New York Public Library Research

05/14/2026

Virginia Woolf's 'Mrs. Dalloway' was published on this day in 1925.

'Mrs. Dalloway' was a groundbreaking achievement for Woolf. The novel, which unfolds on a single summer’s day around two separate narratives—that of Clarissa Dalloway, a London society matron preparing to host a party, and Septimus Smith, a veteran of World War I—explores consciousness and life after the Great War.

In a 1928 introduction to the book, Woolf revealed “that in the first version Septimus, who later is intended to be her double, had no existence; and that Mrs. Dalloway was originally to kill herself, or perhaps merely to die at the end of the party.”

Explore the Library's extensive Virginia Woolf holdings: https://on.nypl.org/4tDlTpL

📙 William Beekman Collection of Virginia Woolf and Her Circle, Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature. ID: 58480230.

05/14/2026

This Jewish American Heritage Month, explore NYPL's many research guides in the field of Jewish studies. Discover our extensive collections in the Dorot Jewish Division and across the Library related to Jewish history and culture, including manuscripts, religious texts, periodicals, and photographs.

Learn about Jewish life in New York City and globally, LGBTQ Jewish people, Holocaust remembrance, and much more: https://on.nypl.org/4dlFvbT

05/13/2026

Patience and Fortitude were unveiled in May, 1911, just a few days before the Library was dedicated.

Discover how the lions came to be, got their names, and have served as the guardians and symbols of the Library and the city for over a century.

Learn more: on.nypl.org/4uJBMMm

05/11/2026

As part of the Library's celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we're highlighting some of the many research projects undertaken at The New York Public Library that use collections related to Asian and Asian American history and culture—including Chinese American public history, Filipino botanical knowledge, early Sino-American trade, immigrant childhood experiences in Manhattan’s Chinatown, and more.

These projects give a taste of the wide-ranging research taking place with our collections.

05/10/2026

05/09/2026

Inwood Hill Park officially opened 100 years ago this week. The last natural forest and salt marsh in Manhattan, it was called Shorakapok by the Lenape and during the American Revolution was home to Fort Cockhill, built by the Continental Army but captured by the British in 1776.

In 2023, artist Yuqi Liu made this print of the park, which is held in our Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, out of mushrooms foraged from the park's forest floor.

In her artist statement, she says, “Etched upon this living canvas is a map of Inwood Park from 1955, creating a seamless integration of history with the natural world. This etching on the mushroom paper stands as a symbol of the convergence of time and texture. It blends the park's historical landscape with the present-day beauty of the natural world, crafting a narrative that spans epochs.”

See the map in person: https://on.nypl.org/4njGUUW

05/09/2026

This , we offer our congratulations to the Cullman Center Fellows who were honored by the Pulitzer Prizes this year!

The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers is an international fellowship program open to people whose work will benefit directly from access to the collections at The New York Public Library's flagship research center.

Amanda Vaill worked on her Pulitzer Prize–winning biography 'Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution' during her 2018–19 Cullman Center Fellowship. Lance Richardson was a finalist in the same category for 'True Nature: The Pilgrimage of Peter Matthiessen,' which he wrote as a 2023–24 Fellow.

Current Fellow Katie Kitamura was named a finalist in fiction for her novel 'Audition,' and 2020–21 Fellow Peter Kuper was a finalist in illustrated reporting and commentary.

Learn more about the Cullman Center, current and past Fellows, and other works written at the Center: https://on.nypl.org/3RamfGG

📷 Amanda Vaill © Xanthe Elbrick Photography.
📷 Lance Richardson © James Appleton.
📷 Katie Kitamura © Clayton Cubitt.
✍️ Distracted By Cell Phones From The World Around Us by Peter Kuper (November 24, 2025; https://bit.ly/4dcxrdu).

05/07/2026

Among the over 30 objects from the Berg Collection of The New York Public Library Research on view in “Risings: The Irish Literary Revival and the Making of a Nation” at the Grolier Club is a rare, one-year anniversary poster of the Proclamation, Poblacht na hEireann / The Provisional Government of the Irish Republic to the People of Ireland (1917), printed with the same type as the original Proclamation read aloud by Patrick Pearse. Never before displayed, this copy was recently uncovered in the Berg Collection of The New York Public Library in a box described as “Irish Pamphlets: Easter Rebellion.” This exceedingly rare 1917 printing, initiated by the women’s nationalist movement Cumann na mBan to mark the first anniversary of the Easter Rising, was posted across Dublin using jam pots of glue, but most copies were quickly torn down by the police.

Learn more about the making of a nation at “Risings,” open Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM, or by visiting online: https://grolierclub.omeka.net/exhibits/show/risings

Photo: The Proclamation of the Irish Republic. “Poblacht na hEireann / The Provisional Government of the Irish Republic to the People of Ireland.” Printed by the Gaelic Press, Dublin, on the anniversary of the Easter Rising, 1917. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

05/07/2026

Join the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library tomorrow to celebrate the opening of a new exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of NYPL's acquisition of Arturo Schomburg's collection.

Listen to the audio guide on Bloomberg Connects to learn more about how one bibliophile's personal library, containing 4,600 books, pamphlets, art, and manuscripts from across the African diaspora, planted a seed that grew into the millions of items now held by the Schomburg Center.

Before the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, there was the library of Arturo “Arthur” Schomburg: race man, bookworm, and scholar of the African diaspora.

05/05/2026

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. In Mexico, schoolchildren are taught about the brave people who fought in this battle, particularly General Ignacio Zaragoza, who led the troops of the Ejército de Occidente to victory on that day.

Unfortunately, the victory was short-lived. Months later Napoleon III successfully instituted a European monarchy in Mexico with Maximilian of Habsburg as the Emperor. Nevertheless, the May 5th victory provided a sense of dignity to an impoverished, fragmented, and exhausted nation.

Discover some surprising facts about this holiday from Paloma Celis Carbajal, curator of Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Studies:

It is not Mexican Independence Day—ultimately, it's a holiday about being proud of your ancestry.

05/04/2026

May the Fourth be with you! 💫

Today is Star Wars Day, and our research collections hold some hard-to-find items from the franchise, like this 1991 limited-edition box set of three Star Wars comics written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by Al Williamson. There were only 2,500 copies issued, each signed and numbered.

Use the Force and search your feelings—or better yet, our research catalog—to discover other gems from a galaxy far, far away: https://on.nypl.org/4cAMKxq