Exhibitions

Spotlight: Lincoln and New York In partnership with the American History Workshop and New-York Historical Society October 2009 - March 2010 New-York Historical Society 170 Central Park West at 77th Street New York Times review

A new exhibition on Abraham Lincoln poses several difficulties. An estimated 15,000 books on Lincoln have already been written, and with the bicentennial of his birth in 2009, dozens of museums across the country held exhibits that detailed all aspects of his life. How to present something new about the President the entire country knows so well?

The American History Workshop approached the project as an opportunity to deviate from recapitulations of Lincoln's life and speeches, and analyze his complicated relationship with the nation's most important city, New York. Lincoln only visited New York six times in his life, and never for more than two days at a time. Yet New York made Abraham Lincoln the man we know today. New York's media power brokers elevated him to the Presidency, the newspapers and businessmen influenced his policy while in office, and its citizens led the apotheosis of him in death. New York defined the Lincoln of public consciousness and American memory.

The resulting exhibition has not only pushed the boundaries of Lincoln scholarship, but also revolutionized the public's understanding of New York during the Civil War. The city contested Lincoln in every manner possible: decrying his qualifications, debating his policies, even spilling into the streets in anger over his actions. In the course of his controversial Presidency, Lincoln's policies influenced the social and industrial landscape of the city. Through artifacts, imagery, text, interactive kiosks, film and audio, the exhibition has educated and inspired visitors, and received critical and popular acclaim.

Jason Steinhauer served as Research Historian and Assistant Curator on the project. The exhibition was curated by the American History Workshop President Richard Rabinowitz and overseen by Harold Holzer, author of nearly 30 books on Lincoln and one of the nation's foremost Lincoln scholars.

Reviews:

"Compellingly informative" - New York Times

"Immersive" - AP

"Well worth a visit" - NBC

"Ambitious and generally excellent" - New York Observer

"Abraham Lincoln may have loved New York...but New York wasn't wild about him" - New York Post

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Prior Exhibitions

Jason has worked on several other innovative and successful exhibitions that have received critical acclaim. Exhibits that are interpretive and creative drive visitors into the doors of institutions and imbue them with new understandings of history. Jason's roles in the exhibits and some information is below. For more, please contact.

Exhibit Coordinator The Holocaust By Bullets: The Mass Shootings of Jews in the Ukraine 1941-1944 2008, Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York Adapted from the successful exhibit at the Memorial de la Shoah in Paris, this exhibit uncovers the horrific details of massacres in the Ukraine by Nazi forces. Born out of research done by Father Pierre Desbois, the exhibit text was re-written and furniture re-fabricated for display in New York.

Film Director The 50th Anniversary of the Archdiocese of Miami 2008, St. Thomas University Library & Museum, Miami Gardens, Florida A small facility on the grounds of St. Thomas University, this museum celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Miami with an exhibition and film, which I directed.

Curator Ours to Fight For: American Jews in the Second World War, Travel version 2007-2008, Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York The award-winning installation at the Museum of Jewish Heritage was reduced by me from 6,000 sq. ft. to 2,000 sq. ft. and installed at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore, for its first stop on a nationwide tour. See below for more on the original exhibit.

Curator Baghdad Revisited: Iraqi Jewish Artifacts from Private Collections 2006, American Sephardi Federation, New York Displayed at the Center for Jewish History, NY, "Baghdad Revisited" introduced visitors to Iraqi-Jewish culture and recalled Baghdad as a nexus of Jewish life, before Iraq's Jews were forced into exile over the course of the 20th century. For more information, visit the American Sephardi Federation Website and click on the Back to Babylon graphic.

Project Registrar Have You Eaten Yet? The Chinese Restaurant in America 2006, Museum of Chinese in the Americas, New York Built largely from the menu and ephemera collection of Harley Spiller, this exhibit traced the evolution of the Chinese restaurant in America and what representations of Chinese in the food industry revealed about contemporary attitudes towards Chinese-Americans. The exhibit traveled from New York to the Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia, where it ran from April 5 - September 10, 2006. Learn more here.

Curator New York: City of Refuge — Stories from the Last 60 Years 2004-2005, Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York Using the inherent power of oral history testimony to explore complicated historical topics "New York: City of Refuge" introduced visitors to New York's most recent wave of Jewish immigrants-- from Europe, the Middle East & Former Soviet Union-- and examined issues of exile, refuge, identity and citizenship.

Assistant Curator Ours to Fight For: American Jews in the Second World War 2002-2005, Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York *Awarded Grand Prize for Excellence in Exhibitions from American Association of Museums The award-winning exhibition "Ours to Fight For" was a groundbreaking exhibition in both approach and design. The show used eleven original films and over 400 artifacts to reconstruct the experience of being a Jewish American soldier in the war against the Axis. Visit the exhibit's companion Web page, OurstoFightFor.org to see testimony and artifacts.

© jsteinhauer