Education
Discover dynamic education programs and curriculum resources about the history of our city, state, and nation.
Education Mission
The New-York Historical Society Education Division provides dynamic programming and curriculum resources for students and teachers in New York and beyond. Historical study sparks curiosity and creativity, promotes cultural understanding, and fosters an empowered citizenry to strengthen our democracy. Our staff of passionate professionals draws on our world-renowned collections to engage learners of all ages in the study of our collective past.
Education programs are made possible through endowments established by
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Hearst Foundations
The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation
Public funds are provided by
Institute of Museum and Library Services
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council
Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer
New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature
Education programs at New-York Historical receive generous support from
The Achelis and Bodman Foundation
The Edith and Frances Mulhall Achilles Memorial Fund
Acorn Hill Foundation
Altman Foundation
Amazon
Barker Welfare Foundation
AT&T
Best Buy
Maggie & Robert Boroujerdi
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Con Edison
Deutsche Bank
Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation
Mark and Lori Fife
Henry Nias Foundation
Alan Shuch and Leslie Himmel
JPMorgan Chase Foundation
Keith Haring Foundation
IBM
Susan and Robert E. Klein
Caroline Lowndes Foundation
Ann Lozman
Dan W. Lufkin
Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation
The Michael Tuch Foundation
Sandra and Lowell Mintz
Consulate General of the Netherlands
New York Community Trust
Onassis Foundation USA
Heidi and Richard Ong
Pine Tree Foundation of New York
The Pinkerton Foundation
Jean Reid
Denice Rein
Richard Reiss
Rice Family Foundation
Sara Lee Schupf
The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts
Robie Spector
Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Gillian V. and Robert Steel
Thompson Family Foundation
Tiger Baron Foundation
The Waterfall Family Foundation
Rachael Wells
Winston Foundation
Marie and John Zimmermann Fund
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Syllabi
Three English Revolutions
Stanford, CA Seminar
Professors Eric Nelson and Michael McConnell
July 7-12, 2019
Click here for a PDF of the Syllabus
Antislavery Constitutionalism
NYC Seminar
Professors James Oakes and Sean Wilentz
February 14 - March 28, 2019
Click here for a PDF of the Syllabus
The Constitutional History of Anglo-American Empire
Standford, CA Seminar
Professors Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf
July 8-13, 2018
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Mothers and the Constitution
NYC Seminar
Professors Alice Kessler-Harris and Carol Sanger
October 6 - November 10
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William Howard Taft and Charles Evans Hughes; the Travails and Contradictions of Progressivism within the Law: 1908-1941
NYC Seminar
Professors Daniel R. Ernst and Jonathan Lurie
February 9 - March 23, 2018
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Free Press
DC Seminar
Professor Garrett Epps
September 12 - November 21, 2017
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The Lochner Era
Stanford, CA summer seminar
Professor Barry Cushman
July 9-14, 2017
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Democratic Constitutionalism
New York Historical Society
Professors Robert Post, Reva Siegel
January 13, 27, February 17, 24, 2017
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Dissent and the Supreme Court
The George Washington University Law School
Professor Melvin I. Urofsky
September 12, 26, October 10, 24, November 7, and 21, 2016
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Thomas Jefferson's Democratic Constitutionalism
New York Historical Society
Professors Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf
Sessions: September 30, October 14, 21, and November 11, 2016
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Capital as a Constitutional Issue: Land and Money, 1776-1900
New York Historical Society
Professors Elizabeth Blackmar and Christine Desan
Sessions: March 18, April 1, April 15, April 29, 2016
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Summer workshop, Stanford 2016
James Oakes and William Wiecek
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Past Semester Seminars
Who Would Have Thought. . .The Unlikely Legal History of the 14th Amendment, 1866–1890
Instructor: Jonathan Lurie
October 5, 12, 19, and 26, November 2 and 9, 2006
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Why Judicial Biography Counts
Instructor: Melvin I. Urofsky
February 7 and 21, March 7 and 21, April 11 and 18, 2007
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The Presidency and the Supreme Court in the Age of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Instructor: William E. Leuchtenburg
October l, 8, 15, 22, 29, and November 5, 2007
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The People and the Judges: Constitutional Politics and Judicial Review in American History
Instructor: Michael Les Benedict
March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, and April 7, 2008
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The Rights Revolution in the Twentieth Century
Instructor: Mark Tushnet
October 6, 13, 20, 27, November 3, and November 10, 2008
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The Constitutional Law of Presidential-Congressional Relations
Instructor: Richard Pious
March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, and April 6, 2009
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Lincoln's Constitution
Instructors: Akhil Amar and James Oakes
September 17, 24, and October 1, 15, 22, and 29, 2009
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The Constitution and the Economy
Instructors: James Surowiecki and John Fabian Witt
January 19, 26, February 2, 16, 23, and March 2, 2010
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Politics and History of Judicial Review
Instructor: Professor Keith E. Whittington
February 25, March 4, 11, 18, 25, and April 1, 2010.
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Terrorism: Constitutional, Historical and Social Science Perspectives
Instructors: Professors Philip C. Bobbitt and Richard M. Pious
September 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, and October 5, 2010
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The Hughes Court
Instructor: Professor Mark Tushnet
September 22, 29, October 6, 20, 29, and November 3, 2010
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The Constitution: A Cosmopolitan Examination
Instructor: Thomas Bender and David Golove
October 6, 13, 27, November 3, 10, 17, 2011
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Rights in Conflict: Reproductive Freedom
Instructors: Professors Linda Greenhouse & Reva Siegel
January 20, 27, February 3, 10, 17, and 24, 2011
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The Revolutionary Origins of American Constitutionalism
Instructors: Professors R.B. Bernstein & Pauline Maier
February 17 - March 24, 2012
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Equal Justice Under Law: The Enduring Legacy of the Warren Court, 1953-1969
Instructor: Stephen Wermiel
February 9 and 23, March 1, 8, 22, and 29. Apply by January 15, 2012
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Union, Race and Nation: Creating the Federal Republic, 1776-1801
September 13, 20, 27; October 4, 25; November 1, 2012
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THE LOCHNER ERA 1880–1940
January 10, 17, 24, and 31, February 7, and 14, 2013
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The Supreme Court in the Era of Holmes and Brandeis
Spring 2013
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Constituting Federalism
February 2014
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Administrative Law in the Twentieth Century
Fall 2014
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Slavery and the Laws of War
Fall 2014
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How Slavery Killed the Constitution
Winter/Spring 2015
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The Pre and Post-1865 Constitution
Mark A. Graber
Fall 2015
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Reform, Reaction, and Constitutionalism in 20th-Century America
Hendrik Hartog and William E. Nelson
Fall 2015
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Past Summer Workshops
New Approaches to Teaching the Constitution
Instructor: Sandra F. VanBurkleo
July 8–14, 2007
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The Constitutional Convention
Instructor: Sally Hadden
July 6–11, 2008
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The Constitutional Legacy of the American Revolution
Instructor: Christian Fritz
August 3–7, 2009
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Processes of Legal and Constitutional Change
Instructors: Professors Steven Teles and David Fontana
July 11–16, 2010
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Assessing the US Constitution: Twenty-First-Century Responses to Eighteenth-Century Assumptions
Instructor: Professor Sanford Levinson
July 2012
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Institute for Constitutional History Summer Seminar on Embedded Histories in Constitutional Argument, Stanford Law School
Instructor: Robert W. Gordon
July 14-18, 2014
Click here for a PDF of the Syllabus
