19th Century Photographs

[Women and little girl in garden], circa 1900, v1985.4.38; William Koch glass plate negatives, v1985.4; Brooklyn Historical Society.

One strength of Brooklyn Historical Society’s vast collections is the 19^th Century Brooklyn photographs. The photo of the week is from one of those collections--the William Koch glass plate negatives collection-- and depicts a woman and little girl in a garden in Brooklyn, around the late 1890s. Glass plate negatives were a popular photography format during this time and required a light-sensitive emulsion thinly layered on a piece of glass. Because of their fragility, glass plate negatives are vulnerable to scratching and flaking, which you can see on the left side of this frame.

The William Koch glass plate negatives collection is comprised of 66 photographs from 1890 to 1925 that document homes, farms, street scenes, and informal portraits throughout Brooklyn. To see more photographs from this collection, check out this gallery. Additional 19^th century photography collections include Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection, Emmanuel house lantern slide collection, and Ralph Irving Lloyd lantern slides.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org