Robert Caro's The Power Broker at 50
This special installation celebrates the monumental work that has been called “surely the greatest book ever written about a city.”
This special installation celebrates the monumental work that has been called “surely the greatest book ever written about a city.”
The New York Historical, home of the Robert A. Caro Archive, marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Power Broker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Robert Moses, with the traveling exhibition Robert Caro’s The Power Broker at 50. This behind-the-book exploration presents Caro’s manuscripts, outlines, and notes to himself, revealing a writing practice that has inspired generations of readers.
Fascinated by the use and abuse of power, Robert Caro employed the complex figure of Robert Moses to frame a lifelong investigation of the power structures that shape the lives of individuals and societies. Robert Caro’s The Power Broker at 50 captures not only the subject matter of his research, but also its methodology, most notably his journalistic rigor when interviewing subjects. The exhibition documents the work of a writer whose name is synonymous with dedicated research and whose books have garnered nearly every major literary honor.
Curated by Valerie Paley, Senior Vice President and Sue Ann Weinberg Director of the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library
For more information, please email travelingexhibitions@nyhistory.org
Generous support for Robert Caro's The Power Broker at 50 is provided by The Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund.
Exhibitions at The New York Historical are made possible by Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar Tang, the Saunders Trust for American History, the Evelyn & Seymour Neuman Fund, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. WNET is the media sponsor.
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![John Dickinson, A Declaration [. . .] Setting Forth the Causes and Necessity [of] Taking up Arms (Philadelphia: Bradford, 1775). Photograph by Vincent Dilio. Courtesy of David M. Rubenstein.](https://d17xep5pb0e8k3.cloudfront.net/aJOU2KTt2nPbZ7gB_15-04092025_a_declaration_by_representatives_of_united_colonies_philadelphia_1775_C_001b.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&rect=291%2C1814%2C3548%2C1602&w=2000&h=903&q=80)
