Photo: Todaro/FilmMagic

New York City Deadheads exchanged their tie-dyed shirts and electric kool-aid for suits, ties and wine glasses on Wednesday night as the New York Historical Society hosted a benefit gala for an upcoming exhibit honoring the history and legacy of the Grateful Dead. Approximately 300 donors munched on hors d’oeuvres while enjoying a first look at some of the items that will be featured in “The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New York Historical Society,” a one-of-a-kind tribute that opens March 5th, 2010, and runs through July 4th, 2010.

The exhibit features iconic memorabilia including original artwork, photographs, backstage passes, hand-decorated fan mail, and much more from the band’s career, which spans almost 50 years. Most of the items will be on loan from the recently opened Grateful Dead Archive, a special collection at the University of California Santa Cruz that houses thousands of pieces of memorabilia, each of which serves as what the Archive calls “evidence of the creative activity and integrity of the music of the Grateful Dead and the influence the band has had on contemporary social structure and music history.” (more…)

The Grateful Dead’s version of spring-cleaning will benefit the University of California Santa Cruz, as the college will now house the band’s entire archives, including correspondence and memorabilia the Dead accrued while spending decades criss-crossing the world. The archives do not include the band’s thousands and thousands of bootleg recordings. Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart are expected to announce the partnership with the university today at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium.

[Photo: Getty]