News and Events
The eminent burghers Manheers, Tenbroek and Hardenbroeck disputing about the plan of the City of New Amsterdam.
H.R. Robinson for Valentines Manual, 1850.
April 8, 2019
The New York City Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) today welcomed Femke Halsema, the Mayor of the City of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to celebrate the shared cultural heritage of two great cities—Amsterdam and New York City. The days events included a speech by writer Russell Shorto, Dennis Maika of the NNI, and an exhibit of historical documents from the New York City Municipal Archives, the Stadsarchief Amsterdam, and the New York State Archives. These documents detail the government’s response to residents who petitioned in 1657 to be granted the rights of citizenship, and in turn, the responsibilities that come with those rights. New Amsterdam Cultural Heritage Day is made possible by grants from the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York, and Dutch Culture USA.
April 5, 2019
Newly added to the New Amsterdam Stories website, an extensive history of New Amsterdam’s Burgher Right, incorporating documents from the Amsterdam Archives, the New York State Archives and the New York City Municipal Archives. Learn more under the New Arrivals, Rights and Responsibilities tab.
July 7, 2017
A redesign of the original New Amsterdam Stories website has been launched. The new design, which you see here, blends modern design with old Dutch typography and illustrations.
June 15, 2017
The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York held their Annual Business Meeting at the NYC Municipal Archives, and the evening's program included a presentation from Rachel Lintz and Michael Lorenzini of the NYC Municipal Archives, and Dennis Maika of the New Netherland Institute on the New Amsterdam Stories project. The program explored the international cooperation that made the project possible and discussed how it has led to a new research and discoveries.
June 10, 2017
We are pleased to announce that the New Amsterdam History Center will be a new partner in the New Amsterdam Stories project. New Amsterdam History Center’s mission is “to encourage public exploration of the early history of New Amsterdam and New York City, its diverse peoples, landscapes, institutions, and global legacy.” We look forward to this exciting collaboration.
April 19, 2017
We are pleased to announce that the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission will be a new partner in the New Amsterdam Stories project. LPC’s Archaeology Repository “curates the city’s archaeological collections and makes them accessible to archaeologists, researchers, teachers, students, and the public.” We look forward to this exciting collaboration.
March 16, 2017
We are pleased to announce that the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society will be a new partner in the New Amsterdam Stories project. The NYG&B’s mission is to “preserve, document, and share the stories of families across the state of New York.” We look forward to this exciting collaboration.
February 15, 2017
We are pleased to announce that the Museum of the City of New York will be a new partner in the New Amsterdam Stories project. The Museum “celebrates and interprets the city, educating the public about its distinctive character, especially its heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation.” We look forward to this exciting collaboration.
September 8, 2016
At a reception hosted at New York City’s Morgan Library by Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Henne Schuwer, representatives from the Municipal Archives and the Stadsarchief Amsterdam presented New Amsterdam Stories for an international audience including Dolph Hogewoning, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Rob de Vos, former Consul General, and Kajsa Ollongren, Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam. We thank the Office of the Consulate General in New York for this opportunity to share the rich cultural heritage of NYC and Amsterdam.
September 6, 2016: Welcome to New Amsterdam Stories!
This unique platform, a collaboration between the New York City Municipal Archives and the Stadsarchief Amsterdam, explores shared cultural history that exists between Amsterdam and New York, two of the world’s leading cities. Guided by scholars from the New Netherland Institute (Albany, NY), this new project makes original documents found in both archives available to the general public for the first time.
Amsterdam, the preeminent commercial city of the Dutch Republic, served as inspiration and model for New Amsterdam, the city created on the island of Manhattan in the seventeenth century. The close connections between these two municipalities are revealed in the records of New Amsterdam’s city government (held by the NYC Municipal Archives) and the protocols of Amsterdam’s Notaries (held by the Stadsarchief Amsterdam).