Past Exhibitions – Main Gallery

  • The Fires: Hoboken 1978-1982
    January 22, 2023
    We are proud to announce two exhibits by photo-based artist and arts educator, Christopher López. “The Fires: Hoboken 1978-1982” shines a light on horrific events from Hoboken’s early period of gentrification. This visual and oral history project will be on…
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  • The Avenue: A History of Washington Street
    August 1, 2021 - December 23, 2022
    There's an old Hoboken saying: “If you can’t find it on Washington Street, you’re not looking hard enough.” Opening August 1: “The Avenue: A History of Washington Street,” traces century's worth of vibrant community and commercial life along Hoboken's main…
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  • Greetings from Hudson County: A Postcard History Then & Now
    January 27, 2019 - July 4, 2021
    “Greetings from Hudson County: Then and Now” comprises over 700 historic postcards from all 12 cities and towns of Hudson County, supplemented by an augmented reality (AR) app showing present-day views. Most of the postcards date from the Golden Age…
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  • World War I Centennial, 1917-2017: Heaven, Hell or Hoboken
    August 6, 2017 - December 23, 2018
    “World War I Centennial, 1917-2017: Heaven, Hell or Hoboken” explores how Hoboken and its residents were transformed by the United States entry into World War I on April 6, 1917. The city was declared the main point of embarkation for…
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  • Hoboken People and Places, 1976-1994: Photographs by Michael Flanagan
    January 22 – July 2, 2017
    When he moved to Hoboken in the mid-1970s, Michael Flanagan was already a seasoned photographer with a passion for developing his own prints through meticulous experimentation. His camera of choice was a large format, four-by-five-inch Linhof view camera, mounted on…
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  • Frank Sinatra Centennial
    August 2, 2015 – July 3, 2016
    Frank Sinatra: The Man, the Voice, and the Fans Honoring the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hoboken's most famous native son, the exhibition, "Frank Sinatra: The Man, the Voice, and the Fans," will open on Sunday, Aug. 2, with…
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  • The Extraordinary Stevens Family, A New Jersey Legacy: 1776-1911
    January 25 – July 5, 2015
    "The Extraordinary Stevens Family, A New Jersey Legacy: 1776-1911" detailed the lives and careers of two generations of the family The New York Times referred to as “one of New Jersey’s first families.” The Stevenses were inventors and designers, engineers…
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  • Hoboken, Ellis Island, and the Immigrant Experience, 1892-1924
    August 3, 2014 – December 23, 2014
    Click here to take an interactive virtual tour of the exhibit. If Hoboken seems crowded today, with a population just over 50,000, imagine how crowded it was between 1892 – 1924, the peak period of U.S. immigration. Following the Immigration…
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  • Hoboken: One Year After Sandy, Lessons Learned about Preparedness, Resiliency,…
    October 2013 - July 2014
    One year after Superstorm Sandy hit, Hoboken still bears the traces, some visible, some invisible. Many flooded homes have been repaired, others have not. Many residents spent days or months cleaning out their homes or businesses, or helping neighbors clean…
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  • Mapping the Territory: Hudson County in Maps, 1840-2013
    January – September 2013
    Most of us use maps to learn how to get to where we need to go, but maps can also tell us a lot about where we have been and how we arrived at our destination. Maps can convey as…
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  • I Belong: A History of Civic and Social Clubs in…
    July – December 2012
    Hoboken has always been a haven for newcomers. So perhaps it’s not surprising that from as early as the 1700s, social clubs have sprung up as a way for people to connect with others around shared interests. From purely social…
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  • Driving Under the Hudson: A History of the Holland and…
    January – June 2012
    Click here to take an interactive virtual tour of the exhibit. Through this exhibition, we celebrated the 85th anniversary of the Holland Tunnel and the 75th birthday of the Lincoln Tunnel. Love them for the access they provide to New…
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  • Yum Yum, Tootsie Rolls, and Chocolate Bunnies on Motorcycles... A…
    January – December 2011
    Buddy Valastro put Hoboken on the national culinary map with his popular TLC cable network show, “Cake Boss,” but did you know that Hoboken has been a confectionary powerhouse since the mid-19th century? It’s such a rich (and tasty) legacy,…
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  • Surveying the World: Keuffel & Esser + Hoboken, 1875–1968
    January - December 2010
    Hoboken’s Keuffel & Esser Made Instruments that Drove an Age of Progress K&E, the initials carved into the roofline of the building at the corner of Third & Adams, are the only visible trace of a company that played a…
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  • Up and Down the River: A History of the Hudson,…
    March – December 2009
    A hundred years ago, New York City threw a two-weeklong public celebration of a double anniversary: the tricentennial of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the river and the centennial (plus two) of Robert Fulton’s first successful steamboat crossing in 1807. One…
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  • Heaven, Hell or Hoboken: A City Transformed by World War…
    September 2008 – January 2009
    The designation as a port of embarkation meant national fame for Hoboken – General John J. Pershing’s promise to the troops that they’d be in “Heaven, Hell or Hoboken” by Christmas of 1917 became a national rallying cry for a…
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  • Greetings from Hoboken: A Postcard History
    January - August 2008
    Corresponding with the greatest growth spurt in Hoboken’s history, 1898 – 1930, a simple change in postage from 2 cents to 1 transformed the medium of souvenir postcards into a national craze. Known among collectors as the “Golden Age of…
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  • Hoboken Tunes: Our Musical Heritage
    July - December 2007
    Frank Sinatra may have put Hoboken on the world map, but his is not the only musical career this town has fostered. Stephen Foster lived here when he wrote I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair. A few…
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  • From Another Time: Hoboken in the 1970s
    January – July 2007
    A Trip Back to the Seventies: Imagine a Hoboken before the high-rise residential towers and ubiquitous nail salons, cell phone stores, realtors and shoe boutiques. This exhibit celebrates the Museum’s latest book, From Another Time: Hoboken in the 1970s, where…
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