Today was off on the subway to go the New York Historical Society. Surprisingly, historical societies have turned out to be one of my favorite events on these trips. The Massachusetts Historical Society experience made a long lasting impression on me. Today was no exception, although it was disappointed that much of the building was not accessible due to renovations. We learned how New York City was deeply divided over the issue of slavery and, how the financial interests of some, resented the social reformers that were also a visible, viable network of Abolitionists and Women’s Rights advocates. I was amazed that New York made $0.48 on every dollar of the cotton trade profits by merely being the middlemen. They produced nothing, manufactured very little, and imported other goods for profit on their return voyages. The bottom line is too often money; some became too callous or overlooked the conditions of the many they exploited for personal profit. Merchants had a lot to lose if cotton was not available.
We were given an amazing resource book- that was bittersweet. It was obviously a wealth of great information including audio clips and short videos. On the other hand, a few of us realized we would have to carry these monster binders around the city all afternoon. Plus it was our last night in New York City, and over a dozen teachers were going to the Yankees game that night and there were as many plans as possible last destinations for the last Hurrah! 
We made it through the day and nearly everyone went back to Brooklyn to regroup and drop off the truly awesome resource we received. Dana, Sherri, and I saw the Broadway show, “Billy Elliott.” Two of the seats were in the second row in the orchestra, and the other seat was excellent as well. We rotated seats at intermission and thoroughly enjoyed the show! I even caught the ball that was shot from the cannon during the performance. Is that equivalent to catching a ball in the stands for a baseball fan? 
Two more sights before the night was over…..Grand Central Station and the Empire State Building! Thank you, Sherri and Dana, for making the trek with me and getting us all safely back to to the hotel very late.
The museum was wonderful with many different artifacts, statues, paintings, furniture, sculptures. Our planned activities were informal and meaningful, but cut our time short to view the museum itself. Some of us were disappointed about that. Then we were off for a quick lunch at the highly recommended “Shake Shack.” The food was tasty and very reasonably priced by New York standards. The Museum of Natural History was massive, and awesome with a greater variety of exhibits than I ever imagined. I especially enjoyed the Oceans exhibit that had a life-sized whale suspended from the ceiling. Wow! The enormity was staggering and humbling.
It will be important to teach students how a person’s position and stature in life often dictated their position on various subjects such as slavery. Having them find reasons why people made the choices they did can be a powerful lesson in history and the course it takes based on individual’s choices in their own lives. People do not operate in vacuums as some would like to think; some merely dismiss or justify their actions. One’s actions often affect many- like throwing a pebble in a pond…there is a ripple effect. The same scenario can be looked at through the eyes of slaves, slave catchers, masters, police, Quakers, Abolitionists, unemployed, politicians, inventors, soldiers etc.
