A Gem in the Heights: The Hispanic Society on Audubon Terrace

Founded in 1904 by Archer M. Huntington, the Hispanic Society Museum & Library is one of New York's oldest cultural institutions. Free of charge, it is dedicated to giving greater voice and room to Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking cultures and communities and to inspiring, educating, and empowering a broad and diverse audience about the cultural heritage of the Hispanic world. Its museum and library collections are noted for their scope and quality, covering nearly every aspect of cultures in Spain, Latin America, Portugal, the Philippines, and the Portuguese Indias from the first millennium B.C. to the early 20th century, with works by artists including El Greco, Diego Velázques, Juan Rodríguez Juárez, Francisco Goya, Jose Campeche, Augustín Arrieta, Juaquin Sorolla, Jose Clemente Orozco, and Antoni Tàpies, sculptures by Pedro and Andrea de Mena, Luísa Roldán, and Caspicara, and masterpieces in the decorative arts. Its mission emphasizes inclusivity, welcoming initiatives and fostering collaborations across local communities, the New York metropolitan area, and national and international audiences. The institution stands on Audubon Terrace in Washington Heights, on land once owned by John James Audubon, who established a farm there in 1841 and called it "Minnie's Land." After his death in 1851, Lucy Audubon and their sons Victor and John developed the property into Audubon Park, a gated suburb of a dozen villas. In the second half of the 19th century, George Blake Grinnell acquired about two-thirds of the park's land and houses. After New York's subway arrived in 1904 and northern Manhattan urbanized, the Grinnell children sold the eastern part of their property to Huntington, who established the Hispanic Society there as the first of several museums on the terrace, and in 1908 the remaining land was sold to developers who built the apartment houses that still border Audubon Terrace.

New York, New York · United States