New York Public Library Research

Have you cast your vote yet?

Primaries are being held in New York today, but your ballot won't look quite like these ones from over a century ago held in our Rare Book Division.

Explore more vintage ballots: https://on.nypl.org/4ajtxyK

🗳️ Primary election, Democratic Party, New York County, March 26, 1912. ID: 57965444.
🗳️ Fifteenth Election District of the Ninth Assembly. ID: 57965431.
🗳️ Official Ballot for nineteenth Election District, Twenty-seventh assembly District, County of New York, November 3, 1914: Governor Martin Glynn, ID: 57965436.

Five million visitors and counting!

The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures has just welcomed its five millionth visitor! Open since 2021, this free permanent exhibition at our flagship building highlights our world-renowned research collections.

Currently on display is 'Revolutionary City,' which is part of 'Declaring America: 1776 and Beyond,' a building-wide exhibition that explores the complex, diverse, and powerful stories of the American Revolution—from 1776 to today.

Discover how New Yorkers experienced the uncertain and tumultuous years of the Revolutionary War as their home became an intellectual and literal battleground, told through historic manuscripts, maps, printed broadsides, and more.

Learn more and plan your visit: https://on.nypl.org/4eTWjIR

This , The New York Public Library is pleased to offer the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellowship Program to support advanced research at the Library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. PhD candidates, postdoctoral scholars, professionals, and independent researchers are welcome to apply. The selected fellow will receive $24,000 to support four months of research in spring 2027.

Learn more and apply by June 30: https://on.nypl.org/4ejVadm

A top team indeed! Congratulations to the New York Knicks on their first NBA Championship victory in 53 years as they parade through the streets of Manhattan and receive a ceremonial key to the city today.

Explore the Sports Illustrated Magazine Archive, which presents an extensive collection of the popular sports magazine dating from its very first issue in August 1954 through December 2000, presented in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format. Access the database: https://on.nypl.org/4evNgfK

🏀 Sports Illustrated, vol. 27, no. 17, Oct. 1967. General Research Division.

Did you know that New York's World Cup design was developed at The New York Public Library? ⚽️🍎🗽

Creative director Arsh Raziuddin was hired by the Mayor's Office to create a visual identity for the tourism campaign surrounding the World Cup and came to our Picture Collection for inspiration.

Raziuddin told Fast Company, "For this, I went to the New York Public Library Picture Collection. There was an entire row of folders of New York City streets and signage. So I looked at sports, signage, magazine covers. I looked at food. I looked at different illustrations of apples. I looked at soccer, specifically, and World Cup and World’s Fair, but a lot of it came down to signage and just getting the nostalgic feel of New York streets. I also looked at Push Pin Studios and how graphic New York design is, like the heart in I ❤ NY."

Take a look at some of the images that inspired the design, and read more in the Fast Company article: https://bit.ly/44cSice

Images provided by Arsh Raziuddin.

Happy Flag Day! 🇺🇸

NYPL's Conservation team doesn't only treat books, paper, and art. They also take care of objects and artifacts like flags, including this one carried by author Jack London during the Russo-Japanese War: https://on.nypl.org/4vfy5ic

🇺🇸 1899, Macmillan Company Records, Manuscripts and Archives Division.

This , The New York Public Library is accepting applications for 2027–28 Cullman Center Fellowships.

Established in 1999, the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers provides a dedicated space for research and writing, as well as enhanced access to the Library’s vast and world-renowned collections.

Located on the second floor of the Library’s iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Center brings together outstanding scholarly and creative minds from around the world and supports them in the creation of new work.

Through the impressive and growing list of books created by Cullman Center Fellows during their time at the Library, the Center promotes the Library’s broader efforts to advance knowledge, curiosity, and the free exchange of ideas.

Fifteen Fellows will receive a $90,000 stipend to support nine months of research at the Library.

Learn more and apply by September 25: https://on.nypl.org/3RamfGG

📷 Event photo by Sarah Stacke.

The New York Public Library is home to one of the premier collections of LGBTQ+ history in the world. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

These collections include both academic and popular literature, rare books, little magazines, historic newspapers, at least 100,000 volumes, and over 300 archival collections—containing hundreds of thousands of letters, manuscripts, photographs, posters, and other items.

The items span the personal, public, and political, from correspondence between lovers to legal documents to advertisements for events held by LGBTQ+ organizations to images of activists marching for justice.

These materials show the struggle for equality alongside the passion and joy of the community as they have paved the way for future generations of gay, le***an, bisexual, transgender, and q***r people.

This Pride Month and always, explore the histories, movements, and lives preserved in New York Public Library Research collections.

Learn more: on.nypl.org/4uR8BHw

We're going to make you an offer you can't refuse...

Learn about the history of organized crime at NYPL through newspapers, government reports, scrapbooks, memoirs, property records, and other materials across the Library’s collections.

On Friday, June 26, Andy McCarthy, reference librarian in the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History, and Genealogy, explores the enduring impact of organized crime in New York City. Join him as he slices the research methods so thin they liquefy at the reference desk.

From land schemes targeting local Algonquin tribes to the 2003 murder of Lucchese made man Albert Circelli at Rao’s restaurant in East Harlem, McCarthy reveals organized crime not simply as a shadow history of the city but as a parallel force that helped shape New York itself.

Register now: https://bit.ly/43pGVO0

🖼️ Organized Crime - John Gotti by Andy Warhol. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Picture Collection.
📙 'The Last Struggle with the Mafia,' Prefect Mori, 1933. Collection of book jackets, General Research Division. ID: 495275.
📃 Organized Crime - UPI Photo, 1958. Wallach Division, Picture Collection.