One significant yet challenging element of studying New York State is the centrality of its history to the broader sweep of American life. This prominence leaves many episodes in New York's past well-known and intensely studied. However, as the articles in the Winter 2022-2023 issue of New York History (103.2) reminds us, innovative methodologies and new documentary evidence ceaselessly open opportunities for fresh insights into the Empire State's rich past—from the social history of New Netherland to mid-twentieth-century design.