Join us for a walk through Prospect Park, where we'll discover lost features and why their disappearance matters. “Finding Prospect Park,” a historical discovery tour sponsored by the Victorian Society New York, will take you through the northern half of Prospect Park, Olmsted and Vaux’s masterpiece. A brief introduction to the park’s history and design […]

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 […]

In Knickerbocker’s History of New York, first published on Saint Nicholas Day 1809, Washington Irving introduced the Dutch Saint Nicholas as patron saint and folk hero, changed his appearance, and manipulated his character traits. This presentation will follow the Nicholas celebration from its early European origin through its arrival in New Netherland and continued observance […]

Scholar Geoff Wisner will lecture on the Civil War diaries of George Templeton Strong, which offer unique insights and first-person encounters with Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Edwin M. Stanton, and others—told with Strong’s wicked humor. Beginning in 1835, at age 15, George Templeton Strong started writing in his diary, which totaled about four million words […]

Join the Museum of the City of New York, The Heckscher Museum of Art, and the Victorian Society New York for an exploration of 19th-century sculpture and public space through the work and life of Emma Stebbins and her partner, actor Charlotte Cushman, centering Angel of the Waters at Bethesda Fountain as both a monumental artwork […]

Lockwood-Mathews mansion is a National Historic Landmark and one of the earliest and most significant Second Empire Style country houses in the United States. Located in Norwalk, Connecticut, Lockwood-Mathews recently re-opened after being closed for a two-year renovation project. VSNY attendees have been offered a rare opportunity to visit the museum before public hours, allowing […]

The Merchant’s House Museum is a restored 1832 late-Federal and Greek Revival landmark on the federal, state, and city level. It was the first building designated in the borough of Manhattan following the passing of the Landmarks Preservation law in 1965, and is one of only 120 interior landmarks—of those, the Merchant’s House is one […]

Join the Victorian Society New York for our annual Margot Gayle Benefit Tour. This year we are privileged to visit the historic National Fine Art Foundry Building. A private residence since 1977, the brownstone was erected in 1848 and was used for everything from a boarding house to a piano factory. It was named the […]

As part of our Emerging Scholars program, the Victorian Society New York supports scholarship about every aspect of 19th-century and early 20th-century culture, including architecture, literature, theater, fine and decorative art, immigration, economics, politics, education, gender roles, reform movements, music, fashion, and food. Topics for recent event winners have included globetrotting 19th-century cabinetmakers and early […]

As part of our Emerging Scholars program, the Victorian Society New York supports scholarship about every aspect of 19th-century and early 20th-century culture, including architecture, literature, theater, fine and decorative art, immigration, economics, politics, education, gender roles, reform movements, music, fashion, and food. Topics for recent event winners have included globetrotting 19th-century cabinetmakers and early […]

A special evening lecture and reception with Professor Richard Guy Wilson, Director Emeritus of the VSA’s Newport Summer School The Victorian Society in America and The Alumni Association of the Victorian Society Summer Schools are delighted to invite you to attend a lecture by Professor Richard Guy Wilson, whose topic, "The Colonial Revival: The American […]

In this program, based on his book, Lightning Beneath the Sea, author James M. Tabor will tell the thrilling story of the 19th century’s Apollo moonshot: an Atlantic-spanning telegraph cable that changed the world. In 1854, the American entrepreneur Cyrus Field set out to lay a 2,000-mile telegraph cable across the bottom of the Atlantic […]

Join the Victorian Society New York at the 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting & Awards Ceremony! All members and their guests are invited to join us at our Annual Meeting & Awards Ceremony, where we will vote in new board members, showcase this year’s award winners, and hear our reports for 2025–26. We will meet at […]

The New York Times’s Clipping Archive, known colloquially as “the Morgue,” is the official collection of the newspaper’s historical clippings, photographic prints, microfilm records, periodicals library, and more, all housed in banker’s boxes, hundreds of filling cabinet drawers, and bookshelves alike. The Morgue’s collection dates as far back at 1870, when articles were clipped daily […]

Join the Victorian Society and author Stephanie Azzarone to explore New York’s iconic fountains in person. Azzarone has just published her widely acclaimed Fabulous Fountains of New York and will give an in depth and fascinating walking tour. New York’s fountains are more than just decorative features—they are historical landmarks, cultural icons, and dynamic works […]

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the facades of many, if not most, residential and commercial buildings in America’s cities were crowned with sheet-metal cornices. These offered certain practical advantages over stone or brick cornices—for example, they were lighter and safer to install—but the easy workability of sheet metal also allowed for greater […]

Margaret Holmes, director of the Van Cortlandt House Museum, and John Carini, volunteer and collections specialist, will lead a private tour of the exhibition Unfolded Ornament: Fans from the Collection, which focuses on newly discovered hand fans in the museum's collection. The exhibition is currently on display at the Headquarters of the National Society of […]

Author Joseph H. Larnerd will discuss his new book, Undercut: Cut Glass in Working-Class Life during the Long Gilded Age, on the medium of cut glass—very much in fashion in the 19th century—and the labors required to make and maintain these dazzling artifacts. How did workers experience cut glass during its cultural heyday in the […]

The Victorian Society New York, along with Fine Objects Society, will host a social mixer for Young Victorians. Young Victorian is a membership level through VSNY for members 40 and under—become a member. Fine Objects Society is an association of forward-thinking professionals and enthusiasts who share a devotion to fine handcrafted historic objects. Both Societies […]