The Peet Residence
It is not often that one comes across a group of 19th century photographs that show both the exterior and the interior of a private residence. The Pope Mansion photographs are one such collection, but charming as it may be to see the white peacock that once woke the residents of Bushwick with its screeches, those images lack one significant element--there are no pictures of the residents of the house. What would we not give to see the profligate George Pope and his sensible sister, who wished to live within her modest means? Now another small collection has crossed our…
Spread Love, It's the Brooklyn Way
At the end of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, just before she clicks her heels three times, Dorothy takes a moment to say goodbye to those who helped her on her journey. Each one played a unique role in her success, and she shares a brief moment with each. But to the Scarecrow, whom she saves for last, she whispers just one short sentence, "I think I'll miss you most of all." Ok.... maybe it's a little harsh for the other characters. But we all know that feeling when we're saying goodbye. There are many, many things we miss when we leave a job, move away or…
Holidays, Observed and Otherwise
I've recently had the great pleasure of preparing for cataloging our Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs documenting local celebrations and holidays. With Memorial Day just around the corner, I'd like to share some images of Memorial Days past in Brooklyn. Children barely contain their excitement as the 1941 Memorial Day Parade marches down Eastern Parkway. The holiday traces back to the years after the close of the Civil War. An Eagle article from May 20, 1870 describes the meeting of a group of citizens who were then considering observing Decoration Day, a holiday created…
Byrd's Eye View
Admiral Richard E. Byrd, October 17, 1932 Much has been written about Richard Evelyn Byrd, the scientist and explorer who led courageous voyages to Antarctica and daring flights over the Poles. Although he was not a Brooklynite, he was no stranger to the borough and his travels were well documented in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle over the course of two decades. Floyd Bennett, 1928 Prior to his noteworthy southbound trips, Byrd was a Naval Aviator. In 1926, he went on leave from the Navy, and with Brooklyn resident and aviator Floyd Bennett at his side, took off to attempt…
The Glory of Brooklyn's Gowanus
Tomorrow evening Wednesday May 23rd, the Brooklyn Collection will host photographer Leslie-Arlette Boyce and numerous other artists as they talk about the Gowanus Canal and the influence this historic waterway has on their work. This event starts at 7:00, with a wine and cheese reception as well as distribution of tickets at 6:30. Seating is limited to 40.
The Rainone Family Papers: Italian Americans in Brooklyn
How do people decide what to keep for posterity? Why hang onto the 1932 guidelines for Civil Service exams, a letter from an Italian gentleman you never even met, a dinner invitation, a letter congratulating you on a job well done? These questions came to mind forcibly as I worked briefly this week with a small collection donated to us by the Archives at Queens Borough Public Library a couple of years ago. This small collection of papers belonging to several members of the Rainone family, and their brother-in-law Ernest Morra, throws light on the immigrant journey of…
I Hear A Song Comin' On
If you should ever decide to delve into the Brooklyn Sheet Music Collection, you will be amazed at the variety of styles and genres that songwriters have used to celebrate the borough of Brooklyn. We've got Marches, Waltzes, Cake-walks, Rags and Two-Steps, celebrating everything from Coney Island to Bushwick High School; and quite possibly the first song ever written about a logjam of people crossing a bridge:The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Bridge Crush March. The music in our collection dates from 1869 with Crossing on the Ferry all the way to 1987 with No Sleep…
Brooklyn's Artful Dodgers
Brooklyn used to be lousy with dips. They were everywhere filching anything they could get their filthy paws on, these dips were. The Eagle ran one story back in the 1930s about a gang of dips posing as a bunch of grieving mourners so they could snatch some easy loot away from the unsuspecting weepy-eyed bereaved at a Jewish funeral. Dips were the lowest of the low. At least a hold-up goon had the decency to plug you with a gat. Not the dip. The dip was a sneak. The dip was a rat. But wait...what's a dip you might ask? Well -- you know -- a fobber, a jostler, a sometime lushworker…
Searching for a lost art...
Late last year, I had the pleasure of watching the documentary, Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy at BAM, which was shown as part of the "Puppets on Film" festival. The film followed actor and Brooklynite John Turturro as he visited his ancestral homeland of Sicily to study the traditions of Sicilian puppetry with puppeteer Mimmo Cuticchio. It was an interesting film that included great scenes of a master "puppa" at work. I found the art of Sicilian puppetry, or Opera dei Pupi, fascinating. The art form, passed down from generation…
Baseball in Brooklyn: Author talk with Andrew Mele
Andy Mele, author of The Boys of Brooklyn:The Parade Grounds-Brooklyn's Field of Dreams, and The Brooklyn Dodgers Reader will be with us tomorrow evening, Wednesday, April 25th at 6:30 p.m, for our monthly series. He'll talk about the many players - famous and not so famous that played at the Parade Grounds, and of course those Brooklyn Dodgers. Please join us. The Brooklyn Collection is on the 2nd floor mezzanine of Brooklyn Public Library's Central branch, at Grand Army Plaza. A wine and cheese reception, as well as distribution of tickets is…
The Letters of James W. Vanderhoef
Avid followers of the Brooklyn Collection's activities over the last several years --we know you are out there--may be familiar with a web site by the name of Brooklyn in the Civil War, funded by an LSTA grant and created by Brooklyn Public Library staff. This week I'd like to dust off one of the collections at the core of that site, the Letters of James W. Vanderhoef. A new finding aid for the letters, containing a few nuggets of information recently mined from online sources, can now be accessed via our web site, and the biographical note is reproduced for you here: "Sources…
Not my family's story
A beginner in genealogy, I recently set out to explore my family's history. Knowing they have lived in Brooklyn for generations, my first idea was to head downstairs to "the morgue," the dead files of the old Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper that closed its doors in 1955. (Library staff will do similar searches for anyone who wants them. Just call the Brooklyn Collection during our open hours 718 230 2762.) When the trip led me to a clipping titled "Dahl, Theodore--Dead," I thought I had found information on my great-grandfather, Theodore Dahl. But it turned out instead to…
Digitized City Directories
I'm writing today to introduce you to one of the underappreciated workhorses in our collection -- the city directories. These are the ancestors of the big, cumbersome yellow page directories that land on your doorstep and often linger there, unused, until you finally carry them to the trash bin. These days the print directory may seem an outdated relic of the past, what with geolocating, dynamic, user-specific directory services like Yelp and GoogleMaps just a few clicks or finger flicks away. And who lists their telephone number in the white pages anymore?…
Who are you?
Sometimes you just can't say no. Having recently suffered this kind of aphasia here at the Brooklyn Collection, we are now the custodians of a mysterious trove of photographs. Last month we received an email from a photo archivist at a well-known New York newspaper, with the subject "accession query." The email went on to describe a small collection of photos discovered in a Brighton Beach dumpster, just outside of the Trump Village apartments, by a filmmaker who teaches at a New England College. Knowing that Irving Herzberg lived in that same Trump…
Brooklyn City Directories Online!
We'll tell you all about it later, but for now, here are digitized directories for 1856-1967. Spread the word!
All Fools' Day
March has gone out more like a lamb than a lion--and another April Fool's Day has come and gone. On no other day are you allowed to play pranks on your loved ones, friends and co-workers and have a built-in excuse. While the origins of the tradition are unclear, some have theorized that it is a remnant of the Roman festival of Hilaria or "Roman Laughing Day," which celebrates the resurrection of the god Attis. Others have hypothesized that the holiday relates to the Holi, an old Hindu festival celebrated to welcome the new season. However, the prank-…
Hair
Brooklyn ladies have always taken pride in their hair. Whether they wear it long and wavy short and curly Brooklyn women take full advantage of all the hair options available. And now since the weather has turned relatively warm, we can look forward to not dealing with the dreaded "hat hair" and can release our locks from their prisons of winter hats. Each new season of course brings with it a fresh …
She's Mad Real: Author Talk with Oneka LaBennett Wednesday, March 28th, 6:30pm
Please join us for our monthly author talk series this Wednesday, March 28th, at 6:30pm. Our guest this month is Professor Oneka LaBennett, who, in her book She's Mad Real, discusses the ways in which teenage girls in Flatbush and Crown Heights successfully carve out and create their own individuality in a world dominated by popular culture. The Brooklyn Collection is on the 2nd floor mezzanine of Brooklyn Public Library's Central branch, at Grand Army Plaza. A wine and cheese reception, as well as distribution of tickets is at 6:30 p.m. Seating is limited…
A Vanished Vista: the Changing Landscape of Prospect Park's Vale of Cashmere
Brooklynology is pleased to welcome guest blogger Garry R. Osgood. Garry is a software developer and web designer, who potters as a recreational historian of things Brooklyn. In March 1893, Frederick Law Olmsted's friend and colleague Daniel Burnham said of him, "An artist, he paints with lakes and wooded slopes; with lawns and banks and forest covered hills; with mountain sides and ocean views." And what better example of this artistry could one find than the vista in the northern reaches of Prospect Park overlooking a glacial kettle, not more than a few minutes' walk from the…
From the children's book shelf
Writers abound in Brooklyn: you trip over them in the park, bump into them in the street, stand beside them on the subway. And among them, writers and illustrators of children's books form an honorable sub set. There are also those writers who draw on memories of Brooklyn but have abandoned their native borough for reasons I cannot fathom. This week the children's bookshelf of the Brooklyn Collection has received two new additions--which reminded me that there are some fine older titles resting on it too. When a harried parent with a toddler must finish an assignment,…