Map of the Month - July 2013
A Reflection on Brooklyn Businesses
Post written by Mark Daly, Reference Intern, May 2013 My reference internship at the Othmer Library has been a highlight of my library school education. I have enjoyed the opportunity to pick up new skills, meet researchers of all types, and -- not least -- learn more about my home borough. One subject I wish I'd spent more time investigating is the history of commercial enterprise in Brooklyn. When I see stories in the news about the borough's funky tech start-ups and co-working spaces, I begin to wonder what the library's collections can tell us about the businesses of yesteryear. As part…
Finding Answers to the Impossible at the Brooklyn Historical Society
Post written by Jeff Edelstein, Reference Intern, May 2013 As my internship at the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library approaches its end, I have been looking over the dozens of queries that I have responded to since my arrival at the beginning of the academic school year in September, and I am struck by the number of times when at least some information to seemingly impossible questions was available using resources readily available in the library. Two such resources that I consulted frequently are the Brooklyn & Long Island Scrapbooks collection of newspaper clippings and the…
Map of the Month - May 2013
The detail that I chose to be the focus of May's Map of the Month comes from "Map of New-York and Its Vicinity. Drawn by D.H. Burr for New York as it is in 1835" -- "Ft. Lafayette."
Map of the Month - April 2013
Sometimes it is the small details that spark research missions for me; or at least this happened when I looked at this tiny map that is jam-packed with details.
Map of the Month - March 2013
This month's featured map was published by the German publishers Wagner & Debes circa 1900. It likely reflects the high volume of German-Americans residing in Brooklyn at the time. According to Montrose Morris of Brownstoner, by the end of the 19th century, German Americans were the most successful ethnic group in New York City. In trying to date this particular map, we looked at the various clubs that are listed in the key at the bottom left, one being the Germania Club. As Morris notes, the Germania Club was founded in 1859 and was originally located on Atlantic and Court Streets. …
Brooklyn Air Disaster, December 16, 1960
I remember first coming across a box with the label "Brooklyn Air Disaster, December 16, 1960, Scrapbook" a couple of years ago. Of course with a title like that I had to open and view the contents. I was shocked then to learn that there had been a plane crash on Seventh Avenue and Sterling Place, right in the middle of Park Slope Brooklyn. Since then we have from time to time gotten reference questions asking about the exact location of the crash. Now that the 50th anniversary is approaching this Thursday, the questions have increased.…
Mystery surrounds Society's second librarian...
Reading Brooklynology's great post on our first librarian, Henry R. Stiles, inspired us to post about our second librarian, George Hannah. From 1863 to 1889 George served as head librarian of the Society.
New Luna Park opening in Coney Island on May 29th
With the grand opening of the new Luna Park in Coney Island this Saturday, May 29th, we thought it would be cool to post of some of the great photographs of the original Luna Park from our collections. The original Luna Park opened up in Coney Island on May 16, 1903 (and closed in 1944). A New York Times article that covered the opening stated that 45,000 individuals showed up to the park's first day. Many of the park's attractions seemed to have surrounded around performance. For a mere 5 cents visitors could witness something titled "The Fatal Wedding": There was also a daily fire,…
Important records for the study of African history digitized and available on Ancestry.com for FREE!
On July 16th Ancestry.com, in conjunction with the Virgin Islands Social History Association (VISHA), launched the 1st installment of newly digitized St. Croix-Virgin Islands slave records. Part of the St. Croix African Roots Project, the two databases now available, St. Croix Slave Lists (1772-1821) and Population Census (1835-1911), will be freely available until July 31st: http://bit.ly/IbxiE For some background information on this project, check out: http://bit.ly/18jsf2 Genealogy for African Americans presents its own unique sets of challenges, largely because records like these are…
House Genealogy
Next to genealogy, house research is the most researched topic in our library. Recently a local reporter spent some time in the library researching her home, which led to an extremely interesting article in The New York Times. This is not surprising, considering the varied amount of resources we have that assist in this endeavor. Two weeks ago, Sady Sullivan, our Oral History Coordinator, and I gave a presentation to the New York Methodist Alumni Association. We decided to present on the history of 641 Carroll Street since it is in Park Slope, near Methodist Hospital itself. There are many…
Found in Stacks: Rare Art Deco Brooklyn Magazine
While inventorying serial publications to be catalogued into our online catalog, I came across a magazine from the 1920's with art deco covers called The Brooklynite. While the art deco covers were typical for magazine art during that time period, what makes this find interesting is the rarity - I went to NYPL's Humanities and Social Sciences library, and with a reference librarian there, searched every known periodical index in existence but was not able to find reference to the Brooklynite we have. I say "The Brooklynite we have" because there seems to be a couple of other magazines with…