[upbeat music] - Welcome to Let's Learn Living History, my name is Miss Chayney, and today we're in the gallery of Tiffany lamps here at New York Historical Society.

You may have noticed that I'm wearing clothes a bit different from clothes that you and I would wear today.

These are clothes from about 100 years ago.

Clothes that would've been worn by the women who designed the lamps behind me, the Tiffany Girls.

First we'll start with a few vocabulary words, to help us on our way.

First, lampshade.

A lampshade covers a light bulb to keep the light from shining directly into your eyes.

Second, stained glass.

Stained glass is glass that is colored either by painting or through chemicals.

Third, mosaic.

Have you ever done a puzzle before?

It's very similar.

A lot of small pieces that come together to create a big, beautiful picture.

There were four steps to creating these lamps, and they were all done at Tiffany Studios.

The first step is making the glass, which is just heated up sand.

The second step to making these lamps was designing the lamp and making a pattern.

Each lamp design started out as a watercolor, then it was turned into a 3D model made of plaster.

Once that was approved, it was then turned into a pattern.

Third step was glass selection and glass cutting.

Artisans would select glass such as these to then cut them according to the pattern.

The fourth and final step was to assemble the lamp by gluing the pieces together using metal and heat in a process called soldering.

The Tiffany Girls of Tiffany Studios were a group of women who worked together to design Tiffany lamps, such as the ones behind me.

They primarily worked on designing the lamps as well as selecting the glass and then cutting it into the different patterns.

The Tiffany Girls had work opportunities that other women in the early 1900s did not have.

For example, they were able to work as artists and they could earn the same amount of money as a man at Tiffany Studios.

They also had opportunities to gain larger positions within Tiffany Studios.

For example, Clara Driscoll, who led the women's glass cutting department.

Now let's take a closer look at the lamps.

This lamp was designed by Clara Driscoll.

I spy with my little eye a white petal.

I also spy with my little eye a stem.

These three have something in common, can you spot the similarity?

That's right, they're all flowers.

Here we have yellow daffodils, black-eyed Susans, and my favorite, dogwood.

Let's take a look at this lampshade.

What do you notice about the pattern?

It's not flowers.

I see eyes, I also see wings, and a body.

It's a dragonfly.

Thank you for joining us as we explore the fascinating history of Tiffany lamps here at New York Historical Society.