New York History and Culture - Experience NY and the World

Brooklyn Bridge by Ken Burns - Film History Livestream

Brooklyn Bridge is a documentary film on the history of the Brooklyn Bridge and the directorial debut of Ken Burns. It was produced by Burns, Roger Sherman, Buddy Squires, and Amy Stechler in 1981.
The film included interviews with personalities such as The New York Times architectural critic Paul Goldberger and writer Arthur Miller plus film clips featuring Bugs Bunny (Bowery Bugs) and Frank Sinatra. It was narrated by historian David McCullough, who wrote the 1972 book the film was based on.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The film was rebroadcast nationally twice: on January 29, 1992, preceding the then-new documentary from Burns, Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio, and on October 21, 2002, as part of Ken Burns: America's Stories.

Prior to the film there will be a brief introductory program (approximately 15 minutes).
During the screening you’ll have the opportunity to discuss the film with your fellow participants via Zoom.

The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its opening, with a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m) and a deck 127 ft (38.7 m) above mean high water. The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915.
Proposals for a bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn were first made in the early 19th century, which eventually led to the construction of the current span, designed by John A. Roebling. The project's chief engineer, his son Washington Roebling, contributed further design work, assisted by the latter's wife, Emily Warren Roebling. Construction started in 1870 and was overseen by the New York Bridge Company, which in turn was controlled by the Tammany Hall political machine. Numerous controversies and the novelty of the design prolonged the project over thirteen years. After opening, the Brooklyn Bridge underwent several reconfigurations, having carried horse-drawn vehicles and elevated railway lines until 1950. To alleviate increasing traffic flows, additional bridges and tunnels were built across the East River. Following gradual deterioration, the Brooklyn Bridge was renovated several times, including in the 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s.
The Brooklyn Bridge is the southernmost of the four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island and Long Island, with the Manhattan Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Queensboro Bridge to the north. Only passenger vehicles and pedestrian and bicycle traffic are permitted. A major tourist attraction since its opening, the Brooklyn Bridge has become an icon of New York City. Over the years, the bridge has been used as the location of various stunts and performances, as well as several crimes, attacks and vandalism. The Brooklyn Bridge is designated a National Historic Landmark, a New York City landmark, and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

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The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in NY - Film History Livestream

We invite you to join us for two documentary film screenings on the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire: Triangle: Remembering the Fire (HBO) & American Experience: Triangle Fire (PBS).
During and after the screenings there will be opportunities to discuss the films with your fellow participants via Zoom.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on Saturday, March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in U.S. history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers - 123 women and girls and 23 men - who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, falling, or jumping to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent Italian or Jewish immigrant women and girls aged 14 to 23; of the victims whose ages are known, the oldest victim was 43-year-old Providenza Panno and the youngest were 14-year-olds Kate Leone and Rosaria "Sara" Maltese.
The factory was located on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the Asch Building, which had been built in 1901. Later renamed the "Brown Building", it still stands at 23–29 Washington Place near Washington Square Park, on the New York University (NYU) campus. The building has been designated a National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark.
Because the doors to the stairwells and exits were locked - practice at the time to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft - many of the workers could not escape from the burning building and jumped from the high windows. There were no sprinklers in the building. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers.

Let's spend an evening honoring the late Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

We invite you to join us for a film screening of “Love & Mercy”, the 2014 biopic on Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.
The screening will have two parts. Part one, approximately 15-20 minutes, will be a historical context of the film, things to look for, accuracy, etc. Part two will be a full screening of the film.
During the screening there will be an opportunity to discuss the film with other participants via Zoom.

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Love & Mercy is a 2014 American biographical drama film directed by Bill Pohlad about the Beach Boys' co-founder and leader Brian Wilson and his struggles with mental illness during the 1960s and 1980s. It stars Paul Dano and John Cusack as the young and middle-aged Wilson, respectively, with Elizabeth Banks as his second wife Melinda Ledbetter and Paul Giamatti as his psychologist Dr. Eugene Landy. The title comes from Wilson's 1988 song of the same name.
The film alternates between Wilson's production of the album Pet Sounds (1966) and his treatment under Landy's 24-hour therapy program in the late 1980s. Wilson called the film "very factual", albeit containing parts that "weren't actually as factual". He had little involvement with its making, although Ledbetter was relied upon for the 1980s portions. The cast and crew maintained that nothing in the film was a "Hollywood" embellishment and that everything was intended to be as truthful as possible. Conversely, Landy's son Evan felt that his father was unfairly portrayed. Ledbetter said that Landy's treatment of Wilson "was even worse" than the film portrays.

Bonjour!

"Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun:
At 15 she was painting the aristocracy, in her 20s she was the favoured painter of Marie-Antoinette, and by her 30s she was fleeing the French Revolution."

Join us for an educational and entertaining look into the inspiring life and amazing career of French artist Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun.

Part one of our program will be an approximate 30-minute overview lecture of the artist including a review of her most noteworthy paintings.

Part two of our programme will be a full screening of the excellent hour-and-fifty docudrama "The Fabulous Life of Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun" (aka "Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun Portraitist of Marie-Antoinette").

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (16 April 1755 – 30 March 1842), also known as Madame Le Brun, was a prominent French portrait painter of the late 18th century.
Her artistic style is generally considered part of the aftermath of Rococo with elements of an adopted Neoclassical style. Her subject matter and color palette can be classified as Rococo, but her style is aligned with the emergence of Neoclassicism. Vigée Le Brun created a name for herself in Ancien Régime society by serving as the portrait painter to Marie Antoinette. She enjoyed the patronage of European aristocrats, actors, and writers, and was elected to art academies in ten cities.
Vigée Le Brun created some 660 portraits and 200 landscapes. In addition to many works in private collections, her paintings are owned by major museums, such as the Louvre, Hermitage Museum, National Gallery in London, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and many other collections in continental Europe and the United States.

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