Blog posts by Lisa Miller

Colonial New York Close Up: Revisiting Bernard Ratzer's Plan of the City of New York

Lisa Miller

Plan of the City of New York in North America: surveyed in the years 1766 & 1767, [1770]. Brooklyn Historical Society.
Brooklyn Historical Society is excited to put two highlights of our collection on display for a limited engagement this summer in honor of the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn: two versions of the "Plan of the City of New York in North America: surveyed in 1766 and 1767" by Bernard Ratzer (commonly called the Ratzer Map). Bernard Ratzer was an engineer and surveyor who served as a…

New to the Library Collection: Tauranac New York City Subway Maps

Lisa Miller

New York City Subway Map, Tauranac Maps, 2014. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
This special edition of the Map of the Month celebrates a recent donation to the library: a set of New York City transit maps designed and published by Tauranac Maps. Pictured above is a portion of the latest Tauranac New York City Subway map and guide, published in 2014. I have long wished to have a version of this map in our collection as it represents an alternate lineage of the modern New York subway map. It is a refinement of…

Our Martyr President: Theodore Cuyler on Abraham Lincoln's death

Lisa Miller

Theodore Cuyler 's manuscript of his sermon on the death of Lincoln, 1865. Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church records, 2009.011; Brooklyn Historical Society.
  For President's Day, we are highlighting this manuscript of Theodore L. Cuyler's sermon on the death of Abraham Lincoln, given April 23, 1865. This manuscript is part of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church records, which has been recently processed and made available to the public. Dr. Cuyler graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1846,…

Our Christmas Tides from Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church

Lisa Miller

My colleague John Zarillo, processing archivist here at BHS, recently announced the good news the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church records have been processed and made available to the public. He also surprised me with what can only be described as a cataloger’s bonus: at least 8 boxes of the Church’s book collection to be cataloged and placed in a special collections area in the library. Upon opening the first box, I was immediately struck by the superb condition of the books, some more than 100 years old. At first glance, there are editions of the many books published by LAPC’s…

Map of the Month--February 2015

Lisa Miller

The missing link, 1939. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
February's Map of the Month, “The Missing Link” is more properly described as a broadside, for the map was published in October 1939 by the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge Coalition to support an appeal of the veto of the bridge's construction by then U.S. Secretary of War, Henry Woodring. The Brooklyn-Battery Bridge? Yes, a bridge connecting Red Hook to the Battery proposed by Robert Moses. Here is the short version: in 1938, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, low on…

Uncovering Historical Maps at Brooklyn Historical Society

Lisa Miller

As I wrap up cataloging the last few maps and polishing the last blog post for this phase of Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)-funded map cataloging for BHS, the time has come to let everyone know what we have accomplished in the last 17 months. The purpose of a CLIR Hidden Collections grant is to ‘uncover’ ‘hidden’ collections, by making previously uncataloged collections available for discovery on the Web. For libraries, this goal is achieved by the creation of MARC (machine-readable catalog) records for each item in the collection for inclusion in local and international…

Map of the Month - December 2014

Lisa Miller

NYC bike map 2014. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
In celebration of the recent announcement of the expansion of the Citibike program in New York, I have selected the “NYC Bike Map 2014” for December’s map of the month. This map is remarkable in the density of information it conveys. Although I have only shown the top portion of the full-page map, you can see in the corners no less than 20 insets showing details of various bridge approaches and crossings. The map itself conveys through color protected bike…

Map of the Month--November 2014

Lisa Miller

Map showing the position of the main ground-water table on Long Island, New York, 1904. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
For the November Map of the Month, I have chosen a relative newcomer to the catalog, “Map showing the position of the main ground-water table on Long Island, New York,” published by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1904. This map landed on my desk with 2 others, “Map of Long Island, New York showing location of wells” and “Map showing the waterworks systems of Long Island, New York.” All bore…

Map of the Month--October 2014

Lisa Miller

Railroad terminal map of New York Harbor, 1933. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
October’s Map of the Month, "Railroad terminal map of New York Harbor" created by the Port of New York Authority in 1933, shows New York Harbor in all its early 20th century might. According to The Encyclopedia of New York, New York Harbor became the busiest port in the world around 1912 and remained so for the next 50 years. This map is large at 44” x 37”, too large to include a reasonably good snapshot of the entire map online.…

Map of the Month – September 2014

Lisa Miller

Colorgraph map of New York, 1954. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
For September’s map of the month, we’ll take one last nostalgic look at leisure pursuits in the “Colorgraph Map of New York”, published in 1954.  As the cover proclaims, it is a “souvenir picture map of New York with 380 full color pictures” and it is a delightfully askew description of New York attractions circa 1954. To see what I mean, you will find in the index seven store locations for Barton’s Bonbonniere throughout Midtown Manhattan, but…

Map of the Month - August 2014

Lisa Miller

Map showing how to reach Ebbets Field, Brooklyn. [1919]. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
The August Map of the Month conjures a bit of summertime nostalgia: “Map Showing How to Reach Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.”   The flip side of the map, shown below, has a full team photo and roster. A quick consultation with The Complete Dodgers Record Book (Facts on File, 1984) confirms this team as the 1919 Brooklyn Robins. They finished in fifth place that year, with a 69-71 record. The next year however, the Robins made the…

Map of the Month--July 2014

Lisa Miller

New York City Subway Guide, 1974. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
For July’s Map of the Month, I have chosen a 1974 copy of the “New York City Subway Guide,” to commemorate the work of Massimo Vignelli, who died in New York on May 27. This map was issued by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from 1972 to 1979, when it was superseded by the map created by Michael Hertz Associates, which is still in use after several updates and revisions. Vignelli’s map is now a design landmark, but when it was issued,…

Mapping the first Red Scare: Ohman's map of 'racial colonies'

Lisa Miller

Map of the Borough of Brooklyn : Showing Location and Extent of Racial Colonies. Ohman Map Co. Inc. ca. 1920. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection
This “Map of the Borough of Brooklyn : Showing Location and Extent of Racial Colonies” (featured on the blog in March 2012) published by A. R. Ohman in the early 20th century has always piqued the interest of researchers and visitors here at Brooklyn Historical Society. There is in fact a pair of maps showing what the map terms ‘racial colonies’ in New York City: one…

Map of the Month - June 2014

Lisa Miller

New York World’s Fair with a new transit map of Greater New York, [1939]. Brooklyn Historical Society Map collection.
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 1939-1940 World’s Fair held in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens, I have selected for this month’s map a beautiful bird’s eye view map, "New York World’s Fair with a new transit map of Greater New York," published by the C.S. Hammond & Company for the Franklin Fire Insurance Company. The beautiful color and the stunning view hardly need the further embellishment…

Map of the Month - May 2014

Lisa Miller

Proposed Beecher Park on the Heights from Clark Street to Joralemon Street, February 1903. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
May’s map of the month, “Proposed Beecher Park on the Heights from Clark Street to Joralemon Street,” is an illustration that stretches across the inside of a four page circular advocating the advantages of this proposal to the citizens of Brooklyn and urging their support.  At first glance, I took it to be an early proposal for the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, but the date of the cover…

Map of the Month - April 2014

Lisa Miller

Map of the property of heirs of Jane Smith, deceased, situate[d] at the Narrows in the town of New Utrecht, [1858?]. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
This month’s map, Map of the property of heirs of Jane Smith, deceased, situate[d] at the Narrows in the town of New Utrecht, is taken from a collection of manuscript maps from the Teunis G. Bergen and Bergen family papers held by BHS. Teunis G. Bergen (1806-1881) was an eminent member of this eminent Brooklyn family. He served as Town Supervisor of New Utrecht…

Map of the Month - March 2014

Lisa Miller

New York State Parks. Albany, N.Y. : New York State Council on Parks, ca. 1952. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
I selected this month’s map, New York State Parks, in a lull between February snowstorms. The illustrator, C. Kroetzer, was clearly counting on exciting viewers’ imaginations with tableaus of outdoor leisure: the map is strewn with pictures of people sunbathing, horseback riding, swinging golf clubs, picnicking, and fishing. (Yes, there are skiers and tobogganers as well, but let’s not linger on them…

Map of the Month - February 2014

Lisa Miller

Hooker’s New Pocket Plan of the Village of Brooklyn. New York : William Hooker, 1827. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
For February’s map of the month, I have selected the 1827 of Hooker’s New Pocket Plan of the Village of Brooklyn. This map may look familiar to readers of the Brooklyn Historical Society blog, as an 1861 reprint of this map, published as Hooker’s Map of the Village of Brooklyn in the Year 1827, was featured in December 2012. Both maps depict in exquisite detail the layout of the intimate village…

Map of the Month - January 2014

Lisa Miller

Travellers Map of Long Island, New York : J.H. Colton, 1850. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.
This month’s map selection is the Travellers Map of Long Island, published by J.H. Colton, New York in 1850. This is a little gem of a map, only 7 3/8 inches in tall and 20 inches long, but it is packed with fine detail. The map is drawn on a small scale (ca. 1:14,000), but how delicate the engraving is. The Omnigraph Machine produced steel plates, which allowed for sharper and harder lines, and created a plate that…

Map of the Month - December 2013

Lisa Miller

Map of property situated in the Village of Williamsburgh and the Town of Bushwick, compiled June 18th, 1842,
This month’s Map of the Month is a map accompanying an auction announcement for lots situated in the Village of Williamsburgh and the Town of Bushwick, as surveyed in 1842. It is a very good snapshot of how past and future existed side by side in the development of what would become Brooklyn. As can be seen immediately, the block and lot divisions of the future city—previewed in the standardized rectangular lots of…