Virtual Presentation: Picturing the Lower East Side
Event Details:
Presented live on Zoom
Between 1892 and 1924, 12 million people passed through Ellis Island; two-thirds of them went immediately to Manhattan's Lower East Side. Some stayed just a few weeks before moving on; others settled and became a part of the fabric of New York City. For New Yorkers who didn't live in the area-and for generations since-the primary experience of this "melting pot" has been visual.
Photographs, newsreels, images in newspapers and books, and ephemera such as postcards all create a narrative of the Lower East Side that is at once revealing and-paradoxically-often obscures the real story. In this talk, which uses the current New York Historical exhibition Stirring the Melting Pot as its centerpiece, historian James Nevius will look at how our ideas of the immigrant experience have been shaped by visual media. Examining the work of photographers like Lewis Hine and Jacob Riis, illustrated newspapers such as Harper's and Frank Leslie's, and caricatures and drawings by Thomas Nast, Nevius will explore 19th- and early-20th-century attitudes toward the changing face of New York City.
Author and historian James Nevius (Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City and Footprints in New York) frequently speaks on New York City topics. Most recently at the New York Historical, he led a lecture entitled “New York and the Art Students League."
Location:
Presented live on Zoom
Ticket Instructions:
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Chair's Council: Chair's Council members may request complimentary tickets. To learn more, email chairscouncil@nyhistory.org.
Advance registration is required to guarantee a spot. All sales are final; refunds and exchanges are not permitted. Programs and dates are subject to change. Management reserves the right to refuse admission to latecomers.
Please note: Your ticket to the lecture also includes access to a recording of the talk on Vimeo, so even if you miss the talk when it is presented live, you will be able to access it at your convenience.
