Women’s Equality, Today
Women’s Equality Day deserves your attention, especially now. In the midst of a major social awakening in America, it’s become clear that so much more can be done in our nation’s fight for true equality. The Women’s Suffrage Movement began in the 1800s, as women organized and rallied for civil rights. In the face of well-financed political opposition, women began to push back, state by state, for what they deserved. In August of 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was signed, 42 years after it was introduced to Congress, granting American women the right to vote and hold…
In Honor of Black Life
What does remembrance look like? As an archivist, special collections manager and lover of history, a large part of remembrance for me is representation. This and other similar threads are constantly a part of how I think about the work we do at the Brooklyn Collection. Who are we representing? Who has enough, and who does not? I ask this every time I think about a possible donation or addition to our collection. Our current climate and the awakening being experienced by others around Black life and its importance (it is), how history is repeating itself and the renewed calls to remove…
Hidden Ephemera in the Clippings Files
Beyond the stanchions, in the center of the Brooklyn Collection, sit two rows of cabinets. Clocking in at 110 drawers, they contain a collection of newspaper clippings that are finally getting some much-needed attention. The clippings files include folders with obscure labels such as "Local Color" and "Brooklyn Spirit", and the subjects they cover—the aforementioned included—are cataloged in a 447-page Word document. It is also one of our best-kept secrets. Though we use the clippings files to answer many reference questions, they are so sprawling and voluminous that even a…
Kids Create: Modern Collage for The Culture
February is black history month, and today, on Valentine's Day, kids can celebrate their love of black culture while honoring artists who made beautiful impacts on the world of modern art. At Paerdegat Library we chose to honor three black modern artists whose names/surnames begin with the letter B: Romare Bearden, Betye Saar and Jean Michel Basquiat. These artists used various art mediums, or elements, to create different types of art that included collages, assemblages, graffiti, cartoons, paintings and prints. You can make a collage out of anything, and we used…
Graphic Novels to Read During Black History Month
As you all know, February is Black History Month. Black History Month was proposed by Black professors and the Black United Students group at Kent State University in 1969, and was first celebrated a year later from January 2nd to February 28th. Not until 1976, was it finally celebrated nationwide. One way to celebrate and honor Black history is by reading graphic novels. As many of us librarians and library workers know, graphic novels are becoming increasingly popular. Graphic novels can also be a helpful tool for struggling readers of all ages, and can improve one’s visual literacy…
Understanding Impeachment
The latest news in America’s political rollercoaster ride is the (maybe?) impeachment of the current president, Donald Trump. But what does that even mean? Those of us who remember Bill Clinton’s impeachment hearings maybe recall it as just being a bunch of inquiries into his extramarital dalliances, and then a big nothing; he was still president afterward. So could this be more of the same? What exactly is the President being accused of (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, by the way), and how is Congress attempting to call him on it? And, the most important question of all, what…