Edie ❤️ Thea display featured as part of larger ongoing exhibit highlighting historical treasures from the museum’s permanent collection spanning centuries of New York history.
Step into the world of Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer through some of their personal artifacts, now featured in the ongoing Objects Tell Stories exhibit at The New York Historical. This gallery explores New York’s rich history through remarkable items illustrating a variety of topics, including those that capture glimpses of Edie and Thea’s enduring romance and their remarkable lives. The Edie ❤️ Thea display is on view now through July 5, 2026.
Meet Willy, the childhood doll of Thea Spyer—a simple toy with a complex backstory. Willy wasn’t just a plaything; it was Thea’s confidant during her early years, traveling with her to New York as one of her only material possessions when her family fled the Netherlands at the beginning of WWII. Later, after Edie & Thea’s relationship bloomed in the 1960s, “Willy” became the fictional boyfriend of Edie (supposedly Thea’s brother) who served as a cover story if anyone at her IBM job asked Edie about her love life. The doll was recently professionally restored by conservation treatment with Boro 6 Art Conservation and independent textile conservator Shelley Greenspan. The restoration was made possible by support from the NYSCA/GHHN Conservation Treatment Program, the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, and the Coby Foundation.
Alongside Willy in the display sits Edie Windsor’s IBM Model 8573-121 portable computer, one of the first personal computers that could be carried around. Edie was one of the very first IBM employees to be given this computer for her own use. She wasn’t just an employee at IBM; she was a pioneer in a male-dominated field, one of the few entrusted with this cutting-edge technology. This “luggable” computer seems ancient next to today’s tech but would have been a status symbol for a high-level computer programmer and systems designer like Edie. Outside of her work for IBM, she also helped fledgling LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS advocacy groups harness the new PC technology to further their causes in the 1980s — particularly their member mailing lists as postal mail was at the time one of the few reliable ways to get the word out about the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Through these objects, visitors don’t just see artifacts—they feel the heartbeat of Edie and Thea’s journey. Together, Willy and the IBM computer as well as several other notable items from The New York Historical’s Edie & Thea collection weave a story of love, resilience, and the courage to live authentically. Visit The New York Historical to experience how personal treasures can reflect lives that helped shape history.
You can help support The New York Historical’s mission to collect, preserve, and display distinctive examples of New York history by making a donation on their website at nyhistory.org/join-and-give and by buying tickets to visit the museum in person.
The New York Historical’s Edith S. Windsor and Thea Spyer Collection was a gift of the Estate of Edith S. Windsor and Thea C. Spyer by The Judith M. Kasen Windsor Trust, donated in 2024.
