The New-York Historical Society is pleased to announce the next exhibition in its History Responds series of September 11th-related interpretive programs: Radical Hospitality. Opening February 10, 2004, Radical Hospitality chronicles the extraordinary spirit and outpouring of support that arose in New York City in the wake of that terrible event. A special press preview of the exhibition will take place at the New-York Historical Society on Tuesday, February 10, from 10am to 12pm.

Curated by Amy Weinstein, Associate Curator, 20th/21st Century Collections, Radical Hospitality will draw upon artifacts, photographs, banners and posters, children's art, and video to reveal the story of how ordinary people pitched in to provide comfort, support, and amenities to the rescue and recovery workers at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center. Organized geographically, the exhibition starts in midtown Manhattan with the supply distribution centers hurriedly created at the Jacob Javits Center and the piers along the Hudson River…then travels downtown on West Street along the Hero Highway to Point Thank You at Christopher Street, where well-wishers cheered and held up hand-lettered and decorated signs expressing their appreciation as rescue vehicles traveled to and from the site... to Nino's Restaurant on Canal Street, which opened its doors around the clock and supplied the recovery workers with food, drink, and a place to unwind from their grueling tasks... to St. Paul's Chapel, a spiritual and physical haven for the workers... to Ground Zero and the ceremonies that marked the end of the recovery and clean-up operations.

Shown above is the Volunteer's Cross at Ground Zero by ArtAID, which is featured in this exhibit, providing a remarkable testament dedicated to and signed by hundreds of rescue and recovery workers. Approximately fifty objects bear witness to the incredible outpouring of support for New York's rescue and recovery workers in the months following September 11, from a London bobby's helmet... to the tags of bomb-sniffing dogs Ajax and Laika... to a large hand-painted sign reading "Welcome to Point Thank You". Many of these items are now part of the Society's permanent holdings through the History Responds collecting initiative, which ensures their preservation for study by future generations.

Radical Hospitality will be on view February 10 through July 11, 2004.

Part of The New-York Historical Society's "History Responds" project, Radical Hospitality is made possible through the generous support of the U.S. General Services Administration.

Support for "History Responds" has also come from Altria Group, Inc., The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, The Liman Foundation, The Richard Lounsbery Foundation, Inc., The Henry Luce Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, The New York Times Company Foundation, and Jacqueline Fowler.