Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker Ric Burns' Homage to the New-York Historical Society online
Directed by renowned documentary filmmaker Ric Burns, A Celebration features interviews with those who know the New-York Historical Society and its resources well--Martin Scorsese, David McCullough, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Society's president and CEO, Louise Mirrer and co-Chair of the Board, Nancy Newcomb.
Their interviews encapsulate the reasons the institution is considered the place that preserves the national memory for us all. A Celebration covers the Society's famous collections—John James Audubon's watercolors and the Hudson River School paintings--as well as less known treasures; historians describe its treasures from long ago—the bucket Dewitt Clinton used to open the Erie Canal, the lottery wheel that in 1863 started one of the worst civil disturbances in American history--as well as recent holdings-- pieces of an airplane from September 11, 2001 or what is left of a safety deposit box that was melted in the towers or even dust collected from the World Trade Center.
"Years go by and we keep going back to the New-York Historical Society for some historical reference," says filmmaker Scorsese, who found the institution incalculable in its importance to the making of The Age of Innocence and The Gangs of New York.
"This society was founded by people who were trying to explain to this new country what it was, what it could be, what it ought to strive for," says George Washington University professor James O. Horton. "Generations later, we are still asking those questions. And the information contained in this building is critical to helping us answer those questions."
The New-York Historical Society is "the custodian for national treasures," proclaims historian David McCullough.
"The history of New York is indeed the history of America," says Harvard professor and N-YHS trustee Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
"I am always impressed that there are people at every historical moment who realize that history is being made in their own time, and that if they don't collect it, future generations will be poorer for it," says Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society. "My ambition for the future of this institution is for this to be the center for the discussion of history."