Atoms for Peace and Goodbye, Central Library
A Tough Rowhouse to Hoe: On Agriculture and Urban Development
April 1, 1949: A Day in Brooklyn Labor History
Contribute to our Brooklyn Resists Community Collecting Project
Wheeling in the Years: A Slice of Brooklyn Bicycle History
To close out National Bicycle Month, here's a little a celebration of bicycling in Brooklyn, from 1897 to the present.
The Librarian in Congress: The Life and Work of Major Owens
Representing Brooklyn From his roots as a librarian here at Brooklyn Public Library, to his ascent to the New York State Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, Major Owens' legacy is defined by his work as a tireless antipoverty reformer and as an advocate for education, civil rights, Americans with disabilities, workers' rights, and immigrants. As Brooklyn Public Library cautiously opens the doors to Central Library and a handful of other branches a little further this month, we are also unveiling renovations and improvements that have taken place during our…
National Library Outreach Day: On Bookmobiles and Fugitive Libraries
Brooklyn's First Black Elected Official: Bertram L. Baker
Before Shirley Chisholm or David Dinkins made history, Bertram L. Baker paved the way. If you've found yourself on Jefferson Avenue between Tompkins and Throop Avenues, you may have noticed street signs announcing his name. The first Black elected official from Brooklyn, Bertram L. Baker made his debut in the New York State Assembly in November 1948, where he would serve for the next twenty-two years. It was a milestone in Brooklyn history, but do you know his story, or what politics in the borough looked like when he was elected?
Take Two Shots and Call Me in the Morning: The Business of Selling Beer and Liquor
Hidden Ephemera in the Clippings Files
Beyond the stanchions, in the center of the Brooklyn Collection, sit two rows of cabinets. Clocking in at 110 drawers, they contain a collection of newspaper clippings that are finally getting some much-needed attention. The clippings files include folders with obscure labels such as "Local Color" and "Brooklyn Spirit", and the subjects they cover—the aforementioned included—are cataloged in a 447-page Word document. It is also one of our best-kept secrets. Though we use the clippings files to answer many reference questions, they are so sprawling and voluminous that even a…
A (Not So) Brief History of Red Hook
Shipyards, dry docks, and machine shops. The place with the IKEA and the Fairway. Home of the fabled wild dogs on Beard St. and the abandoned grain elevator. Former home of the Dell's Maraschino Factory and the Snapple Factory. A Brooklyn neighborhood with a "small town" feel, cobbled streets, and limited public transit. It's possible that no other section of the borough has been so readily defined by single facets of its complex character. A waterfront community with deep maritime and industrial roots, Red Hook—like many neighborhoods in Brooklyn—is in flux. This is vividly borne out…
Sister Sister
I love talking to the women in my life--truly a collection of the smartest and coolest people in the world--about everything, really, but a favorite topic is what unique qualities the bonds between women possess, and how much of it is forged in the fires of a patriarchal society. Relationships between women are complex, crucial, formative things. They leave indelible impressions, make us who we are, inform how we see ourselves, how we understand the world, and who we are in it. Though I hardly need a special occasion to marvel over how amazing women are, August 4th nonetheless delivers unto…