New York –
The New-York Historical
Society honored Robert
A. Caro, Jack Rudin
and the Rudin family at
its annual History
Makers Gala.
The gala evening was also an
opportunity
for guests to preview the
exhibition Grant and Lee
in War and Peace that
opened at the New-York
Historical Society .
Robert A. Caro
is a two-time winner of both
the Pulitzer Prize for
Biography and the National
Book Critics Circle Award
for Best Nonfiction Book of
the Year. In addition, he
has been awarded the
National Book Award, the
Gold Medal in Biography from
the American Academy of Arts
and Letters, and the Francis
Parkman Prize. His seminal
first book, The Power
Broker: Robert Moses and the
Fall of New York, was
chosen by the Modern Library
as one of the hundred
greatest nonfiction books of
the twentieth century.
Other works by Caro include
his three-part series on
Lyndon Johnson: The Years
of Lyndon Johnson: The Path
to Power, Means of
Ascent, and Master of
the Senate. To research
this series, Caro and his
wife, Ina, left New York to
live in the locations where
Lyndon Johnson had worked
and lived, first in the
Texas Hill Country, and then
in Washington, D.C. Caro
graduated from Princeton
University and later became
a Neiman Fellow at Harvard
University.
Jack Rudin and the Rudin
family
have played a pivotal role
in shaping the modern
landscape of New York
through their real estate
development projects and
their generous
philanthropy. Jack Rudin is
chairman of Rudin
Management, where he builds,
develops, and manages New
York City real estate. The
Rudin family plays an active
role in philanthropy and
public service in New York,
a tradition started by
Jack’s father, Samuel, more
than 60 years ago. Jack
Rudin sits on the Boards of
Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center, Jazz at
Lincoln Center, and the
George C. Marshall
Foundation. He is an
Honorary Trustee of the
American Museum of Natural
History and Congregation
Shearith Israel, as well as
a Trustee Emeritus of Iona
College. Jack Rudin has
been the recipient of
numerous awards, including
honorary degrees, which have
been bestowed upon him by
Iona College, The City
College of New York, The
City University of New York,
the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, and Yeshiva
University.
Co-Chairs were: Judith Roth
Berkowitz, Richard Gilder,
Roger Hertog, Patricia
Klingenstein, Sidney Lapidus,
Bruce E. Mosler, Bernard
Schwartz
Attendees:
Diana Denzaquen, Ina and
Robert Caro, Adrian Benepe,
Lynn Nesbit, Carole and
Richard Rifkind, Gail Sheehy,
Betsy and Ted Rogers, Joanna
and Daniel Rose, Susan and
Jack Rudin, William and
Ophelia Rudin, Eric and
Fiona Rudin, Henry Amoroso,
Susan and Roger Hertog,
General Josiah Bunting III,
Marlene Hess and James Zirin,
Elizabeth Brown Pryor (Lee
historian), Ann Reynolds and
Robert DeButts (Lee
descendant), Clarice and
Robert H. Smith (benefactors
of new Smith Gallery of
American History), Lesley
Stahl and Aaron Lattham,
Judy and Josh Weston
The 2008 History Makers Gala
will contribute to the
support the N-YHS's
exhibitions and education
initiatives.
ABOUT THE NEW-YORK
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Established in 1804, the
New-York Historical Society
(N-YHS) comprises New York’s
oldest museum and a
nationally renowned research
library. N-YHS collects,
preserves and interprets
American history and art;
its mission is to make these
collections accessible to
the broadest public and
increase understanding of
American history through
exhibitions, public
programs, and research that
reveal the dynamism of
history and its impact on
the world today. N-YHS
holdings cover four
centuries of American
history and comprise one of
the world’s greatest
collections of historical
artifacts, American art, and
other materials documenting
the history of the United
States as seen through the
prism of New York City and
State
N-YHS Museum
The Society’s museum
contains some 60,000 items
that include: paintings,
sculpture, furniture,
clothing, toys, tools,
textiles, ceramics, glass,
and assorted artifacts
ranging from George
Washington’s camp bed to
items from Ground Zero after
the September 11 World Trade
Center attacks. Other
important Museum holdings
include landscapes of the
Hudson River School by
Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand
and others; genre paintings
and portraiture by Gilbert
Stuart, Benjamin West and
Charles Willson Peale; one
of the world’s largest
collections of Tiffany
lamps; and John James
Audubon’s preparatory
watercolors for
The Birds of America.
N-YHS
Library
The Society’s library is a
principal source of primary
materials for the study of
New York history, and one of
the foremost American
history research
institutions in the world.
The library collections
total 4 million items,
including manuscripts; books
and pamphlets; prints and
photographs; maps; atlases;
newspaper titles; sheet
music; and more. Among these
are items from the Colonial,
Revolutionary War, and Civil
War periods, including
letters, diaries, battle
reports, and sketches
documenting the Civil War,
Ulysses S. Grant’s
handwritten terms of
surrender for Robert E. Lee,
and much more.
Grant and Lee in War and
Peace
Grant and Lee in War and
Peace,
organized by the New-York
Historical Society in
collaboration with the
Virginia Historical Society,
explores the most
critical decades in American
history through the lives of
two men: Ulysses S. Grant
(1822–1885), commander of
the Union armies and later
18th President of the United
States, and of Robert E. Lee
(1807–1870), commander of
the Confederate forces. The
exhibition features a wealth
of rare and remarkable
objects and documents,
including authentic military
equipment, period maps,
documents, photographs,
sculptures, paintings and
drawings. Joining these are
dynamic multimedia
installations and an
interpretive video narrated
by curatorial advisor Lt.
Gen. (Ret.) Josiah Bunting
II.