In our new and strange world living with COVID-19, many American families are seeking a break from the screen time that inundates our work and school hours. People want ways to decompress and enjoy each others’ company without distraction. The popularity of puzzles and board games has surged in recent months, with some selling out…

Each day at 7 pm, New Yorkers sheltering at home celebrate the city’s heroic front-line medical staff, including the thousands of nurses who are risking their lives to care for the victims of COVID-19. We often describe these times as “unprecedented,” but for nurses—a profession historically dominated by women—answering the call of a public health…

The fashion and clothing industry answered the call. At the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in New York, when it was clear that there was going to be an alarming shortage of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, designer Christian Siriano responded directly to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plea for private businesses to help…

As New York City, and the world at large, take unprecedented steps to slow the spread of COVID-19, I find myself thinking about the generations of women who’ve faced moments of national crisis. Over the last year, I’ve spent my time researching and writing the Settler Colonialism and Revolution, 1692-1783 unit of Women & the…

What can an account book tell us about the distant past? Quite a bit! The fantastically detailed account book of Ann Elizabeth Staats Schuyler (1690-1768/9)—preserved in the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library—provides a unique window into the lives of women in the 18th century. Born and wed into the Dutch mercantile elite of New York City,…