Calendar of Events

All Virtual Events are recorded and posted to the Museum’s YouTube page.

SEPTEMBER

Saturday, September 5, 1:30 p.m.
Walking Tour: The Tredwells’ World of 19th Century Noho

With the 1825 opening of the Erie Canal, the city’s economy boomed and wealthy merchant families escaped the increasing noise, congestion, and commercialization of the seaport area to move “uptown,” to what is now modern day NoHo, then an exclusive residential enclave. Join us as we explore the Tredwells’ elite neighborhood and discover what life was like for the wealthy merchant class in the mid-19th century. $20, FREE for Members. Reservations strongly recommended. Purchase “Walking Tour” tickets.

Walking tours are 90 minutes and meet next door to the Merchant’s House in Manuel Plaza.

 

Thursday, September 17, 12:00 p.m.
Freedom’s Edge: Greenwich Village and the American Revolution
Walking Tour Co-sponsored by Village Preservation

Whose freedom, exactly, did the American Revolution promise? The answer is written into the streets and shoreline of Greenwich Village itself. Before the Village was bohemian, fashionable, and a nightlife destination, it was a front line. In 1776, the Hudson River waterfront was simultaneously a military corridor, a labor ground for enslaved Black workers, and for some a potential pathway to freedom.

This 90-minute walking tour traces sites along the Village waterfront and inland streets where the promises and betrayals of the American Revolution played out in real time. The ground tells the story. Come walk it.

Free walking tour. Registration required. Register Here.

 

Friday, September 18, 3 p.m.
Guided House Tour: Healthcare in Tredwell Times

Curious about healthcare in the 19th century and the illnesses that affected New Yorkers during that era? On this afternoon tour, we’ll explore the diseases and treatments common in 19th century New York. Drawing from firsthand accounts and historical sources, we’ll learn about major outbreaks of cholera, diphtheria, typhoid fever, and the recorded causes of death within the Tredwell family, along with the types of medical care they might have received. This tour will also highlight how the Civil War spurred significant medical advancements and changed the way physicians and nurses were trained.

60-75 minutes. $20, $10 MHM Members. Purchase “Healthcare Tour” tickets.

 

Saturday, September 19, 10 a.m.
Members Only Garden Tour

Just for Merchant’s House and Village Preservation Members, enjoy a fall morning in our 19th century garden with Head Gardener John Rommel. A plant sale will take place after the tour. Light refreshments will be served.

Not a member? Join today!
Free; register for Members Only Garden Tour.

 

Saturday, September 19, 4 p.m.
Ghostly Women of Greenwich Village Walking Tour
Co-Sponsored by Boroughs of the Dead

In honor of Gertrude Tredwell’s 186th birthday, meet the ghostly women of Greenwich Village on this 90-minute walking tour that explores the haunting histories of the neighborhood’s most iconic female ghosts.

Why are women at the heart of so many ghost stories? The “woman in white” is a staple of ghost lore, but why does she haunt us so powerfully? On this tour we’ll discuss the prevalence and significance of women in ghost lore as we share the stories of Gertrude Tredwell, the women of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, Edith Wharton, Rose Butler, Jan Bryant Bartell, Theodosia Burr, and more.

Explore the real history behind the legends, stereotypes, and myths. Find out what these stories reveal about us, and why they haunt us. Do these ghostly women in some way achieve an agency that was denied to them in life, their unsilenced voices and unforgotten tales giving them, in an ironic way, a lasting power? How do their ghostly legacies interplay with their real, lived experiences? This tour provides a unique exploration of the intersection of gender and ghost lore unlike any other tour in the city.

Created and led by Andrea Janes, founder of Boroughs of the Dead and co-author of the Stoker-nominated A Haunted History of Invisible Women, this is New York City’s first (and only!) feminist ghost tour.

4 p.m. – pre-tour access to the Merchant’s House Museum
5 p.m. – tour begins in Manuel Plaza (35 East 4th Street)

90 minutes, reservations required. $50; purchase “Ghostly Women of Greenwich Village” Walking Tour Tickets.

 

Wednesday, September 30, 6:00 p.m.
Death Matters: From Your Parlor to Ours -The Growth of the Neighborhood Funeral Home
In-Person Talk Co-sponsored by Village Preservation

Join Village Preservation and the Merchant’s House Museum for this special edition in-person installment of the Merchant’s House Museum’s series Death Matters. In the Death Matters series, thanatologist Matilda Garrido interviews those working in the fields of end of life and beyond. This is a unique chance to explore the historical perspectives, emerging ideas, and join in an open discussion around topics usually hidden.

To help mark the centennial of the Greenwich Village Funeral Home, Matilda will be in discussion with Peter DeLuca, President of the Greenwich Village Funeral Home. They will examine how funerals transitioned from in-home services in the 19th century to the modern funeral home as end-of-life practices became more professionalized.

These institutions, such as the Greenwich Village Funeral Home, are interwoven into the community and provide a critically important service. Exploring the last one hundred years of the Greenwich Village Funeral Home is a unique chance to also learn about how our neighborhoods have evolved and changed over the last century.

In-person talk hosted at Greenwich Village Funeral Home (199 Bleecker Street). Registration required. Register Here.

 

OCTOBER

Saturday, October 3, 7 p.m.
East Village Ghosts Walking Tour
Co-Sponsored by Boroughs of the Dead

The East Village is legendary in its own right, known for its unique cultural history spanning from the 17th century Dutch colony to the rich immigrant history of the 19th and early 20th centuries, up to its punk scenes of the 1970s and 80s and more recent, gentrified, iterations. Throughout all this tumultuous history, one thing has remained unchanged: it is very, very haunted.

This tour presents a haunting history of the neighborhood, reflecting its changing scenes and colorful characters through a ghostly lens. We’ll start our tour at the Merchant’s House –”Manahattan’s Most Haunted House – then continue through the neighborhood. You’ll hear all about the one-legged phantom of Peter Stuyvesant, discover some crabby spectral librarians at the former Astor Library (now Joe’s Public Theater), and debate the existence of the afterlife on Harry Houdini’s old stomping grounds.

A fun, slightly creepy, sometimes cheeky look at the collective ghosts of a neighborhood that often flirts on the edge of self-parody, but still contains an undeniable fascination and profound historical significance.

6 p.m. – pre-tour access to the Merchant’s House Museum
7 p.m. – tour begins in Manuel Plaza (35 East 4th Street)

90 minutes, reservations required. $40; purchase “East Village Ghosts” Walking Tour Tickets.

Wednesday, October 7 – Sunday, November 1
Exhibition – “Truly We Live in a Dying World:” A 19th Century Home in Mourning

Including rarely exhibited items of Tredwell family mourning dress and accessories from the collection.
Step back in time to 1865, when family patriarch Seabury Tredwell died at home in his second floor bedroom. Poignant scenes of death and grief recreated in the House will explore mid-19th century mourning customs. Pay your last respects at his deathbed upstairs, or join the mourning in the double parlor, hung with black crepe curtains and set for a mid-19th century funeral. Also on display, mourning accessories from the Tredwell collection. Included with regular admission.

October 2026 Ghost Tours

Friday, October 16 & Saturday, October 17
Friday, October 23 & Saturday, October 24
Thursday, October 29 & Friday, October 30

Candlelight Ghost Tours
50-minute tours begin every half hour, 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Doors slam, floorboards creak, voices call into the dead of night. Venture into “Manhattan’s Most Haunted House” by flickering candlelight to hear chilling – and true – tales of decades of otherworldly activity in the house, the results of years of paranormal investigations – and the latest stunning scientific findings.

The Tredwell family lived at 29 East 4th Street for nearly 100 years, and at least eight people died in the house. Reports of strange and inexplicable occurrences have been widespread since Gertrude, the last surviving Tredwell, died in 1933. Is it Gertrude who is watching over her family home? Join us and decide for yourself.
$45; $35 MHM Members. Purchase Candlelight Ghost Tour Tickets.

SUPER SPOOKY Candlelight Ghost Tours with Paranormal Investigator Dan Sturges
90-minute tour begins 9:30 p.m.

In 2020, the museum closed due to COVID-19, leaving the house empty of staff and visitors. Dan Sturges, who has undertaken paranormal investigations at the Merchant’s House for 15 years, teamed up with neuroscientist Dr. Lee to conduct scientific research using specialized equipment custom-built for the house. Mounting fact-based evidence points to the very likely reality of paranormal activity at the Merchant’s House.

Join paranormal investigator Dan Sturges on a 90-minute In-Person SUPER SPOOKY Candlelight Ghost Tour for an in-depth look at the latest research and findings. Dan is the founder of Sturges Paranormal and appears on the Travel Channel’s weekly series, Paranormal Caught on Camera. He has performed investigations at the Merchant’s House – and documented his spine-chilling findings – since 2007.

$70; $60 MHM Members. Purchase SUPER SPOOKY Ghost Tour Tickets.

NOVEMBER

Tuesday, November 24 – Sunday, January 3 
A Christmas Carol at the Merchant’s House

This holiday season, Summoners Ensemble Theatre and the Merchant’s House Museum celebrate 14 years of A Christmas Carol at the Merchant’s House. In December 1867, Charles Dickens arrived in New York City for a month of sold-out performances of his beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. As the New York Herald exclaimed, “The Christmas Carol becomes doubly enchanting when one hears it performed by Dickens.” Join Mr. Dickens, portrayed by John Kevin Jones and Vince Gatton (at alternating performances), as he tells his timeless Christmas tale in the elegant intact Greek Revival double parlor of the landmark 1832 Merchant’s House Museum.

Surrounded by 19th century holiday decorations, flickering candles, and richly appointed period furnishings, audiences will be transported back 150 years in this captivating 70 minute performance created from Dickens’ own script.

Tues., Nov. 24 — 7 p.m.
Wed., Nov. 25 — 7 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 27 — 7 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 28 — 6 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 28 — 8 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 29 — 6 p.m.

Tickets $50-$130. Purchase A Christmas Carol Tickets.

Friday, November 27 – Sunday, January 7
Special Holiday Exhibition –
Christmas Comes to Old New York

In the early 19th century, Christmas, as we know it, had not yet been invented. Most New Yorkers did their celebrating on January 1, continuing the Old Dutch tradition of making New Year’s Day calls on friends and neighbors. Over the next fifty years, new traditions took hold: from Santa Claus, stockings, and presents; to holiday feasting; to Christmas trees decorated with lights and ornaments; to holly and evergreen garlands decking the halls; to Christmas songs and carols. Many of these traditions were popularized right here in New York City, and quickly spread throughout the country.

Journey back in time to the 1850s and join the Tredwells for Christmas in Old New York. The house is decorated with swags of evergreens, brilliant holly berries, white mistletoe, and red-leafed poinsettias, as the family prepares for the season. Also on display, a selection of holiday gifts from the Tredwell collection.

DECEMBER

Through Sunday, January 3 
A Christmas Carol at the Merchant’s House

This holiday season, Summoners Ensemble Theatre and the Merchant’s House Museum celebrate 14 years of A Christmas Carol at the Merchant’s House. In December 1867, Charles Dickens arrived in New York City for a month of sold-out performances of his beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. As the New York Herald exclaimed, “The Christmas Carol becomes doubly enchanting when one hears it performed by Dickens.” Join Mr. Dickens, portrayed by John Kevin Jones and Vince Gatton (at alternating performances), as he tells his timeless Christmas tale in the elegant intact Greek Revival double parlor of the landmark 1832 Merchant’s House Museum.

Surrounded by 19th century holiday decorations, flickering candles, and richly appointed period furnishings, audiences will be transported back 150 years in this captivating 70 minute performance created from Dickens’ own script.

*A Christmas Reception with Mr. Dickens! Toast the season with a cup of “Smoking Bishop” (mulled wine) and enjoy a special performance of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Mr. Dickens himself. The 19th century family room, kitchen, and garden (weather permitting) will be open to guests during the reception. Tickets $35. Select performances only. Limited capacity. Doors open 60 minutes prior to performance for Reception.

Through Sunday, January 7
Special Holiday Exhibition –
Christmas Comes to Old New York

In the early 19th century, Christmas, as we know it, had not yet been invented. Most New Yorkers did their celebrating on January 1, continuing the Old Dutch tradition of making New Year’s Day calls on friends and neighbors. Over the next fifty years, new traditions took hold: from Santa Claus, stockings, and presents; to holiday feasting; to Christmas trees decorated with lights and ornaments; to holly and evergreen garlands decking the halls; to Christmas songs and carols. Many of these traditions were popularized right here in New York City, and quickly spread throughout the country.

Journey back in time to the 1850s and join the Tredwells for Christmas in Old New York. The house is decorated with swags of evergreens, brilliant holly berries, white mistletoe, and red-leafed poinsettias, as the family prepares for the season. Also on display, a selection of holiday gifts from the Tredwell collection.

Current Exhibitions

Exhibitions are included with regular museum admission. 

Abolition and the Underground Railroad in Pro-Slavery New York City, 1820s-1830s

Three years of research has revealed that wealthy merchant Joseph Brewster, a fervent abolitionist, designed and built the Merchant’s House in 1832 to include a hidden passageway as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Even after New York State abolished slavery, in 1827, the city’s economy remained deeply entangled with the slave South. Anti-slavery activity was dangerous and, of necessity, carried out in secret.

The passageway is concealed beneath a built-in chest of drawers on the bedroom floor and descends 15 feet to the ground floor pantry. This exhibition presents the Museum’s remarkable discovery and traces the broader story of early abolitionism in New York City during the 1820s and 1830s.

The Merchant’s House is the only known intact Underground Railroad site open to the public in Manhattan.


Tredwell Costume Collection: Spring and Summer Dress (MHM 2002.0840)

This two piece dress features a bell-shaped skirt, a shortened bodice, and long sleeves, reflecting a transitional style between the 1850s and 1860s. The fabric replicates an ikat motif, printed with synthetic aniline dyes.


Tredwell Costume Collection: Lingerie Dress (MHM 2002.0824)

This lingerie dress on display is of embroidered cotton, was probably white at one time but has become darker with age. Perhaps the woman’s garment that was most representative of the Edwardian era, these dresses were made of lightweight cotton, and sometimes in linen or silk, and always trimmed with insets of lace, as was the lingerie of the period.

 

 

 

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