The Primetime Emmy Awards celebrated their 77th ceremony on September 14, 2025, while the Daytime Emmy Awards marked their 52nd ceremony on October 17, 2025.
The Emmy Awards were created by the Los Angeles–based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) to recognize excellence in a rapidly emerging medium. The first ceremony, held on January 25, 1949, honored local programming in Los Angeles. In 1955, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was founded in New York to serve East Coast members and oversee regional chapters. The Daytime Emmy Awards began in 1974, but by 1977 the two organizations had formally separated while continuing to share the Emmy award’s design and trademark.
The iconic statuette’s name is a modified form of “Immy,” an image orthicon tube once used in early TV cameras. The statuette was designed by engineer Louis McManus, modeled after his wife. The figure’s wings symbolize the muse of art, and the atom she holds represents the science of television, a symbolic fusion of creativity and technology.
This exhibit explores the origins, design, and enduring symbolism of the Emmy presentation award. On view are three original Emmy statuettes, alongside historic artifacts and documents that trace its evolution and process of creation.
Curated from the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture Collection, this exhibit includes objects on loan from Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor of Television, Radio, and Film at Syracuse University.
Curated by Stephen Singer and Abigail Traska.