Upcoming Events

Getting to Know Pinkster, the Country's Oldest African American Celebration (Virtual Presentation)
Thursday, March 23rd, 2023 from 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM on Zoom

​Pinkster is the Dutch word for the Christian religious holiday of Pentecost that takes place 50 days after Easter.

But for the enslaved and free people of African descent, for whom the celebration is most remembered, it began the Monday after and lasted three to five days. It was celebrated all over the Dutch colony of New Netherland and New York from the 17th through the early 19th century. The celebration was unique among New York’s historical holidays as it incorporated rituals and traditions that Africans brought with them to this continent.

Learn about this lesser-known aspect of New York’s early history at a special Zoom presentation with Lavada Nahon, Interpreter of African American History for New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Event is FREE - Register here.

Delft Tile Tour
Saturday, April 8th, 2023 from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Led by docent Paul Herther, take the chance to learn about the finely crafted Dutch tiles that graced early American fireplaces.

This tour includes an informational talk and a behind-the-scenes look at unseen tiles in the museum’s collection.

​Tickets are $10 and available for purchase on Eventbrite.

Tibbets Estuary Tapestry Exhibit
On view from December 10th, 2022 through March 2023

Visit the museum through March 2023 to view the Tibbets Estuary Tapestry and the Bronx Quilt made at the museum in the 1980s.

From City as Living Laboratory:
In late 2021, nearly 100 volunteers were invited to realize in embroidery their visions of a greener, more connected Northwest Bronx. This project, led by artists Ana de la Cueva and Matthew López-Jensen, has seen these individual squares be assembled into a grand map of the community, united in its diversity and its call for transformative green infrastructure. This communal process was intended to ignite peoples’ imaginations and point to real opportunities for modest interventions that collectively could change the urban landscape in significant ways and make it more sustainable through greening and storm-water capture.

Previous Events

Delft Tile Tour
Saturday, January 14th, 2023 from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Led by docent Paul Herther, take the chance to learn about the finely crafted Dutch tiles that graced early American fireplaces.

This tour includes an informational talk and a behind-the-scenes look at unseen tiles in the museum’s collection.

​Tickets are $10 and available for purchase on Eventbrite.

Wool Spinning Workshop for Beginners
Sunday, November 6th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

Learn to make thread the ancient way--by spinning wool fibers on a drop spindle and a spinning wheel. No experience necessary.

Taught by instructor Celeste Sherry, participants will make their own drop spindles and learn how to spin wool into yarn; they will go home with a wooden drop spindle, printed instructions, and a small supply of wool fiber.

Tickets are $22 -  Click here to purchase.

Delft Tile Tour of Van Cortlandt House
Saturday, October 8th from 11:00 to 12:30 PM

​Get a behind-the-scenes tour and close-up look of the Delft tiles that decorate Van Cortlandt House Museum's period rooms.

Experienced docent Paul Herther will conduct a guided tour of the museum’s delft tiles, including those on display and those previously unseen by the public within our collection.

Tickets are $10 - Click here to purchase.

Barefoot Dancing
Saturday, September 17th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

Jazz in the Park: The Wayne Escoffery Organ Quartet
Thursday, September 8th from 5:00 to 7:00 PM

FREE Bronx Arts Ensemble Concert: Caribbean Music and More
Saturday, August 27th from 2:00 to 3:00 


From Jamaican and Haitian folk songs to Florence Price’s monumental Five Folksongs in Counterpoint, the Bronx Arts Ensemble String Quartet celebrates the works of Black composers and musicians in the Americas and more.
 
Bring a blanket or chair to enjoy this free concert on the lawn of the Van Cortlandt House Museum.

​More information here.

FREE Bronx Arts Ensemble Concert: North American Redux
Saturday, August 20th from 2:00 to 3:00 

​FREE concert of works by historic and living North American composers. Music from Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha to works by living Canadian and Mexican composers.
 
Bring a blanket or chair and spend an afternoon with the Bronx Arts Ensemble Woodwind Quintet, enjoying music on the lawn of the Van Cortlandt House Museum.

​More information​ here.

Free Event: Brooklyn College Archaeological Field School Presents Objects Discovered in Van Cortlandt Park, Friday June 24th @ 1:00 PM.

​“Before the Van Cortlandts” Walking Tour

​Thursday, June 9th

7:00 to 7:45 PM

Meet at the flagpole by the Van Cortlandt House Museum
 
Free and Open to the Public
     Join us for a walk around the grounds of Van Cortlandt House Museum – to learn how today’s Van Cortlandt Park was home to an indigenous village, a Dutch settlement, English colonists and enslaved Africans.  The 17th century brought these worlds together all in a small patch of ground close to the Van Cortlandt House, making it one of New York City’s best preserved archaeological and historic sites.
   
     Van Cortlandt House Museum Director, Nick Dembowski, will present new research about the earliest recorded history of this area–the 1600s, when the clash of global empires upended the lives of local residents such as Adriaen van der Donck, Towachkack, Antone and others.  It is a dramatic and sometimes bloody history that is still relatively unknown.

     All are welcome at this free outdoor walking tour.  It will take place in the area around the Van Cortlandt House Museum from 7:00 – 7:45 PM on Thursday, June 9th.  Sunset is at 8:30 so it will remain light out after the event.  The walk will be short in terms of distance traveled.  We will meet at the flagpole between the Van Cortlandt House Museum and the athletic fields.  In case of bad weather please check vchm.org for an update.
 
     Van Cortlandt House Museum is located in Van Cortlandt Park just north of the 242nd Street #1 train station.  Free parking is available at the Van Cortlandt Parking lot near the Golf House.

     This event is presented in partnership with Van Cortlandt House Museum and the Kingsbridge Historical Society.  Please visit vchm.org or kingsbridgehistoricalsociety.org for more information.