Calendar of Events

All Virtual Events are recorded and posted to the Museum’s YouTube page.

June

Thursdays in June and July, 5 to 8 p.m.
Summer Evenings in the Garden

Join us for an informal evening to celebrate summer with light refreshments in the garden. Garden admission is free, enter via Manuel Plaza. No reservations.

Live music and guided tours on select evenings at 6 p.m., reservations recommended for house tours: $20, MHM Members free.

Thursday, June 5, 6 p.m. – Guided House Tour – Purchase tour tickets.
Thursday, June 12, 6 p.m. – Guided House Tour – Purchase tour tickets.
Thursday, June 26, 6 p.m. – Live Music with Jazz Flutist Cheryl Pyle – Free, no reservations.

Friday, June 6, 6:30 p.m.
In the Spirit of Science: The Stargate Project – Army Psychics & “Remote Viewing”
Virtual Program

From 1977 to 1995, a secret unit of the Army – the Stargate Project – tested what is known as “remote viewing,” working with psychics to try to “see” things happening at a distance. Although Stargate has been disbanded, police departments around the country regularly consult psychics for help in their investigations. Is there any validity to “remote viewing”? Can you learn to do it? Join Dan, Lee, and Matilda as they explore the evidence and possibilities in this next installment of Spirit of Science. Free (suggested donation $10); register for “In the Spirit of Science.”

In the Spirit of Science is a monthly video podcast on topics related to ongoing paranormal research at the Merchant’s House. Using the scientific method, with unbiased observation and systematic experimentation, this research is building a better understanding of the strange and fascinating phenomena experienced by staff, volunteers, and visitors at “Manhattan’s Most Haunted House” (The New York Times). Led by neuroscientist Dr. Lee, thanatologist and MHM volunteer Matilda Garrido, and Dan Sturges, founder of Sturges Paranormal, who appears on the Travel Channel’s weekly series, Paranormal Caught on Camera.

 

Saturday, June 7, 3 p.m.
“Where Shadows Linger:” An Afternoon Ghost Tour

On this afternoon tour, we’ll explore some of the spookiest true tales of ghostly sightings at the Merchant’s House, as well as highlights from our ongoing research into strange and supernatural occurrences at the house. Join us to discover why The New York Times calls us “Manhattan’s Most Haunted House.” 60 minutes, strictly limited capacity. $20; $10 MHM Members and children ages 8-12. (Children under 8 are not permitted.) Purchase tickets for Afternoon Ghost Tour.

The Merchant’s House will be CLOSED on Thursday, June 19, for Juneteenth.

Saturday, June 21, 1:30 p.m.
Walking Tour: The Tredwells’ World of 19th Century Noho

With the 1825 opening of the Erie Canal, the city’s economy boomed and wealthy merchant families escaped the increasing noise, congestion, and commercialization of the seaport area to move “uptown,” to what is now modern day NoHo, then an exclusive residential enclave. Join us as we explore the Tredwells’ elite neighborhood and discover what life was like for the wealthy merchant class in the mid-19th century. $20, FREE for Members. Reservations strongly recommended. Purchase walking tour tickets.

Walking tours are 90 minutes and meet in Manuel Plaza (next door to the Museum), at 35 East 4th Street.

Thursday, June 26, 6 p.m.
Servant of Beauty: Landmarks, Secret Love, and the Unimagined Life of an Unsung New York Hero
In-Person Book Talk with Anthony Wood
Co-sponsored by Village Preservation

Join us for a presentation by Anthony Wood on his new book, Servant of Beauty: Landmarks, Secret Love, and the Unimagined Life of an Unsung New York Hero.

This is the true story of the interplay between the two all-consuming passions of this unheralded civic champion: his love of beauty in the public realm that would forever change New York City, and his love for a younger man that would forever change Bard. Albert Sprague Bard (1866-1963) fought for cities to have the right to protect their beauty, propelling him into a David versus Goliath combat with Robert Moses and paving the way, after four decades of advocacy, for New York City’s Landmarks Law (1965).

Today the law protects over 37,000 buildings, mostly in historic neighborhoods, and it has inspired cities across the nation. Bard was delighted and disappointed by his two enduring loves: one for a troubled younger man, the other for the beauty of New York City. Persevering against the odds, resilient in the face of disappointment, and a man who became embroiled in a spy scandal at the same time as he served as a stand-in father to three, Bard is an uncelebrated renaissance man and civic hero whose story will inspire and inform generations of citizens who continue his battle to preserve the beauty of the places they love.

Free (registration required); register for “Servant of Beauty” Book Talk.
Location: LGBT Community Center, 208 West 13th Street

Anthony C. Wood is a nationally recognized preservationist who started as a preservation advocate in New York City and has gone on to work for, found, serve on the board of, and chair preservation organizations including Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, the Preservation League of New York State, and Partners for Sacred Places, winning awards such as the 2020 New York Landmarks Conservancy Lucy G. Moses Award for Preservation Leadership. He has served on the adjunct faculty at Columbia University and he founded the non-profit New York Preservation Archive Project, whose mission is to document, preserve, and celebrate the history of preservation in New York. Wood is also the award-winning author of Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmark (Routledge, 2008), and has been featured in several documentaries.

Current Exhibitions

Exhibitions are included with regular museum admission.

On display through August 10
Tredwell Costume Collection: Sarah Ann Tredwell’s Wedding Dress (MHM 2002.0849) and Jewelry (MHM 2002.1203), 1872
Sarah Ann Tredwell, a cousin of the Tredwells who lived in this house, wore this silk taffeta dress with orange blossom jewelry when she married in 1872. After the Civil War, wedding gowns made by the house of Worth in Paris were the height of fashion. They were the ultimate status symbol and were widely copied if an original was not in the budget; the excellent work of fine New York City dressmakers rivaled what could be purchased in Paris, and did not necessitate a trip overseas. Sarah Ann’s wedding jewelry, recently conserved, feature wax and silk orange blossoms. Orange blossoms were popularized for weddings by Queen Victoria, when she wore them at her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840. A tropical flower, they were difficult and expensive to obtain, so artifial blossoms like those on display were common.

Ongoing
Manhattan’s First Landmark
This year, New Yorkers celebrate the 60th anniversary of the City’s groundbreaking Landmarks Law signed on April 19, 1965. The Merchant’s House, because of its remarkable state of preservation and importance in the history of New York City, played a significant role in the landmarking movement from its very beginning. Only 20 buildings were designated at the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s initial meeting in September 1965; the Merchant’s House was the first in the borough of Manhattan. Original documents, photographs, correspondence, and press clippings tell the story of how preserving the Merchant’s House was recognized as critical, from its inception as a museum in the 1930s, through the start of the landmarking movement in the 1950s, to the passage of the Landmarks Law in April 1965 and the designation of the House at the first meeting of the Commission in September.


Ongoing
“Finest Surviving:” Ornamental Plasterwork at the Merchant’s House Museum
The 1832 Merchant’s House is one of only 120 buildings in New York City distinguished as an exterior – and interior – landmark. Its intact original ornamental plaster work is considered the “finest surviving” from the period. Learn how the plaster walls, ceilings, and ornamentation in the Merchant’s House were created in the 19th century. On display, original 1832 plaster fragments, as well as molds and plaster casts created by sculptor and ornamental plasterer David Flaharty, who used the same methods as the early 19th century artisans during a house-wide restoration in the 1970s.

 

VIRTUAL EXHIBITIONS | ONLINE OFFERINGS