Intro to Buildings Research Workshop, Feb. 20th, 7-9pm in the InfoCommons
As you may have heard, the library has opened a beautiful new workspace and learning center in our Central location -- the Shelby White and Leon Levy InfoCommons. The InfoCommons offers much-needed space for laptop users as well as computer workstations with specialized software like Photoshop and Dreamweaver. More exciting to us is the Lab adjacent to the InfoCommons. This classroom space comes equipped with laptops and A/V equipment, and affords us the new opportunity to lead workshops in topics relating to Brooklyn history. Our next workshop is coming soon! …
The Library Rap is Here
Let's take a moment for ourselves, shall we, Brooklyn Public Library? Rather than blowing the dust off yet another Eagle story or manuscript collection -- holdings which, don't get me wrong, we are proud to preserve and promote here at the Brooklyn Collection -- let's navel gaze a bit to see what archival lint we've been storing up ourselves. So... to the morgue we go where, a few months ago, we found this. This thing here (never mind that this is a scan of the thing) is a 3/4" Umatic S video cassette, one of the earliest video cassette formats. Unfortunately for us, when we found it in the…
The right to bare arms
W hrd tht sm f y r hvng prblm wth r spllng f th wrd Bklyn n r nw lg. Lt m jst sy, chll! Pprntly y hv nvr trd t lrn Hbrw. If by chance you are thinking that the title above confirms your suspicion that some people--I might even say, some libraries--cannot be trusted to follow generally accepted rules of spelling--you would be wrong! We have people here who are walking dictionaries, nay, ambulant lexicons! And we can run spellcheck! Nor, I might add, are are we foolish enough to embroil ourselves here in an argument over gun control. No, our subject…
Go, logo, go!
If you've used the library website in the last few days, you may have noticed that Brooklyn Public Library sports a snazzy new logo and color scheme on its homepage. Gone is the sad little black box that for so long meekly defined our presence in the digital realm. There's something invigorating about the facelift that comes with rebranding -- it seems to signify a fresh start, a new direction. The library has gone through several such reincarnations over the years, and today's blog post concerns itself with the various iterations of the our logo, from classic to retro to ultramodern.…
Mail on the Mind
Mail is on my mind. Perhaps it's because of the holiday season, or perhaps it is because every day I walk by this: This beautiful mail slot next to the Brooklyn Collection's offices always makes me wonder about the story of Brooklyn's mail service. Has sending and receiving mail changed through the years? It is commonly said that we live in a culture of instant gratification, from texting to emailing to tweeting; we want an answer and we want it now. We look fondly on the "olden days" when, we imagine, life was slower and more relaxed. But was it really? Perhaps a look…
Happy New Year from the Brooklyn Collection
Meet our new mascot CheeChee the Chihuahua, who charmed readers in the December 31, 1954 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. We added the noisemaker ourselves.
Last Minute Holiday GIF!
Like our holiday GIF? You can make your own! Just browse our catalog for the photograph of your choice, do some fancy editing, and then upload the files to a GIF-making website like makeagif.com or picasion.com We'd love to see what you come up with! Happy holidays from your friends at the Brooklyn Collection!
To Number a School
The New York City school system has over 1,700 schools and while numbering them may seem simple, it is actually fraught with difficulties. Because there are so very many schools, sometimes school numbers are doubled or even tripled. The repeating numbers are partly due to the fact that before the Department of Education was consolidated, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan had their own school systems. To alleviate the confusion after consolidation, letters which represented each borough were added to the end of all public school…
The hundred dollar handkerchief.
Perhaps you are like me. As you approach the season of giving, the cold hard fact dawns that you have done nothing to prepare. No tree adorns your living room, no lights brighten your window, your child's only presents were sent by family members more thoughtful than you, and it is too late now to mix a Christmas cake with a sixpence in it for luck--even if you had a sixpence, which you don't. So now that all is pretty much lost, why not procrastinate a few moments more--or, if you prefer, consider it a creative form of gift research, inspired by items available a century ago--by…
On View Now: Jamel Shabazz
Last September it was our great pleasure to host Brooklyn-born photographer, Jamel Shabazz, at our monthly lecture series. He spoke at length about his personal history, his work, and the passions that drive him to document life, not only in Brooklyn, but all around the world. After his appearance here at the Brooklyn Collection we began working with Mr. Shabazz to bring his photographs into the Collection with the aim of preserving them for future generations while giving the Brooklynites of today a chance to access his tremendous archive. As part of our job to make Mr…
Out with the old, in with the... old?
If you've visited our library catalog recently, you may have been surprised to see that a quiet revolution has taken place. In place of the clunky old catalog homepage there is a slick new interface that more closely resembles an online shopping hub or social networking site than the physical card catalog of yore. New features allow for more interactivity -- you can tag books with keywords and rate your favorites -- and a robust, behind-the-scenes algorithm (powered by Bibliocommons) provides more relevant search results based on the millions of other patrons searching…
Teacher Professional Developments
This winter, Brooklyn Connections is pleased to provide two FREE professional development workshops for NYC teachers and educators. The workshops are open to all teachers if the five boroughs and offer a unique opportunity to tour and explore the Brooklyn Collection in a small group with our dedicated staff and special guest historians. ***************************************************** Photography and Archives: An Interdisciplinary Approach Thursday, December 13, 2012, 9:00am - 3:00pm Learn how to use photography and primary sources to uncover the history of Brooklyn. Joined…
Author Talk: Henrik Krogius on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Wednesday November 28th, 6:30pm
Please join us tomorrow night, Wednesday November 28th, for the latest installment of our lecture series. Brooklyn Heights Press editor Henrik Krogius discusses his book The Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Krogius' latest book takes us on an intimate look at the history and beauty of the promenade and the role it played in the ambitions of Robert Moses. A wine and cheese reception commences at 6:30pm, with the lecture starting at 7pm. Seating is limited to 40 people. Tickets will be given out 30 minutes before the lecture. While you're enjoying refreshments, we welcome you to…
Handmade in Brooklyn
Handwoven rugs in festive stripes, meticulously crafted straw brooms, and faux-rustic woven baskets attractively arranged in a narrow storefront under an ornate tin ceiling... the photo above looks like it could be a modern-day Instagram of any number of home decor boutiques or Brooklyn Flea stalls that have popped up in our borough's recent artisinal renaissance. And it certainly does fit into that tradition, as the items were all made in Brooklyn by skilled craftsmen and -women. But this photo, undated but most likely from the 1930s, shows the handiwork not of…
Stranger than Turkey
It's part of my job to recommend books to patrons -- something on Native American walking trails in New York City? Try this; flora of Prospect Park? This should do it; a judo how-to by the president of Russia? No problem -- but today I'd like to stretch my advisory wings and offer some more timely recommendations: recipes from our collection that will be sure to spice up your Thanksgiving feast! Let's begin with the Victory Memorial Cookbook which, as you can see from the title page above, was published by the Women's Auxiliary of the Victory Memorial Hospital at 7th avenue and 92nd…
An all too familiar sight
This engraving from Harper's Weekly dated February 28, 1885, comes from our collection of 19th century engravings. These images form a vital link in the visual record of 19th century Brooklyn. You can see the full list of our prints here. Also, did you know that finding aids to many of our collections are now online? Check them out here. The list is growing, so check back from time to time to see what's new.
Making the Stars Shine
Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Marlene Dietrich, Kim Novak and Judy Garland were stage and screen stars whose names evoke a glamour and mystique that has never been duplicated. Central to projecting that mega-watt star power through their clothing, was a young fashion designer from Brooklyn by the name of El Gee (or Elgee) Bove. Bove, who grew up on Kings Highway, began designing clothes at the tender age of 12. Five years later in 1951, while still a senior at Samuel Tilden High school, he was working as an usher at the famed R.K.O.…
A Hen Goes to Brownsville
In the early years of the 20th century, the building of the Williamsburgh Bridge encouraged garment workers and other Lower East Side residents to move to Williamsburg and Brownsville. In the interwar years, Brownsville, its population about 75% Jewish, was thrumming with cultural activity; not only theaters but newspapers, the labor movement, the Hebrew Educational Society, schools and synagogues all provided cultural enrichment in hard economic times. For many of these Brownsville residents, Yiddish would have been the language spoken at home, a fact that is reflected in print…
Clubbed to death
Club officers and rules, 1900-1901 As I leaf through the gilt-edged pages of the the twenty-pound tome, The Eagle and Brooklyn edited by Henry W.B. Howard in the 1890s, I am struck first by an almost total absence of images of women (whereas portraits of men--all white of course--abound.) And secondly, by the prominent role played by clubs in the social life of the community. The Hamilton, the Germania, the Brooklyn, the Union League, the Lincoln, the Oxford, the Montauk, the Carleton, the Eckford, the Midwood, the Laurence, the Constitution--for years these clubs were a…
New Exhibition at Brooklyn Collection: "Brooklyn, Then and Now" Photography Project
This year we’ve had the pleasure of once again working with two high school interns through the Multicultural Internship Program (MIP). Emal and Erfana spent the months of July and August shadowing our reference staff, learning about our collections, and conducting their own research into Brooklyn history. As in the past two years, the culmination of the interns’ time with us is the Brooklyn, Then and Now photography project. In this endeavor, interns choose old images from our photograph collection and then visit those sites to take a contemporary snapshot of the same location.…