MUUS Collection is thrilled to announce the donation of the Fred W. McDarrah Estate to The New York Historical, New York’s first museum and one of the premier institutions for historical research and exhibitions in the United States. Following the success of the exhibition, Fred W. McDarrah: Pride and Protest, currently on view, The New York Historical has added the McDarrah Estate to its permanent collections, including approximately 51,000 prints, over 200,000 negatives, 9,000 contact sheets, and related ephemera.After acquiring the estate in 2019, MUUS has elevated McDarrah’s legacy through exhibitions, scholarship, and extensive research of the archive, which has led to discoveries, including uncovering the historic significance of McDarrah’s 1966 Sip-In photograph, an act of protest inspired by the Civil Rights sit-ins. In addition to McDarrah’s documentation of gay liberation (including the Stonewall Uprising and never-before-seen images of influential activist Marsha P. Johnson), the archive also encompasses a range of social, political, and artistic phenomena spanning several decades. Included are portraits and candid imagery of the New York City artist community; pivotal moments in United States history, such as the March on Washington and the Vietnam War Protests; images of AndyWarhol’s Factory; photographs of Bob Dylan; and images documenting the shifting landscape and developing architecture in New York City.
In addition to the nearly quarter-million images donated to The Historical, MUUS is providing all corresponding digital material, including a meticulously catalogued digital database.
Sophie Wright, Executive Director of MUUS Collection: “The MUUS Collection is the custodian of a number of archives of twentieth century American photography. We thoroughly catalogue and research the work in our collection while supporting programming that brings it to new audiences. To that end, we are thrilled that the McDarrah archive has found a permanent home, in the collection of The New York Historical after its successful exhibition, where it will be enjoyed by visitors for years to come.”
Michael W. Sonnenfeldt, Founder of MUUS Collection: “When we take on an archive, we make a commitment to the family of the artist that we will not only uphold but transform their legacy. I’m thrilled that we have succeeded in our goal: to have exhibited McDarrah’s work internationally, bringing unknown or rarely seen works out of the archive, and generating new interest as a result. We are confident that The New York Historical will continue to exhibit these wonderful photographs and make them available for further scholarship as important documents of history.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Fred McDarrah’s archive into our collection at The New York Historical,” said Louise Mirrer, president and CEO, The New York Historical. “This is a transformative gift that will provide historians and researchers with new insights into LGBTQ+history as well as life in Greenwich Village in the second half of the 20th century. We are grateful to MUUS for entrusting us with McDarrah’s legacy for future generations.”
Fred W. McDarrah: Pride and Protest is on view at The New York Historical until July 13, 2025. It was first presented by MUUS at Paris Photo in November 2023 and was originally curated by Vince Aletti. It was curated at The New York Historical by Marilyn Satin Kushner, former curator and head, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, who played a lead role in facilitating the donation of the McDarrah Collection to The Historical; Rebecca Klassen, curator of material culture; and Jeanne Gutierrez, curatorial scholar in women’s history.
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