Livingston, which was read by actor Jim Dale, famous for narrating the Harry Potter series on audiotape.
At dinner, the society presented its American History Book Prize to an emeritus professor of history at Oxford University and at the University of California, Davis, Daniel Walker Howe, for his book “What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848” (Oxford).
“I learned to love history at my father’s lap,” Mr. Howe said.
A professor emeritus of history at the University of Chicago, Neil Harris, gave a keynote address about the increasing overlap in the fields of history and art history, and the increasing responsibility of museums to teach history in a highly visual culture.
The proceedings on Saturday included presentations by Henry Ward Beecher biographer Debby Applegate and Lincoln historians Harold Holzer and Andrew Ferguson. The finale: a preview of a documentary about General Tecumseh by Ric Burns.
The event raised $1.7 million for the society. The Chairman’s Council is led by Pam Schafler. Membership in the council starts at $5,000 annually.
The chairman of the board of the New-York Historical Society, Roger Hertog, an owner of The New York Sun, and the president and CEO of the society, Louise Mirrer, presented each guest with a brochure outlining the society’s strategic vision for the future.
agordon@nysun.com
