In 1870, Alfred Beach secretly built a subway under Broadway, only to have Boss Tweed find out—and kill it. Matthew Algeo, author of the new book New York's Secret Subway: The Underground Genius of Alfred Beach and the Origins of Mass Transit (Island Press), will tell the incredible true story of New York’s first subway, […]

Scholars and performers will celebrate a new book about Black and Irish competitive dancers in early-19th-century New York City. Stony Brook University professor April Masten, author of the new book Diamond and Juba: The Raucous World of 19th-Century Challenge Dancing (U. of Illinois Press), and other experts will discuss the lives of two antebellum dancers and perform works […]