Treasures from the General Society Collection are now available digitally thanks to “Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York”
The collection of 364 objects is composed of selected archival materials and museum holdings from The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York (GSMT). Founded in 1785, The General Society initially served as a benevolent organization that provided mutual support to fellow craftsmen and artisans in need. This philosophy of practical philanthropy has been maintained for over 230 years in the form of the second-oldest library in New York (since 1820), an active program of lectures (since 1837), and a tuition-free evening trade school (since 1858). Since its inception, The Society has counted many prominent New Yorkers among its over 4000 members such as Andrew Carnegie, Peter Cooper and Abram S. Hewitt. The items presented in the Industry and Culture Collection document a wide variety of General Society activities including patriotic, civic, educational and literary pursuits.
To view the collection, please click here.
The General Society would like to express our appreciation to Metropolitan New York Library Council for this opportunity to make some of our collection available digitally.
About Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York
Digital Culture of Metropolitan New York (DCMNY) provides online access to digital collections of libraries, archives, museums and historical societies located in and around New York City. Participating institutions are located in the following counties of New York State: Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, and Westchester.
The collections include photographs, maps, letters, postcards, manuscripts, scrapbooks, programs from events, catalogues, memorabilia and ephemera, and much more. New collections will be added over the coming months, and contributors will be adding new material to existing collections.
DCMNY is not a curated collection. It is intended to serve as a hosting service for members of the Metropolitan New York Library Council to make their content available online, as well as an on-ramp to the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Many of the collections in DCMNY will also be available in DPLA, courtesy of the Empire State Digital Network, the DPLA service hub for New York State. Keep in mind that items in DCMNY typically represent only a small percentage of the materials held by the organizations that made them available online. Please feel free to contact any of the contributing institutions for more information about their collections.