Genealogy Workshop Tonight April 7, 6 p.m.
Join us in the Central Library's Brooklyn Collection at 6 p.m. to uncover the secrets of your family history with genealogist Linda Jones.
Brooklynology Featured in New York Archives Magazine
I would tell everyone to rush out to the news stand immediately to pick up your copy of the Spring issue of New York Archives magazine, but--attractive as this publication of the New York State Education Department is--I don't think you can find it on every corner. Still, we are pleased to have rated a two-page spread in the "Archives Around New York" section of this well-designed organ of the Archives Partnership Trust. Hoping we can be forgiven for a moment of self-reflexivity, we offer a paragraph from the article, entitled Blogging the Archives, for the special…
Of Brooklyn Ferries
Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes!how curious you are to me!On the ferry-boats, the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose;Any you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence, are more to me, and more in my meditations than you might suppose.Walt Whitman, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" Looking at an image like this makes me pine for the era when travelling by ferry was the norm. While we have reference materials that will give you a thorough history of the ferry system (the many stops and…
Arts and Skills for Veterans
In 1944, as more and more American soldiers were returning home from war, the American Red Cross established a new volunteer sector: the Arts and Skills Corps. This program is included in the Eagle's post-war publication, Staging Area Brooklyn. It states that the Corps "resulted from increased awareness of the therapeutic problems of convalescents. Skilled and craftsmen, wearing the Red Cross uniform, helped men fill the long hours of convalescence with activities ranging from sculpture to photographs, programs that kept minds and hands busy in the fights against boredom…
The Brooklyn Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Annual reports of charitable institutions do not usually make riveting reading matter. The annual reports of the Brooklyn Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children form a compelling yet disturbing exception to the rule. Aside from the inevitable statistics and lists of donations, they contain photographs of some of the children brought to the notice of the Society, each one accompanied by a brief report of the circumstances surrounding the child's misfortune. Here are a few, offered without commentary: "From the Report for 1891 Case No. 9641--The…
Little Known Brooklyn Residents: Grandma Logan of Greenpoint
I am very content to live and work in the borough of Brooklyn, and wholeheartedly enjoy my provincial lifestyle. Occasionally months will pass before I travel across the river -- a running joke with my husband who commutes into Manhattan frequently. This probably reveals why the following headline caught my attention, from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, dated June 19, 1927. Mrs. Mary A. Logan lived a long, happy and peaceful life within the confines of three city blocks of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. When she first arrived in Greenpoint from Ireland in 1859 at the age of 21, the district was a…
Walter O'Malley and Robert Moses: The Loss of the Dodgers Reconsidered
Join us on Wednesday night March 24th, at 7pm for an illustrated talk by Robert E. Murphy. Lamenting the removal of the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1957 has been a major pastime among traumatized fans for 53 years. But who was to blame? After poring relentlessly through archives, original news stories, and government documents, Robert Murphy, author of After Many a Summer: The Passing of the Giants and Dodgers and a Golden Age in New York Baseball, gives the most fully-researched answer to that question yet offered. Seating is limited so come early to meet the author and enjoy wine and cheese…
That's Using your Noodle
Brooklyn was once renowned for producing beer, sugar, ships, and much more, but not many people know that it was also once famous for the manufacture of pasta. Brooklyn was pasta's gateway into America, as documented in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1886: …
Loyd's Puzzles
It’s nice to find some other visual specimen to rest the eyes upon in the ant nest that is late 19th century newspaper text—an illustration of crustacean jelly molds and cake tins, a diagram of celestial bodies in spring skies, the thoraxes of some silhouetted country home pitchers; anything to give a respite from that headachy, inky and—now—digitized type. That's why when I came across these images on page 26 of an 1896 Sunday edition of the Eagle I felt as though I had found some uninhabited moon world, as though the editor of the…
E.E. Rutter
Some may find this hard to believe but--librarians can make mistakes. Sometimes we know very little about the photographers whose works we find in our collections. Photographs by E.E. Rutter can be found not only in the collection of Brooklyn Public Library but also in Queens Borough Public Library and the Brooklyn Historical Society. A recent telephone call from a colleague in Queens alerted us to the fact that we may have been perpetuating a mistake as to Rutter's first name. In several documents in our control file he is named Edward E. Rutter. His images are often signed simply "Rutter"…
Over Here! New York City During World War II Exhibit at the Central Library
The Central Library at Grand Army Plaza is hosting an exhibit based on the book Over Here! New York City During World War II by Lorraine B. Diehl. Many photographs from the Brooklyn Collection archives are on display for the very first time to the public. The images show the first day of work for female employees of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn war bond fundraisers, and the Sheepshead Bay Maritime Training Station. Don't miss this chance to see treasures from the Brooklyn Collection on display, along with original posters, photos, and World War II…
Little Known Brooklyn Residents: Treasure Hunter, Jay Erlichman
While researching in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle morgue, I came across this curious image of a young Brooklyn resident digging in rubble. Brooklyn Treasure Hunter Jay Erlichman hard at work hunting treasure. On January 16, 1950, a small article ran in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, with this image titled "Youthful Treasure Hunter". By the time it went to print, nine-year old Jay Erlichman had been digging for treasure with his broken shovel for "about four years". Up until this date, his efforts had dug up a total of $1.27 and "an enormous collection of rusty bottle caps, tin cans, broken glass and…
A Parting Word
A little over a month ago marked the 55th anniversary of the last published newspaper of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 28, 1955 was a sad day in Brooklyn history as the final newspaper rolled off the presses and was delivered to the Brooklynites who depended on it for news and entertainment. The beloved 114 year old newspaper closed its doors the very next day, never to reopen under the same publisher or with the same mission. Brooklyn would not have a single newspaper that reported on the daily local news of the entire…
Little Known Brooklyn Residents: Wilhelmina Carlstedt
Up until the age of 99, a local resident known as "Brooklyn's Betsy Ross" designed and handcrafted a series of elaborate flags to spread her message of "Lasting World Peace." Wilhelmina Carlstedt with one of her peace flags. Wilhelmina Carlstedt began stitching peace flags with the assistance of her daughter Olga Hesse, from their home on 864 St. John's Place. She began stitching for peace after her two grandsons left home to fight in World War I, and her desire for the "cessation of world hostilities grew daily stronger". She hung the first flag in the window of her home at the time of the…
Genealogy Workshop with Wilhelmena Kelly, Wednesday March 3, 6-8 p.m.
Join us in the Brooklyn Collection's Reserve Room from 6-8 p.m. to explore your family history with help from an expert genealogist. Wilhelmena Rhodes Kelly is the author of books on Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights. She sits on the boards of the African American Genealogy Society, Manhattan Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Association and the Fort Greene Revolutionary War Committee. Ms Kelly is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and is also Regent of the Manhattan Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution. We encourage anyone who is interested in…
Illusion and Reality at Loew's Kings
News of the planned renovation of the Loew's (pronounced LOWees in this part of the world) Kings Theater on Flatbush Avenue sent us scurrying to our files for Loew's ephemera. And, given the sad history of the theater over the past thirty years, it caused us to think a little about the tenuous nature of plans, and their tendency to turn into something other than reality. One could be forgiven for greeting the announcement of a planned $70 million cash infusion with more than a little scepticism--after all, we heard it all before, and more than once. After the Kings went dark, the…
Obscure Quotes... compiled by Brooklynites
Be on the lookout for enlightening and eccentric quotes on our Twitter page, as we've decided to start pulling inspiration from The Beecher Book of Days. This charming little book was published in 1886 by editors Eleanor Kirk and Caroline B. LeRow. Many of the quotes come from Beecher's sermons, but some are pulled from works that Beecher read or owned, giving us insight into both Beecher's mind and the reading habits of 19th century Brooklynites. There are two or three quotes for each date (plus some extra pages in the back to record…
This Wednesday: The Stages of Brooklyn: an Illustrated Talk by Cezar Del Valle.
From Downtown to Bushwick to Brighton Beach, theaters could once be found in almost every neighborhood of Brooklyn. Cezar Del Valle shares his unrivalled knowledge of Brooklyn's stages in a lively illustrated lecture at 7 p.m. on Wednesday Feb 24th in the Brooklyn Collection Reserve Room, Central Library, 2nd floor. This talk will cover legitimate theater, vaudeville and other live venues. Mr Del Valle will return in April to cover Brooklyn's many movie theaters. Seating is limited so come early and join us for wine and cheese from 6:30 to 7.
Clara Whitehill Hunt, Superintendent of Work With Children
In an era when it is common for people to spend two years in a position and then move on, Brooklyn Public Library remains an institution in which many people spend lengthy careers. This was as true in the early years of the 20th century as it appears to be today. Clara Whitehill Hunt worked for the system for 36 years, from 1903-1939. Brooklyn's library system was in the early years of its development when Miss Hunt, who had spent some years in the classroom and risen to the rank of principal of a small elementary school, became convinced that librarianship was the path she wished…
Brooklyn: How Sweet It Is!
From fall through early spring, it's easy to have candy on the brain. Over the past months I've had my share of peanut butter pumpkins, marshmallow santas, chocolate coins and sugary hearts. (And my favorite, the elusive cream egg, has yet to arrive.) Today our craving for sweets is satisfied by factories all over the world. But up until just a few decades ago, many of my favorite treats would have been produced right here in Brooklyn. For example, the Just Born company, home of those cute marshmallow peeps, has only been located in…