Nora Thompson Dean: Lenape Teacher and Herbalist
June 6 through September 17, 2023
An exhibition in the Rotunda of the 1906 Library and an installation in the Morgan Garden, developed collaboratively with the Lenape Center and Hudson Valley Farm Hub, honors Nora Thompson Dean (1907–1984), a Lenape teacher and herbalist who worked to preserve Lenape culture. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Dean made multiple influential visits to Lenapehoking, the ancestral lands of the Lenape (an area that now encompasses New Jersey and sections of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut). The exhibition, incorporating letters, photographs, and printed materials, sheds light on different aspects of Nora Thompson Dean's life and teaching. It is complemented by an installation of plants important to the Lenape in the Morgan Garden, including corn, squash, and beans.
This exhibition and garden installation is organized by the Morgan Library & Museum in collaboration with The Lenape Center and the Hudson Valley Farm Hub. It is made possible by the Sherman Fairchild Fund for Exhibitions.
Through a partnership with Google Arts & Culture, Lenapehoking, the first Lenape-curated exhibit on Lenape land, can now be accessed virtually. The virtual exhibit includes photos and descriptions of the pieces on display, historical context for the exhibition, and additional resources highlighting Lenape Center's work in resisting erasure and coming home to Lenapehoking.
Contributors to A Lenapehoking Anthology explore the personal journeys of people seeking welcome in their ancestral homeland while pushing back against their erasure.
(Recording available below)
An interview with Joe Baker and Hadrien Coumans about their collaboration with BKSK Architects in building the turtle shell above the former Tammany Hall, an intention to build civic understanding of people and place in Lenapehoking.
Live from NYPL - The Land We’re On: Living Lenapehoking
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