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Join us as we explore the early history of New Amsterdam and celebrate the many diverse cultures that have created the most international city on earth

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NEW FROM THE NEW AMSTERDAM HISTORY CENTER:

THE NAHC BOOK TALK SERIES

The New Amsterdam History Center is pleased to announce the launch of the NAHC BOOK TALK SERIES. Several times a year, the series will feature authors speaking about their recently published books on a wide variety of topics related to the New Netherland colony and its center in New Amsterdam. These exciting events, which will be presented either online or in person, will introduce audiences to the latest and most interesting books about this important period in our nation’s history.

 

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Learn & Explore
Resources
Discover the unique interactive learning tools that will help you explore New Amsterdam then and New York now.
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Read
From Scholars & Historians
Read biographies, Dutch-American stories from the Hague, recaps of lectures, and articles from historians and scholars.
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Videos
Watch videos
Watch videos about the history of New Amsterdam and step back into the past. If you’ve missed lectures, you’ll find recordings of them here.
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Events
Join Us
Sign up and attend such events that include 17ᵗʰ-century music recitals, talks on what it was like to live in New York in the 1600s, and guided tours.
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News
Newsletters
Sign up for our newsletter to read new original content and hear about upcoming events.
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Get to Know Us
About NAHC
We have a mission, and we hope you’ll join us on our journey. Meet our Board of Directors and contributing scholars and Friends of NAHC.
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UPCOMING EVENTS

Newcomers -The Story of Anthony and Grietje and the Founding of New York
The exceptional tale of an unorthodox, seventeenth–century married couple whose rags-to-riches story fundamentally rewrites our knowledge of American history at its very beginnings.
6:30 PM - 6:30 PM
May 13, 2026

See What We Did in 2025!

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This year marks a remarkable convergence: the 400th anniversary of New Amsterdam and the 750th of Amsterdam—two cities whose legacies shaped modern ideals of tolerance, diversity, and freedom, even as they reveal the limits of those ideals.
Tolerance and Tension: New York and Amsterdam in the 17th Century
Debra Bruno, author of A Hudson Valley Reckoning in conversation with Eleanor Mire
Debra Bruno, author of A Hudson Valley Reckoning in conversation with Eleanor Mire
Maeve Kane, Associate Prof. of History at the State University of New York at Albany, will be speaking on Munsee Lenape Sovereignty And Survival From The 17th Century To The Present.
Munsee Lenape Sovereignty And Survival From The 17th Century To The Present
Russell Shorto Talks About His New Book, 'Taking Manhattan'
Russell Shorto Talks About His New Book, ‘Taking Manhattan’

Discover resources and virtual learning tools for everyone from schoolchildren to researchers and scholars

New Amsterdam History Center

Our Proprietary Tools Take You Back to Early New Amsterdam

We invite you to explore our tools and learn what New Amsterdam looked like and how people lived there

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    3D Tour of New Amsterdam
    Take a Tour

    Click on the 3D model and wander through the streets of early New Amsterdam, look in the windows of the houses, and meet the people who lived there.

     

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    Mapping Early New York
    Discover New Amsterdam

    Explore our database of residents, property records, shipping records, and detailed information about the colony.

     

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    The Castello Plan
    Looking into the past

    The Castello Plan was created in 1660. You will be able to swipe it to compare today’s map of New York City with the way New Amsterdam looked on the Castello Plan.

     

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01.

Learning from Experts

Our educational events and original stories will take you back to seventeenth-century New York

Our history partners share lectures, walking tours, and stories.  Join our mailing list to get invited to these exclusive events.
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Videos

Watch videos of past lectures and documentaries about early New Amsterdam

Bay of Manhattan
The merchant ship “Trouw” approaches Manhattan in the spring of 1661 by Len Tantillo (above)

Watch the videos from past lectures and documentaries from our partners on life in early New Amsterdam. Learn about cartography, how enslaved people’s lives differed from those in the Southern states, the “Little Ice Age” and New Netherland through art and history.
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Stories from the Hague

The New Amsterdam History Center's resources have no borders

We have developed relationships with a variety of historical organizations, including house museums, a historical environmental study group, and archival depositories. They’ve shared their rich articles and information with us here.
The New Amsterdam History Center has entered into a partnership with the National Archives in The Hague, NL, to publish a blog called Dutch-American Stories, twelve stories written by historian Jaap Jacobs,  and twelve by other experts in the field of Dutch-American Studies.
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