Blog posts by Andy McCarthy

Paul Leicester Ford (1865-1902)

Andy McCarthy

[Paul Leicester Ford], circa 1890, V1984.1.597; Brooklyn slide collection, Brooklyn Historical Society.
Paul Leicester Ford was a journalist, writer, and noted bibliographer of Revolutionary War America, whose works included a seminal collection of Thomas Jefferson's papers, and a Check-list of American Magazines Printed in the 18th Century (1889).  The Brooklyn Historical Society library stacks hold several of Ford’s novels and biographies, like Tattle-Tales of Cupid (1898) and Who Was the Mother of Franklin's Son? An…

Marianne Moore

Andy McCarthy

[Reception at Gage and Tollner], 1967, V1973.5.1589; Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection, ARC 202; Brooklyn Historical Society.
On November 28, 1967, a book release party for Brooklyn writer Clay Lancaster was thrown at Gage and Tollner, the hallowed and hoary “oyster and chop house” at 372 Fulton Street.  Brooklyn poetess Marianne Moore wrote the introduction for Lancaster’s publication, Prospect Park Handbook, and is shown in the above photo wearing her trademark tri-cornered hat and presenting the lauded…

Memorial Day

Andy McCarthy

[Dartmoor, Prisoners of 1812]; 1853, v1972.1.1254; Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, ARC.201; Brooklyn Historical Society.
“It was my fortune,” begins the memoir of Lewis P. Clover, the former New York seaman holding the flagstaff in the above group portrait, “to be taken prisoner in India during the War of 1812.”  The portrait shows Clover reunited in 1853 with former inmates of Dartmoor, a “stark, mist-enshrouded” prison located on the southern moors of England where British forces incarcerated…

Red Hook Library

Andy McCarthy

Brooklyn Public Library, Red Hook Branch, Richards Street and Visitation Place; circa 1915, v1973.6.210; Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The Red Hook branch of the Brooklyn Public Library was built in 1915 and designed in the “Mediterranean Revival Style,” which in the early 20th century commonly characterized architecture in the sun-bathed cities of Miami and Los Angeles.  In 1915, the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook was home to numerous immigrant communities, including first…

Vamping Horns

Andy McCarthy

Brooklyn firemen, ca.1870, v1989.27.50.10; Brooklyn Firefighting Collection, 1989.006; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The library reference desk often answers questions about Brooklyn firefighting history.  Last year, a researcher was interested in 1850s badge rolls for the old Eastern District, which was comprised of the consolidated areas of Williamsburgh and Bushwick. Firefighting was a volunteer service, and members of each Engine, Hook & Ladder, Hose, or Bucket Company was issued a badge number.  The badge rolls are large ledgers…

Merry Christmas

Andy McCarthy

[Xmas gift drive for children.] 1973, v1989.2.2.6; Hispanic Communities Documentation Project records and oral histories, ARC.032; Brooklyn Historical Society.
This photo was taken during a 1973 Christmas party at 22 Cambridge Place, a brownstone in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, and donated to BHS as part of a collection of photographs by Sarah Anesta Samuel, the woman standing on the very far left.Ms. Anesta Samuel was born in Panama and in the early 1950s settled in Brooklyn, where she founded Las Servidoras, later The Dedicators…

Happy Thanksgiving

Andy McCarthy

[Thanksgiving dinner tables], ca. 1910, v1981.284.53; Emmanuel House lantern slide collection, v1981.284; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The tables are set for the Mother's Club Thanksgiving luncheon in the banquet hall of Emmanuel House, a community church organization associated with the nearby Emmanuel Baptist Church. Soon the mothers of girls in the Young Ladies Club and boys on the bowling team will sit postured and bequipped over plates of turkey, gravy, stuffing, and of course the mashed potatoes...Located on old Steuben…

"Hey Down in Front"

Andy McCarthy

Last week they cut the ribbon on the new arena on Flatbush and Atlantic.  Phone booths around town have been promoting today's opening date.

I have tickets for the venue’s premiere college basketball two-header, featuring the Kentucky Wildcats v. the Maryland Terrapins. I’ll be rooting for Kentucky, which was also the home state of Brooklyn historian Clay Lancaster, who penned the first landmark designation report for the LPC, on Brooklyn Heights, one of…

Emma Toedteberg Bookplate Collection, 1701-1982 (2012.004)

Andy McCarthy

To view the Emma Toedteberg Bookplate collection finding aid click here.  If you would like to view any materials from this collection please email library reference to schedule an appointment. "I'm stingy grown What's mine's my own" -motto, unknown bookplate. A bookplate is a label pasted to the inside cover of a book that indicates ownership in a personal or institutional library collection.…

High Iron

Andy McCarthy

Last December, the Landmark Preservation Commission proposed to designate a section of Downtown Brooklyn as the “Borough Hall Skyscraper District.” The buildings in the district, described here, were mostly built between 1901 and 1927, when Brooklyn was believed to have a future as a financial hub, but the district also includes landmark status for Borough Hall, where at one time the old Mayor of Brooklyn held office -  so if it is a strange mis-characterization to refer to any part of Brooklyn as a "Skyscraper District" - as if Brooklyn ever cared for skyscrapers  - at least the district…

152 Henry Street

Andy McCarthy

152 Henry Street, a four story red-bricked Greek Revival multiple dwelling, could be the last Single Room Occupancy in Brooklyn Heights from the 19th century.

152 Henry Street, Brooklyn Heights, 2010
Landmarked in 1965, the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood served as the city's inaugural landmark designation. The subsequent designation report is brief and scantly detailed, but preservationist and Kentucky-native Clay Lancaster wrote a definitive history of the neighborhood, Old Brooklyn Heights, which is commonly perceived as the surrogate…

It's A Small Island After All

Andy McCarthy

Yesterday I had one of those "small world" experiences that reinforces the idea that there aren't many degrees of separation between all of us (and Kevin Bacon). Every Wednesday I volunteer at the Brooklyn Historical Society, helping Oral History Coordinator Sady Sullivan organize audio files that are backlogged or fall through the proverbial cracks. Sady had recently found some old Coney Island related interviews, including one with the son of Marcus Illions, a Lithuanian immigrant that became a world class carver of horses on the Coney Island Carousels, and Lillie Santangelo, founder of…

National Day of Listening - November 28th

Andy McCarthy

My name is Andy and I'm a volunteer at the Brooklyn Historical Society.  My day job is with StoryCorps, the national oral history project, which is also located in Brooklyn (Ft. Greene).  You may have heard excerpts from StoryCorps interviews on NPR's Morning Edition.  The mission of StoryCorps is to honor and celebrate one another's lives through listening.  This Friday, the day normally associated as the biggest shopping day of the year, we are launching the inaugural "National Day of Listening." The founder of StoryCorps, MacArthur Fellow Dave Isay, is spearheading the campaign.  "We want…