Blog posts by John Zarrillo

Through His Lens: The photographs of Theobald Wilson

John Zarrillo

Theobald Wilson self-portrait, 1974; Theobald Wilson photographs, 2013.005, Box 30 Folder 3; Brooklyn Historical Society.
In 2013, Brooklyn Historical Society acquired the photographs of Theobald Wilson, a commercial photographer who operated in Brooklyn from the late 20th to the early 21st centuries. These photographs, along with related records and photography equipment, are now open to researchers thanks to generous funding provided by the New York State Archives Documentary Heritage Program. Wilson was born in the San…

Dining under Gas Lamps at Gage & Tollner’s

John Zarrillo

This post was authored by BHS Library and Archives processing intern Yingwen Huang. Ying processed the Edward and Gertrude Dewey collection of Gage & Tollner records, which are now open and available to the public in our library. For more information,  please see the collection’s finding aid. Walking down Fulton Street shopping district in the Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood, you can’t help but notice the striking building featuring two white Doric columns under a portico. This landmarked building was once Brooklyn’s iconic Gage & Tollner restaurant. Closed in 2004, the…

Everett and Evelyn Ortner papers and photographs now open to the public!

John Zarrillo

Evelyn and Everett Ortner, circa 1980; Everett and Evelyn Ortner papers and photographs, ARC.306; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The papers of Everett and Evelyn Ortner, which date from 1873 to 2012 and consist of over 50 linear feet of manuscripts, photographs, organizational records, correspondence, posters, films, and digital files, are now open to researchers at Brooklyn Historical Society. The papers and photographs were processed with funding generously provided by the New York State Archives Documentary Heritage…

Refugees: In their own words

John Zarrillo

Our Lives scrapbook, 1947-1948; E.S. 80 Night School scrapbooks, 2008.020, Box 1; Brooklyn Historical Society
On Wednesday, May 11, BHS will be hosting a program titled Refugee Brooklyn: Stories from Brooklyn’s Refugee Communities. Hosted by Jarrett Murphy, Executive Publisher of City Limits, the program is focused on the experiences of refugees as they adapt to life here in Brooklyn. Panelist include Eileen Reilly, Director for Refugee Services and Workforce Development at CAMBA, Zeinab Eyega, Founder and Executive…

Real Brooklyn, a day in our lives photographs now available at BHS

John Zarrillo

Chosen for Mom, by Doris Adler, 2003; Real Brooklyn, a day in our lives photographs, 2007.041, Box 1; Brooklyn Historical Society.
This post was authored by BHS Library and Archives processing intern Melissa Aaronberg. Melissa processed the Real Brooklyn, a day in our lives photographs in December 2015, which are now open and available to the public in our library. For more information on the photographs, please see the collection's finding aid. In 2007, the former President of Positive Focus, Inc., Lorrie Palmer, donated…

Long Island College Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association records now open to the public

John Zarrillo

Charge nurses, circa 1930; Long Island College Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association records, 2014.006, box 16; Brooklyn Historical Society
Brooklyn Historical Society Library & Archives is pleased to announce the opening of the records of the Long Island College Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association records. The records consist of thirty-one boxes of photographs, yearbooks, newsletters, college catalogs, event-related ephemera, and memorabilia, dating from 1853 to 2013. The collection documents the…

Narrows Sunday School: Religious education in 19th Century Brooklyn

John Zarrillo

The following post was authored by our Spring 2015 Library and Archives processing intern Stephanie Coy. It highlights one of several collections which she has cataloged this spring. In 1988, Brooklyn Historical Society purchased a manuscript that chronicled the weekly activities of the Narrows Sunday School during the period of 1834–1845. The Narrows Sunday School was founded by Dr. John Carpenter in the Village of Fort Hamilton in 1825. After three years of successful service to the village’s residents, the school moved to a chapel building adjacent to the Dutch Reformed Church in the Town…

Fred Snitzer collection of Kings County postal ephemera now open to the public

John Zarrillo

Steeplechase Park postcard, circa 1960. Fred Snitzer collection of Kings County postal ephemera, 2013.003, Box 4, Folder 6; Brooklyn Historical Society.
In 2013, Brooklyn Historical Society acquired a massive collection of postal ephemera (postcards, envelopes, and related items) which belonged to Fred Snitzer. Snitzer was born around 1929 to Jewish immigrant parents, and was a life-long resident of Brooklyn. He was an investment counselor by trade, but had many other passions, including playing chess (he was an expert…

Brooklyn's Corporation Counsel records now open to researchers!

John Zarrillo

(left) The Corporation Counsel records in their original storage container. (right) The records after processing -- neatly organized and open to researchers.
  This is the final post in a series on the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel, which were processed with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant. After seventeen months of hard work, I’m happy to report that the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel are now open to the public. The…

The Great Trolley Strike of 1895 - Part 2

John Zarrillo

Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 19 January 1895
This is part two of a two part series on the Great Trolley Strike of 1895.  This is also the latest in a series of posts on the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel, which are currently being processed with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant. Finally, if you would like to hear more about the trolley strike and other forgotten events from Brooklyn's past, please join me next Tuesday, September 9th, for the latest…

The Great Trolley Strike of 1895 - Part 1

John Zarrillo

Brooklyn City Railroad Company – Third Ave. trolley, 1898. Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection.
This is part one of a two part series on the Great Trolley Strike of 1895. Part two will be posted next Wednesday, September 3rd. This is also the latest in a series of posts on the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel, which are currently being processed with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant. On a brisk January day in 1895 a young man named…

On Vaccinations and the Small Pox epidemic of 1894

John Zarrillo

Brooklyn Life, 1894
This is the latest in a series of posts on the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel, which are currently being processed with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant. The U. S. Supreme Court recently upheld New York City’s policy of preventing unvaccinated students from attending public schools while another student has a vaccine-preventable disease. This is just the latest in long line of judicial decisions which addresses the limits of…

A Case of Mistaken Identity

John Zarrillo

Irving Underhill (American, 1872-1960). Garfield Building, Court and Remsen Streets, Brooklyn, ca. 1896-1950. Gelatin silver glass dry plate negative Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, 1996.164.8-B16611 (105)
This is the latest in a series of posts on the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel, which are currently being processed with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant. Please join us this Thursday at 6 p.m.…

The Brooklyn Cycling Tradition

John Zarrillo

[Traffic at Grand Army Plaza], 1880 ca., V1974.7.60; Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection. ARC.191; Brooklyn Historical Society
May is Bike Month, so I would be remiss not to devote my latest blog post to the history of cycling in Brooklyn.  Luckily, the bulk of the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel are from the 1890s, which just so happens to coincide with American’s first “bike boom.” The boom was the result of the invention of the modern “safety bicycle” in the 1880s, which replaced the penny-farthing (or big-…

The Fight of the (Nineteenth) Century

John Zarrillo

Handwritten notation reads: "Take it for granted they will. We are going to aid police." Seaside Athletic Club boxing program, 1895. Brooklyn, N.Y., Department of Law, Corporation Counsel records, 2013.015; Brooklyn Historical Society
In the last decade of the 19th century boxing was one of the most popular sporting events in Brooklyn. Ironically, it was practically illegal in the State of the New York. Brooklynites, especially those who gravitated to the seedier sections of Coney Island, tended not to let little things…

Brooklyn's Police Matrons

John Zarrillo

New York Police Department Police Matron Annie Boylan, 1909. 2008.33.4. Collection of the National Law Enforcement Museum, Washington, DC.
This is the sixth in a series of posts on the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel, which are currently being processed with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant. Of all the cases found in the records of the Corporation Counsel, the most common may be for unpaid salaries owed from the city. The majority of these claims…

Coney Island Aflame

John Zarrillo

Coney Island's Biggest Fire Disaster, 1907, v1973.4.707; Postcard Collection, v1973.004; Brooklyn Historical Collection
This is the fifth in a series of posts on the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel, which are currently being processed with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant. One of the greatest threats to public safety in 19th century Brooklyn was fire.  The vast majority of buildings were wood framed, and very few had fire escapes.  Coney Island,…

Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln

John Zarrillo

Abraham Lincoln statue at Abraham Lincoln High School, circa 1939, V1974.16.812; Edna Huntington papers and photographs, ARC.044; Brooklyn Historical Society
Today marks the 205th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.  When I think of Honest Abe and Brooklyn, I think of the Lincoln statue which currently resides in Prospect Park’s Concert Grove, near the newly renovated LeFrak Center ice skating rink.  Of course I should have realized that the Prospect Park Lincoln statue was already the subject of a Photo of the Week…

It Came From the Sewers

John Zarrillo

Brooklyn sewers construction, circa 1915. Arthur Weindorf glass plate negatives, V1974.24; Brooklyn Historical Society
This is the fourth in a series of posts on the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel, which are currently being processed with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant. One of the many modern amenities that we take for granted, along with paved roads, hot running water, and free public wi-fi, is the sewer system. In Brooklyn, the foundations of…

Williamsburg Cattle Rustlin'

John Zarrillo

[Jersey Bull, Flatbush], circa 1880. Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection, V1974.7.128; Brooklyn Historical Society
This is the third in a series of posts on the records of Brooklyn’s Corporation Counsel, which are currently being processed with funding provided by a Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) “Hidden Collections” grant.  Brooklynites today seem to have a closer relationship to their food than ever before.  We’re all familiar with the green markets, organic wholesalers, farm-to-table eateries, and…