Dear Friends of the HRM,

Happy New Year! Last year was an outstanding year at the Museum, with a roster of stellar exhibitions, record-breaking attendance, and new programs and initiatives inspired by art, science, and our shared history.

2019 promises to also be a momentous year, as we are celebrating our 100th anniversary. Life was, of course, quite different in 1919, the year the Museum was founded—World War I had just ended, women had recently been granted the right to vote in New York, and the dial telephone was first introduced. In Yonkers, a group of engaged local citizens made a commitment to join forces to start a museum that would provide “instruction and entertainment” to the general public. What began as a small collection of objects on view at Yonkers’ City Hall has today become the Hudson River Museum, one of the preeminent museums in the New York Metropolitan area and a cultural destination that attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year.

We will be celebrating our Centennial in a variety of ways this year, one of which is sharing key moments from our rich history on these pages. Periodically, we will post fascinating archival images, important works from our collection, and fun and intriguing stories that show the evolution of the Museum and what life was like along the way.

It is people who made the Hudson River Museum what it is today—the artists, the scientists, the educators, the staff, the Board of Trustees, and of course, you, our members and visitors. It’s important to take the time to honor these contributions and look forward, together, to an even brighter future for the HRM.

Onward!

Masha Turchinsky
Director