Valerie Paley is senior vice president and Sue Ann Weinberg Director of the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library at the New-York Historical Society, one of the oldest and most prestigious independent research libraries in the United States. Paley oversees the library’s extensive collections—which include outstanding materials dating from the 17th century to the present—as well as all aspects of the library’s programming and operations, including digitization projects, acquisitions, and increased access to the library’s holdings. Paley served as New-York Historical’s senior vice president and chief historian as well as the founding director of the Center for Women’s History, the first such center of its kind within the walls of an American museum, since 2017. She joined the institution in 2001 as the founding editor of the museum’s New-York Journal of American History, and has served in various capacities, including historian for special projects and dean of scholarly programs. She has curated and co-curated numerous exhibitions, including New York Rising, the original permanent installation in the Robert H. and Clarice Smith New York Gallery of American History after its 2011 renovation; Women March; Walk This Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes; and The Battle of Brooklyn, among others.
Valerie Paley
