Interview with Dr. Louise Mirrer, President & CEO of The New York Historical
Dr. Louise Mirrer, President & CEO of The New York Historical, will be the recipient of the 2025 Gold Medal for Distinguished Achievement for her Contributions to the City of New York at the Holland Society of New York’s 135th Dinner Dance.
About Our Medalist
Dr. Louise Mirrer is President and CEO of The New York Historical, New York’s first museum. Under her guidance, the institution has reinvigorated its commitment to greater public understanding of history and its relevance today, as well as to the support and encouragement of historical scholarship, and the education of young people.
During her tenure, The New York Historical has launched groundbreaking exhibitions such as Slavery in New York, Nueva York, Chinese American: Inclusion/Exclusion, The Vietnam War 1945-1975, and Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow. Dr. Mirrer oversaw a $100 million capital campaign completed in 2011, and the inauguration of the first-ever Center for Women’s History within an American museum in 2017. She has also initiated special projects on Citizenship and the Presidency, and has overseen the expansion of the institution’s visitorship to nearly 500,000 annually. Dr. Mirrer also guided the museum through its first ever rebranding, where the New-York Historical Society became The New York Historical, helping to encourage accessibility to the 220 year-old institution.
Before joining The New York Historical in June 2004, Dr. Mirrer was the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the City University of New York, where she established American History as a center of excellence, introduced coursework in American History as a graduation requirement, and designed the CUNY Honors College. Mirrer holds a double Ph.D. from Stanford, a graduate Diploma from Cambridge, and a BA magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. She has received honorary degrees from Marymount and Fordham, and was awarded the Order of Civil Merit by the Spanish Crown
Executive Director, Sarah Cooney’s interview with Dr. Louise Mirrer
Sarah Cooney: Tell me a little bit about yourself!
Louise Mirrer: I am the very lucky person who gets to be called president & CEO of The New York Historical. I’ve been in the position since 2004—more than 20 years! I am a fourth generation New Yorker so feel very much at home at a museum and library whose collections reflect the nation’s past through the lens of New York. My previous positions were in academia, first as a faculty member and later, as Vice Provost and Provost. My Ph.D. focused on medieval Europe, but as the daughter of a historian mother, who did her graduate work at Columbia in American history, I came to my position with a fair amount of knowledge of the American story and the history of New York. I am very proud to be honored by the Holland Society. I only wish that my grandmother, who grew up in a New York that vividly reflected—and prized—the city’s Dutch history, could have known. I also treasure some first-hand knowledge of Dutch history, as my older son and his family lived in The Hague for several years and I visited frequently. Of course, The New York Historical is a great repository for New York’s Dutch past.
SC: When did you first come to New York?
LM: I was born in Brooklyn Heights and have lived much of my life in Manhattan.
SC: When did you first visit New York Historical? What interested you about the museum?
LM: My mother did quite a lot of her graduate research in The New York Historical’ Patricia D. Klingenstein Library in the 1940’s, so it has been a regular part of my life for many years, with visits as a child. The museum has a fascinating collection that, with some extraordinary and beautiful objects, including 17th century Dutch “kas” and Delft tiles, as well as antique toys—fascinating for a child as well as adult.
SC: New York Historical went through a recent rebrand, including dropping the famous hyphen. What prompted the change of name?
LM: “Society” can feel exclusionary—and, indeed, The New York Historical was an exclusive membership organization for many years. So “Society” was dropped to underscore our openness to all. The hyphen was an artifact of old New York, which fell into disuse a century ago. Though some liked its antique ring, many others found it confusing.
SC: How do you hope the museum records and shares the history of New York City in its next 100 years?
LM: We are harnessing technology to help record and share our treasures far and wide. We also constantly look to new exhibitry techniques to ensure our exhibitions are engaging and informative. I would hope that our public programs series continues to be a vital part of our public face. Audiences clamor for explanations and causes of contemporary events, which our programs aspire to fulfill.
SC: What makes New York Historical stand out in New York’s cultural scene?
LM: We are New York’s first museum, so our collections are unique. Where else to find documents relating to the Flushing Remonstrance? Where else to go in New York to see the chair George Washington sat in on inauguration day, as the nation’s first president? Where else to see the authorization for the purchase of Louisiana, which completely transformed our nation, signed by Bonaparte—with a red wine stain in the corner? Where else to see the world’s finest collection of Tiffany lamps, in a bespoke, all-glass gallery? At the same time as we are “historic,” we are also “hip” and “cool,” with Friday night pay-as-you-wish programs that delight with contemporary music and social events—and even comedy we call “New York Hysterical.”
SC: The Holland Society’s mission is to collect and preserve the history of New Netherland and New Amsterdam, and indeed some of the Society’s items are on display at New York Historical, including the weathervane. NYH also houses the records of the Holland Dames, and supports the New Amsterdam Project. What aspects of New Netherland history are you particularly fascinated by?
LM: I’m most fascinated by the ideas the Dutch brought to our shores, particularly tolerance and commerce, the twin pillars of our city’s success.
SC: How do you think New York’s history shapes the way the city exists today?
LM: We are a city that has welcomed newcomers from around the world, encouraging them to do their very best work here. The Dutch imparted that spirit and outlook 400 years ago. As my colleague, Russell Shorto points out in his newest book, the British had the good sense to retain its Dutch character when New Amsterdam became New York.
SC: With New York’s quadricentennial commemorations coming to their conclusion in 2026, we will be looking back of course but we also want to look forward to the next centuries. What are NYH’s plans for the quadricentennial and what collaborations do you foresee?
LM: We will open a major exhibition entitled, “Old Masters, New Amsterdam,” next spring as part of our quadricentennial events, featuring spectacular Dutch paintings, many from the Leiden Collection that have never before been on public view. We will hope for the Holland Society to be involved with the festivities when the show opens, and beyond.
SC: What is the period of New York history that has most captured your imagination?
LM: Dutch colonial and American revolutionary periods most resonate with me.
SC: Apart from the museum, what’s your favorite place in the city?
LM: My home in Beekman Place, in a building called “Beekman Mansion,” in honor of the Dutch Beekman family that owned the land along the East River for years.
SC: What do you wish more people knew about NYH?
LM: That there is something engaging and interesting at the museum and in our Patricia D. Klingenstein Library for everyone—including a great restaurant and espresso bar!