What's New

March 18: Harvard English Professor Elisa New speaks about her new book, Jacob’s Cane: A Jewish Family’s Journey from the Four Lands of Lithuania to the Ports of London and Baltimore: A Memoir in Five Generations, at the Gotham Center, Graduate Center, CUNY. Sponsored by the Leon Levy Foundation. 6:30 p.m. at the Graduate Center. More information here.

March 19: The Leon Levy Center for Biography’s Second Annual Conference will feature Arnold Rampersand (left), author of books on Ralph Ellison, Jackie Robinson, and a two-volume biography of Langston Hughes, as keynote speaker. Open to the public. 10:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. at the Graduate Center. More information on the LLCB website; the schedule is here.

For the last three years, the Foundation has brought together archivists from institutions that have received a Leon Levy Archives and Catalogues grant. These annual roundtables not only provide an opportunity for participants to discuss topical issues and learn from each other, but also to visit the premises of a grantee. Last year, the archives of the Museum of Modern Art hosted the event.

In February, 2010, the Center for Jewish History provided the venue (left), and Chief Operating Officer Michael Glickman related how the processing of the papers of Rafael Lempkin — the man who coined the term “genocide” – led to a conference, an exhibition, public programs and a website. And Tiffany Nixon, archivist of the Roundabout Theatre, which is starting an institutional archive with Foundation funding, talked about ”Ten Lessons I’ve Learned Collecting ‘Lost’ Archival Treasures.”

 

When considering a new program, the Leon Levy Foundation often convenes groups of experts for advice. That’s what happened in early February, 2010, when several distinguished archaeologists, museum directors, and curators from around the world gathered at the Foundation’s offices. Led by the Foundation’s Special Advisor, Philippe de Montebello, they discussed how best to make available the trove of unpublished information from important ancient world sites excavated under “partage” agreements. The partage system, through which western universities and museums worked in concert with host countries on digs, then divided the discoveries, was at its height at the turn of the last century. Many of the most important sites of the ancient world were excavated through these partnerships, which continue even today. The Foundation hopes to play a leadership role in making this information available to scholars around the world.

The January-February 2010 issue of Playbill describes the digitization project at the New York Philharmonic archives that will allow scholars — and the public — to explore the orchestra’s rich history. Funded by the Leon Levy Foundation, the project is expected to be a model for other arts institutions striving to make the contents of their institutional archives available to scholars and the public.

Read the article here.

In early December, 2009, work began on the first phase of the most significant landscape restoration project ever undertaken in Prospect Park, when city and park officials broke ground on a 26-acre area that will be returned to the historic design originally envisioned by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.

With a $10 million grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, Prospect Park is reconstructing a portion of Prospect Lake, building a boat dock and stone terrace, and providing pedestrian access to the Lakeside project.

Read more from The New York Times here.

Read the press release from Prospect Park here.