NEWSLETTER
Yonkers, N.Y. (02/04/25) — Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site and the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall are excited to host Russell Shorto, author of the best-selling Island at the Center of the World, on Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. for an evening celebrating the release of his new book Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events that Created New York and Shaped America (out March 4, 2025). Shorto will talk about his book, highlighting the experiences of women for International Women’s Day, then stay afterwards for a book signing. Optional wine & cheese event with Russell Shorto to follow. The talk will also be broadcast virtually via WebEx.
In 1664, the English wrested control of New Netherland from the Dutch, completing a burgeoning colonial empire that stretched from New England to Virginia. Locals like the Philipse family went from Dutch to English with the stroke of a pen. But while politics can change in an instant, cultural change takes much longer. Join us for a talk with Russell Shorto on his new book. Bristling with vibrant characters, Taking Manhattan reveals the founding of New York to be an invention, the result of creative negotiations that would blend the multiethnic, capitalistic society of New Amsterdam with the power of the rising English empire. The book draws from newly translated materials and illuminates neglected histories — of religious refugees, Indigenous tribes, and free and enslaved Africans.
In honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, Shorto will also highlight the impact of this change on the colony’s free women, like Philipse family matriarch Margaret Hardenbroek, as they went from Dutch citizens and business owners with numerous legal rights, to the virtual property of their now-English husbands and fathers.
Taking Manhattan tells the riveting story of the birth of New York City as a center of capitalism and pluralism, a foundation from which America would rise. It also shows how the paradox of New York’s origins — boundless opportunity coupled with subjugation and displacement — reflects America’s promise and failure to this day.
Russell Shorto, author of the bestsellers Smalltime, Revolution Song, Amsterdam, and The Island at the Center of the World, is the director of the New Amsterdam Project at The New York Historical. He lives in Maryland. You can learn more at www.russellshorto.com.
Following the talk Shorto will be available for a book signing and copies of Taking Manhattan and Island at the Center of the World will be available for sale in the Philipse Manor Hall gift shop. Copies of Taking Manhattan may also be pre-ordered through the museum.
Tickets for the in-person talk are $30 for Friends of Philipse Manor Hall members and $40 for non-members and include museum admission and access to the book signing. Tickets including the wine and cheese event with Russell Shorto are $35 for Friends members and $55 for non-members. Tickets for virtual access are free for Friends of Philipse Manor Hall members, $30 for non-members, and $10 for students and educators.
The full schedule as well as in-person tickets and virtual registration are available at https://www.philipsemanorhall.com/programs-and-events/taking-manhattan-book-talk-and-signing-with-russell-shorto
About the Friends of Philipse Manor Hall:
The Friends of Philipse Manor Hall, Inc. is dedicated to supporting and enhancing Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site. Friends of Philipse Manor Hall offers a variety of events and activities throughout the year, from family-friendly festivals to lectures, concerts, and movie nights. The organization’s goal is to foster public interest in and support for Philipse Manor Hall, to make PMH more accessible and inviting to the local community, and to provide funds and volunteers for programs and activities offered by the site staff. Learn more at www.friendsofphilipsemanorhall.org.
About Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site, located at 29 Warburton Ave., Yonkers, NY, 10701, is open for tours Wednesdays through Sundays, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Dating back to the 1680s, Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site sits near the confluence of the Nepperhan (Saw Mill) and Hudson Rivers, the site of a Munsee Lunaape village. Used by four generations of the Philipse family and worked by the people they enslaved as well as European tenant farmers, the Philipse Manor was once over 200,000 acres and helped make the Philipse family the richest in New York. Loyalists during the American Revolution, they fled to England and the Hall was owned by several individuals before becoming the Yonkers Village Hall and later Yonkers City Hall. When a new City Hall was built in the early 20th century, the house was preserved through the generosity of Eva Smith Cochran and donated to New York State to serve as a historic site. Today, Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site provides visitors with a balanced approach to interpreting the lives of Indigenous, European, and African people to understand the complex relationships that took place at the Manor from the earliest days of the Dutch Colony of New Netherland to the American Revolution and beyond. Learn more at Philipse Manor Hall's Virtual Wing at www.philipsemanorhall.com.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, and welcomes over 88 million visitors annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, visit parks.ny.gov, download the free NY State Parks Explorer app or call 518.474.0456. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, the OPRHP Blog or via the OPRHP Newsroom.
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Contact: Sarah Wassberg Johnson, programs and education manager, Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site | Sarah.Johnson@parks.ny.gov | (914) 965-4027