new york historical society

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i went to the new york historical society today to see their new exhibit, grateful dead: now playing at the new york historical society. i had to go see an exhibit put on by the museum whose last exhibit was lincoln: the most beloved president new york ever hated.

this exhibit was smaller than the other two exhibits i have seen there. very concisely laid out and stepped you through how the grateful dead revolutionized the music industry with their interaction with fans and sound engineering, and control over their music.

the memorabilia was really neat. most of it had never left the grateful dead archive at the university of california santa cruz. what i found most surprising were all the fan letters that the band had saved. these fan letters were quite elaborately decorated. the grateful dead did the best to eliminate unauthorized merchandise. what i found interesting though is that some of the authorized memorabilia was first recognized when it was unauthorized. they recognized and enjoyed the importance of the feedback from fans. i loved that they had a grateful dead concert poster from hill auditorium in ann arbor, michigan where i went to college!

a very thorough, eclectic collection that will be sure to please any dead head or more amateur viewer.

times visited: 3
time in museum: 45 minutes
overall: B+

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