Museum to Prep Would-Be U.S. Citizens with Scavenger Hunt, Exhibitions

By Nicole Levy, UPPER WEST SIDE — Studying for your naturalization exam is now as easy as a trip to the museum. As part of a new initiative to help the New York region’s more than 1 million legal immigrants prepare for American citizenship, the New-York Historical Society will invite visitors to participate in a “scavenger hunt” that tests their knowledge of American history and civics with questions based on artifacts, documents and art on display in museum exhibitions. The Society will launch The Citizenship Project this summer in partnership with CUNY. The initiative will also offer free civics and history workshops to prepare green-card holders taking the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization exam. The workshops will use items in the museum’s collections as teaching materials, and students can choose between three options based on their schedules: a weekend immersion, evening or weekday program. “At New-York Historical, we believe in an inclusive ‘We the People,’ welcoming immigrants as well as those born in the United States to a nation whose motto is, after all, E pluribus unum —out of many, one,” New-York Historical Society CEO and president Dr. Louise Mirrer said in a statement. “With our vast collections and a talented team of educators already serving more than 200,000 New York City public school children annually, we are uniquely positioned to help immigrants learn and understand the requirements and responsibilities of American citizenship.” Relevant museum exhibitions include one focused on American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson and another profiling the women who helped shape the U.S. Constitution behind the scenes. The society also offers free digital resources, covering a broad selection of U.S. policy subjects and government functions, to serve as study aids. dnainfo.com/new.