Celebrating 220 Years, New York’s First Museum Unveils New Wing Renderings and Announces Updated Name and Brand

Tang Wing for American Democracy. The New York Historical Courtesy of Alden Studios for Robert A. M. Stern Architects

“Tang Wing for American Democracy” to Open in 2026 for the United States’ 250th Anniversary 

In celebration of its 220th anniversary, and on the occasion of a naturalization ceremony of 75 new Americans yesterday, Tuesday, October 29, the New-York Historical Society unveiled a new look and a new name—The New York Historical—to support its ongoing mission as the New York destination for American conversations. 

The museum also announced that, courtesy of a generous gift from H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar L. Tang, its new wing dedicated to exhibitions and programming on democracy will open in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026: the Tang Wing for American Democracy. Agnes Hsu-Tang is the chair of the museum’s Board of Trustees who, with her husband, has previously provided gifts of art and sponsored exhibitions and education programming.

Construction for The New York Historical’s new Democracy Wing is underway, and President and CEO Dr. Louise Mirrer announced today that, with a new gift from the Tangs, full funding for building construction has been secured for the $175 million project. The Tang Wing for American Democracy will house the Academy for American Democracy, new gallery spaces and classrooms, and the first home of the American LGBTQ+ Museum. “This fall brings several important milestones for New York’s first museum,” Dr. Mirrer says. “Agnes and Oscar’s most generous gift enables us to greatly expand teaching and celebrating democracy here in New York, our nation’s first capital and the place where George Washington was inaugurated. With our new name and look, we are embracing our responsibility not simply as stewards and storytellers of history but, through our education programs reaching 30,000 students each year, as a contemporary leader in ensuring democracy’s future.” 

Mirrer added that The New York Historical will now begin raising $10 million to support exhibitions and programming for the Tang Wing. Fundraising for the $175 million wing came from a partnership between government and private sources:  $75 million in city, state, and federal support; and $100 million in private philanthropy.

The new name removes the hyphen, which has been in use since the institution’s founding in 1804, when the city’s name was spelled “New-York”. It also eliminates the word “society” to signal that the institution is welcoming to all. The new logo of The New York Historical will include an icon—the letter “H”—that reflects the history of New York state and Indigenous cultures of the United States, and has a prominent crossbar that nods to the legacy of the hyphen and the history of New York City as a bridge of peoples and cultures. 

“New York is modernity’s city of commerce and of art and culture, but as America’s first capital, New York is also the city of modern democracy. Tomorrow, 75 people from all around the world will became citizens at The New York Historical—the very institution that for 220 years has safeguarded evidence of American history in war and peace, with its complex imperfections and multiplicity,” says Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang. “As we welcome these new Americans, we build on a long institutional legacy of engaged citizenry and assiduous examination of American democracy that began as a revolution by some, but endures as an evolution for all. Our work is urgently needed more than ever at this inflection point of our nation’s history.”

Timed to coincide with the celebration of the United States of America’s 250th anniversary, the Tang Wing for American Democracy will house a significantly expanded program for the Academy for American Democracy, The New York Historical’s award-winning educational initiative during which sixth graders spend four full days onsite participating in a program that teaches civics and the importance of voter engagement and addresses critical knowledge gaps in the learning of American history. The number of students served will increase from 3,000 to 30,000 annually in the new wing.

The wing will also provide The New York Historical with additional classrooms, new exhibition galleries, a courtyard, and a rooftop garden terrace with a view of Central Park. The top floor will give The New York Historical the opportunity to provide the first-ever home for the American LGBTQ+ Museum, a collaborative institution that will join The Historical’s Center for Women’s History to amplify the message of civil rights for all Americans. The additional classrooms will provide much needed space for The Dorothy Tapper Goldman Center for Teaching Democracy, an anchor program with opportunities for teachers to come together with scholars and museum professionals for in-depth explorations of history, political theory, and pedagogy.  

The new wing will also be the home of The New York Historical’s MA in Museum Studies program, a trailblazing initiative founded in 2019 with the CUNY School of Professional Studies to diversify the museum workforce and demonstrate the museum’s commitment to fostering equity and inclusion in curatorial education. Admitted students demonstrating financial need are supported by scholarships established by Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang and named President’s Fellows.

A new exhibition hall, the Klingenstein Family Gallery, will showcase the institution’s renowned collection of American art and exciting new exhibitions. Serving as a gateway to the new wing will be the Stuart and Jane Weitzman Shoe Museum, which documents three centuries of history of women’s lives through Stuart Weitzman’s extraordinary collection of historical footwear. The great hall opening onto the new American LGBTQ+ Museum space will be named in honor of trustee Michael Hormel’s late spouse—LGBTQ+ rights advocate, philanthropist, and the first openly gay US Ambassador, the Honorable James C. Hormel. 

A conservation studio for painting and paper will house a state-of-the-art facility to conserve the institution’s exceptional collection of paintings and historical documents. The studio is designed to provide natural light, advanced ventilation, and workspace for The New York Historical’s in-house conservation team, consulting specialists, and conservators-in-training.

The New York Historical’s Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, which holds more than 10 million items, including rare copies of our nation’s foundational documents, will expand to include a renovated library stack storage tower for the rehousing of a substantial part of the offsite collections back on site. 

The American LGBTQ+ Museum’s new home on the fourth floor of the Tang Wing for American Democracy will include two galleries and a roof garden. This collaboration will mark the founding of New York’s newest museum of American history—showcasing LGBTQ+ Americans’ struggles for civil rights and achievements—at New York’s first museum.  

The facade of the new wing will be constructed of granite from Deer Isle, Maine—excavated from the same quarry that provided the stone for The New York Historical’s landmark building 120 years ago—creating an integrated and expanded campus that encompasses the existing landmarked building and a new 70,000 square foot wing, designed by iconic American architect Robert A. M. Stern Architects.   

To create the new name and brand, The New York Historical partnered with Lippincott, the global creative consultancy responsible for shaping some of the world’s most iconic brands since 1943. Lippincott’s partnership with The New York Historical sought to modernize The New York Historical in a way that was reverential to its past while paving a way for its future. The team worked for over a year—reviewing over 200 years of materials and interviewing a wide range of staff, scholars, supporters, and visitors.  

About The New York Historical
New York’s first museum, The New York Historical is a leading cultural institution covering over 400 years of American history. Our offerings span groundbreaking exhibitions; peerless collections of art, documents, and artifacts; acclaimed educational programs for teachers and students nationwide; and thought-provoking conversations among leading scholars, journalists, and thinkers about the past, present, and future of the American experiment. The New York Historical is a museum of museums and a collection of collections. We are home to the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, the Center for Women’s History, the DiMenna Children’s History Museum, and the future American LGBTQ+ Museum. We elevate the perspectives and scholarship that define the United States’ democratic heritage and challenge us all to shape our ongoing history for the better. Connect with us at nyhistory.org or at @nyhistory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Tumblr.