Brooklyn's Mechanical Milkman
Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection now available online!
Amy Lau
Summer Archives Internship Reflection from Sophia Terry
Maggie Schreiner
Summer Archives Internship Reflection from Fiona Wu
Maggie Schreiner
Lesson Learned? Considering the Draft Riots of 1863 for Today
Nalleli Guillen
The arrival of 4,000 Union troops in Manhattan on Thursday, July 16, 1863, marked the beginning of the end to four days of civic unrest and racial violence throughout New York City, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. That week, hundreds of buildings had been ransacked and burned. 119 people had been killed (although some estimates push that number closer to 500) including 19 African Americans, 11 of whom had been publicly lynched.At the height of the Civil War, the events that came to be known as the Draft Riots ignited simmering class and racial tensions in a city–and country–spiraling in the wake…
Announcing the Launch of the BHS Map Portal!
Maggie Schreiner
Processing Privilege and Moving to Action: Watch, Listen, Explore
Brooklyn Historical Society
Structural Racism in America: Watch, Listen, Explore
Brooklyn Historical Society
Confronting a History of Injustice: Watch, Listen, Explore
Brooklyn Historical Society
Finding your Brooklyn Roots in Brooklyn Historical Society's Beginnings
Adrienne Lang
With its "Finding Your Brooklyn Roots" initiative, BHS invites its followers to submit questions about their Brooklyn ancestors. In this post, we share one of our recent discoveries based on one of your inquiries. When a patron wrote to us hoping to learn more about her family roots in Brooklyn, she didn’t expect that we would be able to trace her ancestors back to Brooklyn Historical Society. We were just as surprised to find out that her second and third-great grandfathers, Julian and John Hooper, were not only early members of the Society, but made several contributions to our collections…
“Spanish Influenza” in Brooklyn and What We Can Learn from Our History
Nalleli Guillen
We turn to the history of the “Spanish” influenza pandemic, which swept through New York City in several waves between 1918 and 1920. Today, insights from this past may help us cautiously begin this next chapter in our present.
Backgrounds of Brooklyn: Historical Flair for Your Video Calls!
Bo Méndez
"Indian Villages": The Story Behind a Map
Mary Mann
HIV in Our Communities
Ondine Jean-Baptiste
Poison for Profit
Ondine Jean-Baptiste
Everybody gets sick. For most of us, our health is a deeply personal and even private topic. But sickness and health are also public issues that have long shaped Brooklyn’s economy, its built environment, its laws and institutions, and its diverse communities. Taking Care of Brooklyn: Stories of Sickness and Health is one of Brooklyn Historical Society’s current exhibitions which explores how centuries of Brooklynites have understood sickness and health. Through the experiences of everyday Brooklynites giving, receiving, demanding, and being denied health care, Taking Care of Brooklyn shows…
Contraception, Control & Care
Ondine Jean-Baptiste
Everybody gets sick. For most of us, our health is a deeply personal and even private topic. But sickness and health are also public issues that have long shaped Brooklyn’s economy, its built environment, its laws and institutions, and its diverse communities. Taking Care of Brooklyn: Stories of Sickness and Health is one of Brooklyn Historical Society’s current exhibitions which explores how centuries of Brooklynites have understood sickness and health. Through the experiences of everyday Brooklynites giving, receiving, demanding, and being denied health care, Taking Care of Brooklyn…
The Recap: Toxic City
Bo Méndez
New recordings from the Packer Collegiate Institute now online!
Maggie Schreiner
This post was written by Aliki Caloyeras, Brooklyn Historical Society Digitization Intern. Brooklyn Historical Society is pleased to announce the availability of over 175 newly digitized audio recordings, films, and videos from the Packer Collegiate Institute records (2014.019). This project has been made possible by a generous digitization grant from the Metropolitan Library Council (METRO), and follows up on our previous work with METRO to preserve quickly-deteriorating magnetic media and provide the public with easy access to our audio, video, and film collections.
The Recap: Gentrification 2.0
Ondine Jean-Baptiste
Brooklyn Historical Society's Statement in Support of our Colleagues at the Museum of Chinese in America
Deborah Schwartz
A statement from BHS President and CEO Deborah Schwartz The staff and Board of Brooklyn Historical Society are devastated by the news of the fire at 70 Mulberry Street, where MOCA stored its invaluable collections. We share MOCA’s commitment to the importance of local history, and we are prepared to help in any way we can as our colleagues establish their path to recovery. From its founding, MOCA has been a bold and creative voice in the museum field, never shrinking from the next challenge in telling the resilient stories of community. MOCA will need resources and expertise to get…
Caring for Brooklyn’s Digital History
Maggie Schreiner
Erica López, BHS Digital Preservation Fellow, writes about the joys and challenges of preserving legacy media. We experience, understand and interact with Brooklyn’s rich history in so many different shapes and forms. At Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library, this history is documented in manuscripts, photographs, moving images, oral histories and artifacts. In today’s increasingly digital world, our history can also be found on floppy disks, CDs, hard drives, and smart phones. Digital materials are at risk for a number of reasons, but the biggest risk is obsolescence. For…
A Voice from the Past
Nalleli Guillen
Preserved in Brooklyn Historical Society’s collections is a wax audio cylinder from 1927 with a big story to tell.Intent listeners will just make out the soft voice of a woman identified as “Mrs. Hunt.” She thanks the congregation of Plymouth Church for inviting her to Brooklyn Heights to celebrate “the memory of one whose name always seems to me to be the complement of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.”Although a somewhat obscure figure today, Mrs. Hunt, (also known as Sally Maria Diggs, Rose Ward, and, troublingly, "Pinky," throughout her life), shared a unique…
An End of Summer Tribute: Coney Island and the Wonder Wheel
Nalleli Guillen
Imagine this: It’s a cool summer day and you are the first in line with your friends for the Ferris wheel on Coney Island. The operator opens the gate and you hop on a blue passenger car and sit facing the beach. Your pod slowly rises and starts to shake; the higher and higher you get, the more clearly you can see the boats floating on the horizon, and as you sit behind your friends you see a wonderful view of the Verrazano Bridge, then the pod…drops! The wind blows heavy as you swing in the air. You scream, but also laugh it off because you go on the Ferris wheel every time you’re here but…
Map Digitization!
ljuliano
Thanks to our new initiative, Portal to the Past: Creating Brooklyn Historical Society’s Digital Map Collections, BHS has just finished digitizing 1,600 maps!In 2017, BHS received a generous grant from National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support Portal to the Past: Creating Brooklyn Historical Society’s Digital Map Collections, a project that will increase public access to the institution’s extensive collection of flat and folded maps through conservation, digitization, and the creation of a web-based portal. Additional generous funding for this project has been provided by the…
Newly Digitized Historic Video Now Available!
Maggie Schreiner
We are excited to announce that Brooklyn Historical Society has arrived on the Internet Archive!We will be using this new account to provide access to historic films, movies, and audio recordings from our collections. You can currently explore over 40 newly digitized movies and 6 audio recordings from a variety of our collections, ranging from 1920s home movies to 1970s radio commercials. fig-17918] Our digitization project revealed some lovely surprises! We digitized videos of BHS exhibitions from the late 1980s and early 1990s, including “Not Forgotten: AIDS at the Brooklyn…
BHS's Young Scholars Program wins 2019 AASLH Award of Excellence for Leadership in History
Bo Méndez
The AASLH Leadership In History Awards is the Nation’s Most Prestigious Competition for Recognition of Achievement in State and Local History.
BHS's Young Scholars Program wins 2019 AASLH Award of Excellence for Leadership in History
Bo Méndez
The AASLH Leadership In History Awards is the Nation’s Most Prestigious Competition for Recognition of Achievement in State and Local History.
Conservation: BHS’s Maps Get Some TLC!
ljuliano
In our second post about the Library & Archives project Portal to the Past: Creating Brooklyn Historical Society’s Digital Map Collections, we are happy to announce we recently completed a significant milestone: conservation!One large facet of this project was being able to conserve a few maps in order to reintroduce them into our collection for researchers, scholars, and map enthusiasts. The Portal to the Past project team chose ten maps to conserve out of 1,600 based on four parameters: historical significance, uniqueness, state of decay, and those most in scope with our collection.…
Emma, the Catablog
Maggie Schreiner
By Julie May and Maggie Schreiner Today, we announce the retirement of Emma, an interactive catalog of the archives and special collections held in the Othmer Library at Brooklyn Historical Society. For the last ten years, the staff at BHS have held Emma in high regard for the function it offered and the stepping stone it represents. Emma included basic records that described individual archival and special collections, and linked out to fuller, more complete descriptions such as finding aids and inventories when they were available. It was built using WordPress blogging software, hence…
Ronald Shiffman collection is open for research!
Maggie Schreiner
The Ronald Shiffman collection on the Pratt Center for Community Development (2013.023) is now open for research at Brooklyn Historical Society!
Brooklyn For Peace and the Defense of Civil Liberties
Maggie Schreiner
By Library and Archives assistant Laura Juliano The papers of Brooklyn For Peace, which date from 1983 to the present, and consist of over 25 linear feet of organizational records, event ephemera and recordings, and subject files, are now available for research at Brooklyn Historical Society. The collection reveals both the history of the organization as well as the broader grassroots response to a wide variety of significant social and political issues at the local, regional, and national levels from the late twentieth century to the present. Brooklyn For Peace (BFP) was founded in 1984 as…
BHS Map Collection Update
Tess Colwell
Brooklyn Historical Society's Library & Archives team has an exciting project update to share! In 2017, BHS received a generous grant from National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support Portal to the Past: Creating Brooklyn Historical Society’s Digital Map Collection, a project that will increase public access to the institution’s extensive collection of flat and folded maps through conservation, digitization, and the creation of a web-based portal. The map collection at BHS is unique and robust in the content and historical sweep. Comprised of manuscript and printed street,…
Brooklyn Historical Society Statement on Muslim Ban Ruling
Deborah Schwartz
As an institution dedicated to the history of Brooklyn, we are proud of the rich fabric of multicultural heritage in Brooklyn. Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision to uphold the government’s Muslim ban makes it even more imperative that we affirm our commitment to the histories of all Brooklynites. We want Brooklyn’s Muslim communities in particular to know that their stories, their struggles, and their contributions are embraced and deeply valued by the Brooklyn Historical Society. As part of our commitment, last year Brooklyn Historical Society launched a public history and arts project…
Just When You Thought Everything was Destroyed: Street Art and Brooklyn’s Waterfront
Alli
Happy Passover and Easter!
Tess Colwell
131 Miles and Countless Stories: Finding the Lost Histories of Brooklyn’s Waterfront
Julie Golia
Several years ago, in the thick of research and development for a Brooklyn Historical Society project about Brooklyn’s waterfront, I found myself calling a long list of New York City government phone numbers. My goal was simple but elusive – to figure out exactly how many miles of coastline there were in the borough of Brooklyn. I had scoured books and articles – to no avail. City reports on the waterfront are plentiful – especially in the years after the devastation of Superstorm Sandy – yet still no luck. But I’m a historian, and we historians can be pretty dogged about research. About ten…
Call for Donations: Public Protest Materials
Julie May
In January 2016, Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) posted a call for Brooklynites to donate their Women’s March Posters. We received 50 contributions that now make up the Women’s March Poster collection. Brooklynites have a long history of actively participating in local, regional, and national events that have an impact on Brooklyn and the United States. As the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March and the 45th President’s Inauguration approach, BHS invites Brooklynites once again to help build our collections. We seek to broaden our scope by documenting Brooklyn’s history and…
Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) Launches website, The Packer Collegiate Institute: A Story of Education in Brooklyn
Julie May
In 1845, a group of Brooklynites formed a committee to establish a school for "Female Education." This group established a board of trustees, raised money to build the school and it opened as The Brooklyn Female Academy on Joralemon Street in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn with increasing success year after year. A fire nearly destroyed the school's future in 1853, but Harriet Putnam Packer offered the funds to rebuild. The school was designed by Minard LaFever (also known for St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church) and reopened as The Packer Collegiate Institute in 1854. The…
Coney Island: America's Playground
Education Department
Brooklyn Historical Society has partnered with over a dozen Brooklyn schools in the past decade to implement Cultural Afterschool Adventures (CASA) programs in partnership with NYC Council Members. In the Young Scholars program, our educators meet with a group of upper elementary school students over the course of the spring semester, culminating in the creation of a book on a pre-selected theme. These books are then distributed to students, their families, and their schools. A copy of the student work is added to the Othmer Library & Archives, memorializing the student work for…
Park Slope: Recollections of Change
Education Department
Brooklyn Historical Society has partnered with over a dozen Brooklyn schools in the past decade to implement Cultural Afterschool Adventures (CASA) programs in partnership with NYC Council Members. In the Young Scholars program, our educators meet with a group of upper elementary school students over the course of the spring semester, culminating in the creation of a book on a pre-selected theme. These books are then distributed to students, their families, and their schools. A copy of the student work is added to the Othmer Library & Archives, memorializing the student work for…
Women, Work, and World War II
Education Department
Brooklyn Historical Society has partnered with over a dozen Brooklyn schools in the past decade to implement Cultural Afterschool Adventures (CASA) programs in partnership with NYC Council Members. In the Young Scholars program, our educators meet with a group of upper elementary school students over the course of the spring semester, culminating in the creation of a book on a pre-selected theme. These books are then distributed to students, their families, and their schools. A copy of the student work is added to the Othmer Library & Archives, memorializing the student work for…
Caribbean Immigrants in Brooklyn: an American story
Education Department
Brooklyn Historical Society has partnered with over a dozen Brooklyn schools in the past decade to implement Cultural Afterschool Adventures (CASA) programs in partnership with NYC Council Members. In the Young Scholars program, our educators meet with a group of upper elementary school students over the course of the spring semester, culminating in the creation of a book on a pre-selected theme. These books are then distributed to students, their families, and their schools. A copy of the student work is added to the Othmer Library & Archives, memorializing the student work for…
Stories of Our Brooklyn Firefighters
Education Department
Brooklyn Historical Society has partnered with over a dozen Brooklyn schools in the past decade to implement Cultural Afterschool Adventures (CASA) programs in partnership with NYC Council Members. In the Young Scholars program, our educators meet with a group of upper elementary school students over the course of the spring semester, culminating in the creation of a book on a pre-selected theme. These books are then distributed to students, their families, and their schools. A copy of the student work is added to the Othmer Library & Archives, memorializing the student work for…
Love Letters from David C. Hurd, a Jamaican immigrant in Brooklyn
Julie May
This post was written by Yingwen Huang, Processing Intern
“I only wish I could send you some of this nice cool weather along with some rain and hail that we are having just now; for it would do Kingston a world of good. Even a little snow wouldn’t do any harm.”
-- David C. Hurd to his pen pal Avril Cato in Jamaica, March 16, 1914.
BHS DUMBO: Photographer Robin Michals reflects on the Brooklyn waterfront
Meredith Duncan
Robin Michals is one of over two dozen photographers featured in the Brooklyn Historical Society DUMBO exhibition "Shifting Perspectives: Photographs of Brooklyn's Waterfront," on view through September 10, 2017. In this post, she reflects on what attracted her to the waterfront as a subject. Click here to learn more about the beautiful exhibition of Brooklyn waterfront photography.
Through His Lens: The photographs of Theobald Wilson
John Zarrillo
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…
“Views of Nassau County” now online!
Tess Colwell
Brooklyn Historical Society received a generous grant from Gerry Charitable Trust in 2015 to digitize and catalog seven scrapbooks from the Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks [Arc.308]. Eugene Armbruster was an amateur photographer and historian during the late 19th century and early 20th century in Brooklyn. Following retirement from The H. Henkel Cigar Box Manufacturing Company, he became interested in local history and took thousands of photographs depicting buildings and street scenes throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, and neighboring states. His scrapbooks are…
Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) Launches Oral History Portal
Zaheer Ali
Bushwick and her Neighbors, Vol. 1-3 now online!
Tess Colwell
Brooklyn Historical Society received a generous grant from Gerry Charitable Trust in 2015 to digitize and catalog seven scrapbooks from the Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks [Arc.308]. Eugene Armbruster was an amateur photographer and historian during the late 19th century and early 20th century in Brooklyn. Following retirement from The H. Henkel Cigar Box Manufacturing Company, he became interested in local history and took thousands of photographs depicting buildings and street scenes throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, and neighboring states. His scrapbooks are…
Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral history open to researchers in January, 2017!
Brett Dion
Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) and Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Restoration) partnered on the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation Oral History project in 2007-2008 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Restoration’s founding as the first community development corporation (CDC) in the United States. Fifty-six interviews were conducted with founding board members, supporters, activists, artists, tenants, and other community members. Audio clips from these oral history interviews were included in the exhibition Reflections on Community Development: Stories from Bedford…
Puerto Rican Oral History Project records now open to researchers
Brett Dion
This collection includes recordings and transcripts of oral histories narrated by those in the Puerto Rican community of Brooklyn who arrived between 1917 and 1940. The Long Island Historical Society (now Brooklyn Historical Society) initiated the Puerto Rican Oral History Project in 1973, conducting over eighty interviews between 1973 and 1975. The oral histories often contain descriptions of immigration, living arrangements, neighborhood ethnicities, discrimination, employment, community development, and political leadership. Since their creation in the 1970s, the recordings had not been…
Oral histories of the West Indian Carnival Documentation Project records now open to researchers!
Brett Dion
Brooklyn Historical Society launched The West Indian Carnival Documentation Project in 1994 to supplement existing photographs and histories of the event with personal narratives and life histories of Carnival participants. In cooperation with the West Indian American Day Carnival Association and the Brooklyn Museum, the project attempted to document different viewpoints from within the Carnival organization and the diverse participants. Since their creation in 1994 and 1995, recordings had not been fully processed and have been inaccessible to researchers, that is... until now! The oral…
Listen to This: Crown Heights Oral History collection now open to researchers
Brett Dion
Titled Listen to This by the donor Alexandra Kelly, this oral history collection includes interview audio and summaries created and collected within the context of a community project undertaken by project director Kelly and Paul J. Robeson High School interns Treverlyn Dehaarte, Ansie Montilus, Monica Parfait, Quanaisha Phillips and Floyya Richardson. These interviewers recorded conversations with forty-three narrators. In addition to the educational experience for the student interns, the oral histories were conducted as life history and community anthropology interviews. Topics of…
Crown Heights History Project Oral Histories now open to researchers:
Brett Dion
Also known as "Bridging Eastern Parkway," the Crown Heights History Project produced oral histories in audiotapes and transcripts within the context of an exhibition project undertaken in part by Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) in 1993 and 1994. Three interviewers recorded conversations with over forty narrators. In addition to exhibition product value, the oral histories were conducted as life history and community anthropology interviews; topics of discussion include family and heritage, immigration and relocation, cultural and racial relations, occupations and professions, education and…
Bushwick and Her Neighbors, Vol. 1 is now online!
Tess Colwell
Brooklyn Historical Society received a generous grant from Gerry Charitable Trust in 2015 to digitize and catalog seven scrapbooks from Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbook collection. Eugene Armbruster was an amateur photographer and historian during the late 19th century and early 20th century in Brooklyn. Following retirement from The H. Henkel Cigar Box Manufacturing Company, he became interested in local history and took thousands of photographs depicting buildings and street scenes throughout Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. His scrapbooks are organized by subject and…
AIDS/Brooklyn Oral Histories at Othmer Library now open to researchers
Brett Dion
Conducted for an exhibition undertaken by the Brooklyn Historical Society in 1993, the AIDS/Brooklyn Oral History Project yielded an exceptional set of twenty-one recorded oral history interviews. The project attempted to document the impact of the AIDS epidemic on Brooklyn communities. Recordings, initially made on audiocassette tape and videotape, were with narrators who had firsthand experience with the crisis in their communities, families and personal life. For many years since the exhibition closed, the tapes had not been fully processed or digitized. Thanks to the generous funding…
David Attie's Champions
Brooklyn Historical Society
"... at a time when you could claim notoriety for posting videos of kitten climbing out of cardboard boxes, my father and his work had all but vanished.” On July 20th, a new exhibit opens at Brooklyn Historical Society that highlights the 1950’s Brooklyn street photography of the late fine art and commercial photographer David Attie. Despite a successful and wide-ranging career – which included frequent covers and spreads for Vogue, Time, Newsweek, Playboy, and Harper’s, portraits of everyone from Bobby Fischer to Lorraine Hansberry to Leiber & Stoller, and his own book of photographs,…
Everett and Evelyn Ortner papers and photographs now open to the public!
John Zarrillo
Colonial New York Close Up: Revisiting Bernard Ratzer's Plan of the City of New York
Lisa Miller
Refugees: In their own words
John Zarrillo
New to the Library Collection: Tauranac New York City Subway Maps
Lisa Miller
Real Brooklyn, a day in our lives photographs now available at BHS
John Zarrillo
Our Martyr President: Theodore Cuyler on Abraham Lincoln's death
Lisa Miller
Teen Thursdays at BLDG 92 Part II
Education Department
In 2014, NYC School’s Chancellor Carmen Farina announced a new program called Teen Thursdays, which pairs cultural institutions with middle schools to provide afterschool programming. Brooklyn Historical Society was proud to be a part of that pilot year, and to participate in the program’s expansion this year to our partner site at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92. They recorded their sessions on Tumblr (including a video of their final performance!). Last week, Janise Mitchell wrote about her experience with the Teens. Here, Heather Flanagan, School Programs Educator at BHS &…
Teen Thursdays at BLDG 92
Education Department
In 2014, NYC School’s Chancellor Carmen Farina announced a new program called Teen Thursdays, which pairs cultural institutions with middle schools to provide afterschool programming. Brooklyn Historical Society was proud to be a part of that pilot year, and to participate in the program’s expansion this year to our partner site at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92. They recorded their sessions on Tumblr (including a video of their final performance!) Here, Janise Mitchell, School Programs Educator at BHS & BLDG 92, reflects on the program. …
21st Century Teens at the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Education Department
Since 2012, Brooklyn Historical Society has partnered with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92 to lead “Teen Innovators at BLDG 92”, an afterschool program serving local high school students (Check out their Tumblr of their experiences). The students come from nearby high schools and in the fall, visit tenants in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and conduct research projects under the direction of BHS museum educators. In the spring, through a generous grant from the Pinkerton Foundation and the support of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, the Teen Innovators will be placed in paid…
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…
Long Island College Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association records now open to the public
John Zarrillo
East New York Then, Now, and in the Future
Emily Ramirez
BHS hosted a panel discussion entitled “A Biography of East New York” on Tuesday, July 14, about how this Brooklyn neighborhood got to where it is today and where it is headed in the future. Moderated by Jarrett Murphy, the executive editor and publisher of City Limits, our panelists included Brandon Gibson, founder and CEO of Light Rock Holdings LLC, a real estate company that focuses on acquiring residential properties through NYC, Michelle Neugebauer, Executive Director of the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC), Winston Von Engel, Director of the Brooklyn Office of the…
Ginger Adams Otis and The Vulcan Society
Emily Ramirez
On Tuesday, July 7, Brooklyn Historical Society hosted a book talk with Ginger Adams Otis, author of Firefight: The Century-Long Battle to Integrate New York's Bravest, a book about the traditions and infrastructure that shape the FDNY and the impressive men and women of color who have fought for institutional change. Otis was joined by three members of the Vulcan Society, an organization focused on increasing the number of minority groups represented in the FDNY. Members of the Vulcan Society included Regina Wilson, President of the Vulcan Society, Captain Paul Washington, former president…
Recent Changing Demographics Challenge Racial Categories in America
Emily Ramirez
On Wednesday, June 17th, we welcomed internationally recognized demographer and author of Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics are Remaking America, William Frey, to talk about how multiracial marriages and internal migration patterns are changing American demographics. The event was programmed in connection with our Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations (CBBG) program, an initiative to collect oral histories from multicultural and mixed race Brooklynites and create public programs that provide an open space for engaging conversations on the dynamics of race. In his talk, Frey…
Our 4th Annual: What Are You? Sparked Dialogue on Identity and Mixed Heritage
Emily Ramirez
On Monday, June 8th, we hosted our 4th Annual: What Are You?, an event initiated by our Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations (CBBG) program. From 2011 to 2014, CBBG collected oral histories of mixed-heritage Brooklynites and created public programs that provided an open space for engaging conversations on the dynamics of race, ethnicity, identity, culture, class, and sexuality. The What Are You? public program series in particular tackles the question that so often plagues people of mixed heritage - “What are you really?” - and highlights the personal stories and voices of people of color…
All the World's a Stage - Even the Confederacy - for Brooklyn Soldiers Fighting in Civil War
Nicholas Bloom
On the back wall of Brooklyn Historical Society’s critically acclaimed Personal Correspondents exhibition, under the heading “Facing Death,” resides a grim and tragic quotation from the letters of James Beith, a private in the 48th regiment, New York Infantry. There is nothing thought of a poor soldier when he gets killed, only for to dig a hole and throw him into it, then sometimes hardly cover him with enough of dirt. The quotation is from a letter which Beith wrote to his brother in May of 1864, while his regiment marched north through the brutal and desperate final months of the Civil War…
Unlocking A Civil War-era Surgeon’s Kit
Qing Cheng
In April 2015, Brooklyn Historical Society opened a new exhibition, “Personal Correspondents: Photography and Letter Writing in Civil War Brooklyn”. The exhibition uses BHS’s evocative 19th century photography and correspondence collections to reveal the personal, funny, moving, and tragic stories of wartime Brooklynites at home and on the battlefield. As a research assistant on the exhibition, I was charged with researching many of the artifacts featured in the exhibition. The objects – from sewing kits to cannonballs to broadside posters – allowed me to experience the dramatic changes in…
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…
Accessing the Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations Oral History Collection through the Digital Humanities
Julia Lipkins
I'm pleased to announce that the Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations (CBBG) oral history collection is now open for research! From 2011 to 2014, a team of oral historians sponsored by BHS conducted interviews with mixed-heritage people and families in Brooklyn. CBBG narrators and interviewers explored the themes of cultural hybridity, race, ethnicity and identity formation in the United States. The complete collection of over 100 oral history interviews is available for use in the Othmer Library and a portion of the contents are accessible online at the CBBG website. An exciting feature…
Fred Snitzer collection of Kings County postal ephemera now open to the public
John Zarrillo
Map of the Month--February 2015
Lisa Miller
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…
Brooklyn's Corporation Counsel records now open to researchers!
John Zarrillo
Shop Talk with Brooklyn Makers: In the Seam
Cycle Alliance
Welcome to Shop Talk, our regular series highlighting some of the fantastic Brooklyn-made products (and their makers) available in the BHS Gift Shop, open daily from 12pm to 5pm!
December Staff Pick from the BHS Gift Shop: Park Slope Neighborhood & Architectural History Guide by Francis Morrone via Brooklyn Historical Society
Cycle Alliance
Welcome to the latest installment of Brooklyn Historical Society STAFF PICKS, a fun way to explore our awesome gift shop! The BHS Gift Shop features many items crafted right here in Brooklyn, as well as an array of fascinating books on the history and culture of New York City and our favorite borough. Once a month we feature a staff member and their favorite book from our gift shop because, let’s face it, who better than our Brooklyn-lovin’ staff to give great gift ideas? This month we chat with BHS President Deborah Schwartz, whose favorite book in the BHS Gift Shop is the Park Slope…
Map of the Month - December 2014
Lisa Miller
November Staff Pick from the BHS Gift Shop: A Tale of Two Cities: Disco Era Bushwick by Meryl Meisler
Cycle Alliance
Welcome to the latest installment of Brooklyn Historical Society STAFF PICKS, a fun way to explore our awesome gift shop! The BHS Gift Shop features many items crafted right here in Brooklyn, as well as an array of fascinating books on the history and culture of New York City and our favorite borough. Once a month we feature a staff member and their favorite book from our gift shop because, let’s face it, who better than our Brooklyn-lovin’ staff to give great gift ideas? This month we chat with Lindsay Palmer Vint, BHS’s Visitor Services and Retail Manager, whose favorite book in the BHS…
Map of the Month--November 2014
Lisa Miller
Shop Talk with Brooklyn Makers: Brooklyn Rehab
Cycle Alliance
Welcome to Shop Talk, our regular series highlighting some of the fantastic Brooklyn-made products (and their makers) available in the BHS Gift Shop, open daily from 12pm to 5pm! Alyssa Zygmunt, the creator of Brooklyn Rehab, uses her daily observations of NYC culture to create inspired and unique products that make the perfect souvenirs for out-of-towners and seasoned New Yorkers alike. From key chains and salt and pepper shakers, to glass bottles with labels of local bodies of water, such as the Gowanus Canal (because that water must be tasty!), and 100% authentic New York City pigeon…
Brooklyn Bounty 2014 Taste Spotlight - Odd Fellows Ice Cream
Jenny Acosta
In anticipation of Brooklyn Bounty, BHS’s premier fundraiser at 26 Bridge on October 22nd, we are profiling our participating restaurants and honorees of the Food & Heritage Awards. Below is a profile of OddFellows Ice Cream Company, one of the sweet and chilled participants in our evening’s tasting menu. Ice Cream is year-round! (left to right) : The OddFellows Team - Mohan Kumar, Sam Mohan, & Holiday Kumar Right on the corner of Kent Avenue and North 3rd Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is a small ice cream parlor with big flavors. OddFellows Ice Cream Co. is passionate about their…
October Staff Pick from the BHS Gift Shop – Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
Cycle Alliance
Welcome to the latest installment of Brooklyn Historical Society STAFF PICKS, a fun way to explore our awesome gift shop! The BHS Gift Shop features many items crafted right here in Brooklyn, as well as an array of books on Brooklyn and New York City suitable for the whole family. Once a month we feature a staff member and their favorite item from our gift shop because, let’s face it, who better than our Brooklyn-lovin’ staff to give great gift ideas? This month we chat with BHS Processing Archivist John Zarrillo, whose favorite book is Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. He recommends…
Education at BHS: CASA/Young Curators at PS 32
Shirley Brown Alleyne
The Young Curators is an after-school program led by Brooklyn Historical Society educators guiding students through a themed investigation of their school’s neighborhood using primary sources from BHS's collection and other resources. Based upon their given theme (i.e. Colonial Brooklyn or the Evolution of East New York), students create a three-panel exhibit that is eventually displayed at their school. Students write the text, recreate images through drawings, and choose images like maps and portraits to be included. They even work with a graphic designer for the colors, fonts, and design…
Map of the Month--October 2014
Lisa Miller
Brooklyn Bounty 2014 Taste Spotlight - Brooklyn Winery
Jenny Acosta
In anticipation of Brooklyn Bounty, BHS’s premier fundraiser at 26 Bridge on October 22nd, we are profiling our participating restaurants and honorees of the Food & Heritage Awards. Below is a profile of Brooklyn Winery, one of the delicious participants in our evening’s tasting menu. Photo by Rina Brindamour “Our job is to make people happy.” _____ Co-founders and wine entrepreneurs Brian Leventhal and John Stires have been working with grapes since 2010, when they opened one of the first hybrid winery and event spaces in Brooklyn, NY. Their interest in wine- making bloomed when John and…
Education at BHS: CASA/Young Curators at P.S. 276
Shirley Brown Alleyne
The Young Curators is an after-school program led by Brooklyn Historical Society educators guiding students through a themed investigation of their school’s neighborhood using primary sources from BHS's collection and other resources. Based upon their given theme, (i.e. Colonial Brooklyn or the Evolution of East New York), students create a three-panel exhibit that is eventually displayed at their school. Students write the text, recreate images through drawings, and choose images like maps and portraits to be included. They even work with a graphic designer for the colors, fonts, and design…
Shop Talk with Brooklyn Makers: Build Your Block
Cycle Alliance
Welcome to Shop Talk, our regular series highlighting some of the fantastic Brooklyn-made products (and their makers) available in the BHS Gift Shop, open daily from 12pm to 5pm! Brooklyn is an ever-changing borough, and whether you've been here your whole life or are just now calling it home, I think everyone can agree that it is a very special and exciting place to be. While new buildings are sprouting up around every corner, it is important that we take the time to appreciate and preserve the essence of classic Brooklyn. Our maker for this month, Patrick Chirico, found a unique way to…
September Staff Pick from the BHS Gift Shop – The New York Nobody Knows by William B. Helmreich
Cycle Alliance
Welcome to the latest installment of Brooklyn Historical Society STAFF PICKS, a fun way to explore our awesome gift shop! The BHS Gift Shop features many items crafted right here in Brooklyn, as well as an array of books on Brooklyn and New York City suitable for the whole family. Once a month we feature a staff member and their favorite item from our gift shop because, let’s face it, who better than our Brooklyn-lovin’ staff to give great gift ideas? This month we chat with the wonderful Lead Visitors Services and Events Associate, Kate Ludwig, whose favorite book is The New York Nobody…
Brooklyn Bounty '14: French Louie
Avi Scher
In anticipation of Brooklyn Bounty, BHS’s premier fundraiser at 26 Bridge on October 22nd, we are profiling our participating restaurants and honorees of the Food & Heritage Awards. Below is a profile of French Louie, one of the delicious participants in our evening’s tasting menu.
French Louie: All Things French, American and Brooklyn
The Great Trolley Strike of 1895 - Part 2
John Zarrillo
Map of the Month – September 2014
Lisa Miller
Brooklyn Bounty '14: Mast Brothers Chocolate
Avi Scher
In anticipation of Brooklyn Bounty, BHS’s premier fundraiser at 26 Bridge on October 22nd, we are profiling our participating restaurants and honorees of the Food & Heritage Awards. Below is a profile of Mast Brothers Chocolate, one of the delicious participants in our evening’s tasting menu.
Mast Brothers Chocolate: Honoring Brooklyn and the Cocoa Nib
Shop Talk with Brooklyn Makers: The Dynamic Duo of Boundless Brooklyn
Geraldine Leibot
Welcome to Shop Talk, our regular series highlighting some of the fantastic Brooklyn-made products (and their makers) available in the BHS Gift Shop, open daily from 12pm to 5pm! When it comes to handmade crafts, Brooklyn takes the gold medal. You can find almost anything made by hand, from soaps, to earrings, to cutting boards. Today, we get to know David Shulman and Terence Arjo, Brooklyn makers who specialize in DIY water tower models, magnets, coasters, t-shirts, and key chains. Much of their success is attributed to their ability to provide a product that is historic and beautiful, but…
The Great Trolley Strike of 1895 - Part 1
John Zarrillo
Brooklyn Bounty 2014: ReConnect Café
Avi Scher
In anticipation of Brooklyn Bounty, BHS’s premier fundraiser at 26 Bridge on October 22nd, we are profiling our participating restaurants and honorees of the Food & Heritage Awards. Below is a profile of ReConnect Café, recipient of our Pioneer Award, and part of our tasting menu.
ReConnect Café: Coffee to Buzz the Neighborhood
Brooklyn Bounty 2014: Brooklyn Oenology
Avi Scher
BHS’s premier fundraiser, Brooklyn Bounty, is fast approaching. Held at 26 Bridge on October 22nd, it will feature an exciting array of Brooklyn chefs providing tastings of some of the best offerings from their menus! Purchase your ticket here. To whet your appetite, we are featuring the food and drink of several of our participating chefs and restaurants in the months leading up to #BKBounty14 on the BHS Blog. Enjoy!
Brooklyn Oenology: Celebrating Creativity with Wine
Map of the Month - August 2014
Lisa Miller
Shop Talk with Brooklyn Makers: Tina, the fearless lady behind TATTLY
Geraldine Leibot
If you think temporary tattoos are just for kids, then you haven't discovered Tattly yet, the Brooklyn-grown company that specializes in creating temporary tattoos even adults want to wear - everyone from Brooklyn hipsters to hip grandmas. And in addition to being a Brooklyn company, Tattly also supports artists! They employ artists from all over the globe to design tattoos which ranging from vegetables to comic book characters. Today we catch up with Tina, the fearless lady behind Tattly who took a design challenge and made it into over 100 amazing temporary solutions. What's the story…
Brooklyn Bounty 2014: Delaware and Hudson
Avi Scher
Excitement is in the air for Brooklyn Bounty, Brooklyn Historical Society’s premier tasting benefit this fall! On October 22, at the impressive 26 Bridge Street in DUMBO, guests will treat their palates to tastings from Brooklyn’s finest chefs and restaurants. With this year’s theme, “Kings County Agricultural Fair,” we celebrate Brooklyn’s vibrant sustainability movement with delicious and exciting samples from all across the borough. In the next few months leading up to the event, to whet our appetites for what’s to come we will profile several of the participating restaurants, as well as…
On Vaccinations and the Small Pox epidemic of 1894
John Zarrillo
Map of the Month--July 2014
Lisa Miller
June Staff Pick from the BHS Gift Shop - Rats by Robert Sullivan
Geraldine Leibot
Introducing Brooklyn Historical Society STAFF PICKS, a new way to explore our awesome gift shop! Our gift shop has been open for a little over a year, featuring many items crafted right here in Brooklyn, as well as an array of books on Brooklyn and New York City suitable for the whole family. Once a month we will feature a staff member and their favorite item from our gift store because, let’s face it, who better than our Brooklyn lovin’ staff to give great gift ideas? This month is all about Andy McCarthy, BHS Reference Librarian, and his favorite book from our gift shop: Rats: Observations…
Mapping the first Red Scare: Ohman's map of 'racial colonies'
Lisa Miller
A Case of Mistaken Identity
John Zarrillo
Map of the Month - June 2014
Lisa Miller
Twin Track Stars Break Barriers
Suzanne Lipkin
A Magnolia Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Diana Bowers-Smith
The Brooklyn Cycling Tradition
John Zarrillo
Map of the Month - May 2014
Lisa Miller
The Fight of the (Nineteenth) Century
John Zarrillo
Map of the Month - April 2014
Lisa Miller
Brooklyn's Police Matrons
John Zarrillo
Map of the Month - March 2014
Lisa Miller
The Emancipation Proclamation: Copperheads Respond
Julie Golia
In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. The American political landscape was marked by many different and complicated factions during the Civil War. One group, often dubbed "Copperheads," remain the most misunderstood. Copperheads were Unionists affiliated with the Democratic party who opposed the Civil War. For reasons including a fear that emancipated slaves entering the labor force would threaten the livelihoods of northern white workers,…
Science Fiction and Multiraciality: CBBG Event Recap
Nayantara Sen
Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations (CBBG), a project of Brooklyn Historical Society, is an oral history project and public programming series that examines the history and experiences of mixed-heritage people and families, cultural hybridity, race, ethnicity, and identity in the historically diverse borough of Brooklyn. On December 14th, 2013, BHS’ Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations program hosted a fantastic, creative and well-received event titled Science Fiction and Multiraciality: From Octavia Butler to Harry Potter. This event allowed New Yorkers to critically engage with…
Coney Island Aflame
John Zarrillo
The Emancipation Proclamation: Black Soldiers Respond
Ariana Wiener
In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. As I discussed a few weeks ago, the promotion of black military service was among the Emancipation Proclamation’s most controversial and significant provisions. Black men were eager to join the Union military from the start of the Civil War. Freedmen penned letters to President Lincoln and other officials calling for black recruitment as early as 1861. Rarely did officials respond to these poignant letters (…
The Emancipation Proclamation - Abraham Lincoln Responds
Julie Golia
In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. For 150 years, historians have debated Abraham Lincoln's motivations, feelings, and beliefs about slavery and emancipation. What motivated him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation? Did he free slaves in rebel states for political expediency, or for moral reasons? What did Lincoln think or say in the moments before he signed the document that declared "forever free" over 3,000,000 enslaved men, women, and…
A School Grows in Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
Map of the Month - February 2014
Lisa Miller
Documenting Sandy: Photographer Highlight - Robin Michals
Julie May
Our Documenting Sandy exhibition is up in our 3rd floor gallery, featuring photographs by professionals and amateurs during the devastating aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. This is the third installment of our photographer highlight series. In it, we tell you more about the photographers who contributed to the exhibition. Robin Michals is a professional photographer who has been chronicling views of the de-industrialization of the waterfront in New York City. For several years she has also been working on the series Castles Made of Sand that illustrates the locations around New York City that…
The Emancipation Proclamation: White Minnesotans Respond
Ariana Wiener
In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. The Civil War obscures a concurrent war fought by the Union, also on American soil: the Dakota War of 1862. What sparked the violent outbreak between the Dakota (also known as the Eastern Sioux) and white Minnesotans? Increasing numbers of white settlers encroached on Dakota territories, especially after Minnesota gained statehood in 1859. Additionally, the Union’s failure to promptly submit the annuity…
The Emancipation Proclamation: A Kentucky Soldier Responds
Julie Golia
In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. Most Americans think about the Civil War in terms of the Union north and the secessionist south. But perhaps no states played as decisive a role in the war as Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky, the "border states." These were slave states that fought for the Union. For strategic and political reasons, the loyalty of these states proved essential to a Union victory. Kentucky, with its abundant…
It Came From the Sewers
John Zarrillo
Documenting Sandy: Photographer Highlight - Nick Lakiotes
Julie May
Our Documenting Sandy exhibition is up in our 3rd floor gallery, featuring photographs by professionals and amateurs during the devastating aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. This is the second installment of our photographer highlight series. In it, we tell you more about the photographers who contributed to the exhibition. Nick Lakiotes is a graphic designer who lives in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn with his wife, 6-year old daughter, and infant soon. Nick’s story of his Hurricane Sandy experience is vivid, and scary. Nick and his family didn’t think their residence would sustain much damage or…
The Emancipation Proclamation: Junius C. Morel Responds
Julie Golia
In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. This week, BHS opens a major long-term exhibition, "Brooklyn Abolitionists/In Pursuit of Freedom." The exhibition, part of a public history partnership with Weeksville Heritage Center and Irondale Ensemble Project, explores the unsung heroes of Brooklyn’s anti-slavery movement. Among those unsung heroes was a man named Junius C. Morel. Born in North Carolina, Morel lived and worked in Philadelphia before…
The Emancipation Proclamation: Jefferson Davis Responds
Julie Golia
In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. It should not surprise readers that the President of the Confederate States of America did not respond positively to the Emancipation Proclamation. In a long and florid speech to the Confederate Congress on January 13, 1863, President Jefferson Davis portrayed the proclamation as a crime against humanity that would be decried and reviled throughout history. “We may well leave it to the instincts of that…
Map of the Month - January 2014
Lisa Miller
The Emancipation Proclamation: The New York Times and Martin Delany Respond
Ariana Wiener
In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. The Emancipation Proclamation was considered the most radical of the Union’s war initiatives, not in the least because it publicized the legalization of black men’s military recruitment--publicized, not legalized. The Militia Act of 1862, issued weeks before Lincoln's September 1862 preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, first sanctioned black military service in the form of armed combat and manual labor.…
BHS December Staff Pick: Left Field Cards
Meredith Duncan
Name: Lindsay Palmer Vint Role at BHS: Retail Coordinator Pick of the month: ANYTHING by Left Field Cards! This week we started carrying a line of hip, playful baseball inspired cards and gifts by Greenpoint, BK designer Amelie Mancini. Each card is handcrafted using linoleum block printing and a traditional letterpress. Humorous, well-crafted, and beautiful colored, these unique cards make great gifts! They also have a unique story: Mancini is a French-born painter and printmaker who moved to New York in 2006. When she arrived in the States, she didn't know what a curveball was until a…
Stocking Stuffers from the BHS Museum Store!
Meredith Duncan
Great Gift Ideas from the BHS Museum Store!
Meredith Duncan
Still looking for a unique holiday gift for HIM? We have the perfect gift. Come by and shop our unique selection of products made by the Brooklyn Brewery! We carry The Beer Soap Shaving Kit, made with Chocolate Stout ($18), a Brooklyn Brewery Bar Mat to complete your home bar ($16), and even a Beer Making Kit, the perfect gift for that Do-It-Yourself type of guy ($55). Need an environmentally friendly stocking stuffer? We even carry Brooklyn Brewery notebooks made with recycled packaging from your favorite beer. Carry your Brooklyn Brewery pride with you every day! Stop by our store this…
The Emancipation Proclamation: Frederick Douglass responds
Julie Golia
In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. A month after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass reflected on the moral impact of emancipation on all Americans. “We are all liberated by this proclamation. Everybody is liberated. The white man is liberated, the black man is liberated, the brave men now fighting the battles of their country against rebels and traitors are now liberated… I…
Williamsburg Cattle Rustlin'
John Zarrillo
The Emancipation Proclamation: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle responds
Julie Golia
In conjunction with a current exhibition, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here. Two days after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle took a dim view of Republican Abraham Lincoln’s leadership and of the impact that emancipation would have on the reunion of north and south. “The truth is, the proclamation tends only to embitter the strife, and to render all but impossible a restoration of the Union. The chances of Union were remote enough without this…
The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond
Julie Golia
In October, BHS opened an exhibition featuring a rare edition of the Emancipation Proclamation. The document, which includes the signature of President Abraham Lincoln, has offered many visitors to our institution an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable events that took place in the United States during the 1860s. Lincoln did not sign the Emancipation Proclamation in a vacuum. Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs influenced the President's decision and responded to the proclamation with a range of emotions, from jubilation to outright horror. BHS's exhibition captures the cacophony…
Map of the Month - December 2013
Lisa Miller
The Dreaded Banana Peel
John Zarrillo
Documenting Sandy: Photographer Highlight - Nathan Kensinger
Julie May
In case you missed it, our Documenting Sandy exhibition is up in our 3rd floor gallery, exhibiting photographs taken by professionals and amateurs in the devastating aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. A couple times a month, we’re going to tell you more about the photographers who contributed to the exhibition, and what their experience was like as both an observer and a participant. Nathan Kensinger is a professional photographer and filmmaker who hails from San Francisco and now resides in Brooklyn. I first saw some of Nathan’s work at a Brooklyn Public Library exhibition showing a side of…
Storewide Sale on November 30th!
Meredith Duncan
Exhibits are not the only curated space at Brooklyn Historical Society! Last month we unveiled our brand new store: a space dedicated to all things for and about the city’s most famous (and maybe even infamous) borough, Brooklyn! Explore our artfully chosen mix of uniquely Brooklyn-centric gifts, books, souvenirs, toys and artisan goods. You’ll find the serious, silly, irresistible, charming and of course, tasty, all brimming with Brooklyn history and character. This month we offer a brief introduction to some of the artists and designers. MEET OUR MAKERS: Brooklyn Owl business owner Annie…
Map of the Month - November 2013
Lisa Miller
Brooklyn Opens a Street (Through Your Backyard)
John Zarrillo
Map of the Month — October 2013
Lisa Miller
Celebrating the March on Washington from Brooklyn
Julie Golia
Next week, America celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. On August 28, 1963, between 200,000 and 300,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to rally for black civil and economic equality. Present at the historic event were several Brooklynites who, as members of the Brooklyn branch of the Congress of Racial Equality (Brooklyn CORE), walked from the County of Kings to Washington, D.C.
Shaking Up the History of Canarsie with the Young Curators of P.S. 276!
Adam Rubin
Gabriella Kula served as an Educator for the Young Curators program at P.S. 276 in the Spring of 2013.
As an educator for the Young Curators program, my goal was for the students of P.S. 276 to gain new insights into their local heritage and Canarsie’s past. We began our time together by coming up with a list of questions, and we looked at artifacts, images, and primary sources to discover historical and cultural content that has left the students more connected and committed to their neighborhood than ever before.
The Young Curators of P.S. 133 Uncover the History of Revolutionary Brooklyn
Adam Rubin
Kayla Goodson served as an Educator for the Young Curators program at P.S. 133 in the Spring of 2013. She is a four-year veteran of the Brooklyn Historical Society's team of museum educators. This past spring, I had the pleasure to work with an incredible class of 4th and 5th graders from P.S. 133 for the “Young Curators” program in order to design a professional history exhibit in their school. Each week, we worked together as historians to piece together the events and experiences of the Revolutionary War in Brooklyn. While much of the class was acquainted with the American Revolution,…
The Young Curators at PS 32 Take a Walk Around the Block
Adam Rubin
Erin Boyle served as an Educator for the Young Curators program at P.S. 32 in the Spring of 2013. On a very cold afternoon all the way back in February, I led a joyful crew of 4th and 5th graders from PS 32 in Gowanus on a walk around the block. When we set off for the walk, The Young Curators had spent two class sessions scouring photocopies of an historic map from the BHS collection and had planned out a route—a simple square path that would take them from their school on Hoyt Street, across the Union Street Bridge and back across the Carroll Street Bridge to complete the square. Together…
Map of the Month - July 2013
Elizabeth Call
Writings from Racial Realities
Sady Sullivan
Happy Fourth of July!
Jacob Nadal
A Reflection on Brooklyn Businesses
Elizabeth Call
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
Elizabeth Call
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…
Loosely collected thoughts: Digital Cultural Heritage and User Experience
Jacob Nadal
"You can't back up the Internet." That was from Aaron Straup Cope, and he was talking about digital preservation, but it could have been the subtitle for the whole day last Friday, at the Digital Cultural Heritage and User Experience symposium. You can't back up the internet: it is a forward moving thing, a live performance. This year is Brooklyn Historical Society's 150th anniversary, and it’s a point of pride that we could play a role as a host, stakeholder, and instigator in this symposium. Brooklyn Historical Society is an urban history center in a landmark building. It has made a…
Matthew Lewandowski: Design Drawings and Die-sets
Jacob Nadal
BHS actively collects documents, artworks, and artifacts that support our mission ad collection development goals. In librarian and museum parlance, we call this acquisition and accessioning. Accessioning has its etymological roots in Latin, as a concept in property law (think “accessory”, as in the property added to an estate) but for libraries, archives, and museums, it’s just as useful to think of accessioning as providing access, the act of making something usable by researchers. In the months ahead, we’ll be featuring a few of our recent acquisitions, and pulling back the curtain to give…
Capstones and Cornerstones
Jacob Nadal
It's quiet in the library for a few more minutes. The staff will start to arrive around 9, the first school tour will flow in around 10 am, soon enough the doors will open for researchers, and then at 5, we'll strike the set and prepare for tomorrow's symposium, "Digital Cultural Heritage and User Experience". There are all sorts of reasons to be excited for this event. It's a great lineup of our smartest friends, digging into the way we work now. There will be notes and remarks to follow on the website and live responses all day on Twitter and Facebook. The symposium marks the culmination of…
Map of the Month - May 2013
Elizabeth Call
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."
Brooklyn Dodgers 1955 Championship Banner Displayed for 100th Anniversary of Ebbets Field at Barclays Center
Sara Casten
On April 9, 2013 the Brooklyn Nets home game vs. the Philadelphia 76ers began with a rare treat: a presentation of the one and only Brooklyn Dodgers 1955 Championship Banner. This special display of the banner was all part of the centennial celebration of Ebbets Field, which opened its doors one hundred years ago on this same date in 1913. The Banner itself has quite an interesting history! When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1957 the banner went with the team. In 1959, during a press conference a group of New York journalists decided that the banner belonged in New York, and not out on…
Map of the Month - April 2013
Elizabeth Call
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
Elizabeth Call
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. …
Barclay's Center - Where Brooklyn At: BHS
Sara Casten
11,713 Photos of the Week: Brooklyn Visual Heritage has Launched!
Leah
We are happy to announce the Brooklyn Visual Heritage (BVH) website, http://www.brooklynvisualheritage.org. The website was created through Project CHART, a 3-year collaborative project funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that began in 2010 between the Pratt School of Information and Library Science (Pratt-SILS), Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), Brooklyn Museum (BM), and Brooklyn Public Library (BPL). Project CHART supports a diverse group of Pratt-SILS students who take series of courses focusing on digital libraries and work with the staff of these distinguished…
Map of the Month - February 2013
Carolyn
This month's featured map shows Long Island ca. 1860s. It was "sold for" Charles Magnus, a New York City-based lithographer, publisher, mapmaker, bookseller, and stationer active from 1850-1899. The map illustrates Long Island's industrial and commercial development, from the railroad lines connecting towns to the water stations pumping fresh water into Brooklyn. Interestingly, the map provides quite a bit of detail about Brooklyn. If you look closely, you will see the following Brooklyn-based names: Bushwick, Williamsburg, Bedford, Gowanus, Flatbush, New Utrecht, Flatlands, Gravensend,…
Urban Exploration as a Tool for Teaching & Learning with Stephanie Krom
Emily Potter-Ndiaye
I'm pleased to introduce returning guest blogger, Stephanie Krom, who worked with BHS's education department as a graduate student intern in the fall of 2012. In her post below, she describes her experience with two of BHS's urban exploration programs: One of the aspects of Museum Education that initially drove me to become a museum educator was the hands-on teaching and learning that takes place when kids engage with history through material culture. As a student, I find that I connect with history best when I feel physically close to it - when I am standing on the ground on which history…
Renovation Report - Behind the Scenes
Janice
Welcome to Renovation Report, the first installment in a monthly series of blog posts to provide progress reports on Brooklyn Historical Society’s (BHS) current renovation and to highlight the fascinating features of our landmark building. Designed by architect George Post and opened in 1881, Brooklyn Historical Society’s building was ahead of its time, and will be once again.
Map of the Month - January 2013
Carolyn
This month's featured map shows a plan for the Parade Ground, laid out just south of Prospect Park. Parade grounds served a significant purpose in the 19th century by providing large expanses of land where the military could conduct drills and exercises. Originally, the park's designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux proposed that the park's parade ground be located in East New York, but they later settled on an area south of the park. Completed in 1869, about two years after the park opened to the public, the Parade Ground served the military's needs while protecting the grasses…
Progress on Documenting Sandy, from the Director of Library and Archives
Jacob Nadal
The history of Brooklyn contains many stories of resilience and reinvention and Hurricane Sandy adds another chapter to that account. Brooklyn has come out in force to help this recovery and Brooklyn Historical Society is committed to doing its part by making sure there is a thorough and publicly available collection of material that will document the preparations, response, and recovery efforts. Soon after Sandy made landfall, Brooklyn History began using email and social media to collect photographs. Our November Photo of the Week series featured “before and after” photo essays about areas…
Map of the Month - December 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map is a reproduction of Hooker's Map of the Village of Brooklyn in the Year 1827. The reproduction was made in 1861 for Brooklyn reporter Henry McCloskey's Manual of the Corporation. Hooker's map is one of the earliest detailed maps of Brooklyn, showing wards, churches, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the marshlands of Gowanus, and even Andre Parmentier's Garden, one of Brooklyn's earliest botanical gardens.
Teens Explore History & Innovation at the Navy Yard
Samantha Gibson
Once again, I'm pleased to introduce a guest post by Fall Education Intern, Stephanie Krom. Stephanie is a student in the NYU Archives and Public History MA program. This semester in the Education Department, Stephanie has worked with K-12 students on school tours here at BHS and she has helped facilitate our brand new after school program that debuted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92 this fall, "Teen Innovators." The teen innovators will show off their work at the culminating event tonight at BLDG 92, so check out Stephanie's inside look at the work they have done along the way…
Documenting Sandy, From the Director of Library & Archives
Jacob Nadal
I moved back to Brooklyn in April to join the staff of the Brooklyn Historical Society as the Director of Library and Archives. Over the last few months, I have met many people with a stake in Brooklyn and the work that Brooklyn Historical Society does for the borough, supporters who have asked me a lot of insightful questions about our plans for the Othmer Library. In the last few weeks, the question of what we do as a library and archives has taken on an added urgency. One of the essential jobs of libraries, archives, and museums is to help communities remember, and disasters are important…
Brooklyn Navy Yard at War
Sady Sullivan
We are very pleased to see Brooklynites Carmela Zuza and Clarence Irving featured in this great video as part of New-York Historical Society's new exhibition WWII & NYC: You can see more from this exhibition on The New York Home Front here. And you can hear full interviews with Clarence Irving and Carmela Zuza and over forty other people who worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard at BHS in the Othmer Library: Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History, 2006 - 2011. Teachers: Bring your students to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG92 and check out the new Ingenious Inventions at the Brooklyn Navy Yard…
Map of the Month - October 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map shows the Gravesend and Coney Island areas in 1787. Hand-copied by Teunis G. Bergen in 1861 "from an old map" that was "probably used in a suit ... in relation to fishing rights," the map features property, names of landowners, and landscape features. A prolific map maker and surveyor, Teunis G. Bergen made hundreds of maps during his lifetime, many of which can be viewed in the BHS Map Collection and the Teunis G. Bergen and Bergen Family Collection. Bergen was also an active historian and genealogist, and served as a U.S. Representative in Congress during the…
"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.
Map of the Month - September 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map is the oldest item in the BHS Map Collection, dating from approximately 1562. It was created by the Italian cartographer Girolaneo Ruscelli, based on an 1548 map by Giacomo Gastaldi. The map shows the eastern coast of the United States and Canada, from Florida to Labrador. Its main focus is what we know today as the Mid-Atlantic, New England, and Nova Scotia. "Angoulesme" is likely New York Harbor, "Flora" is likely the southern coast of Long Island, and "Brisa" is probably Block Island. It is interesting to note that the map does not show the coasts of either modern…
Map of the Month - August 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map of Brooklyn's Prospect Park was first posted on our blog by Allison back in May 2010 - but it is so beautiful that we wanted to showcase it again. An 1871 design from Olmsted, Vaux & Co, Landscape Architects, the map was made while the park was both open and still under construction. Today the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and Mount Prospect Park sit on what was the reservoir’s land. Also of interest is the land for sale around the reservoir -- part of which makes up today’s Brooklyn Botanic Garden.…
Map of the Month - July 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map is attributed to Matthaeus Seutter and Augustine Herrman and dates from approximately 1740. It is the 3rd state (or edition) of the map, and is part of the Jansson-Visscher series of maps (for comparison, look at Nicholas Visscher's Novi Belgii Novaeque Angliae nec non partis Virginiae tabula, which was featured on Map of the Month in March 2011). For more information on early maps of the eastern United States (including the Jansson-Visscher series), please see this description from Fordham University Libraries. The map includes a decorative cartouche, illustrations…
Map of the Month - June 2012
Carolyn
Titled "Panorama of the Great Metropolis," this month's featured map actually consists of three maps and two bird's-eye views. The maps shows the city of New York, the city of Brooklyn, and the Hudson River, while the views and illustrations provide images of New York City, including tourist attractions such as Union Square and the Latting Conservatory. Although this piece isn't dated, it's likely that it was used to promote the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, a World’s Fair held in New York City in 1853.…
Tragedy at Sea: The Sea Witch and Esso Brussels crash in 1973
Leah
While going through the Frank J. Trezza Seatrain Shipbuilding collection, I got intrigued by one of the images of a very damaged container ship named the Sea Witch. This led me to find out more about the ship and what happened. On June 2, 1973, just after midnight, the SS C.V. Sea Witch, built by Bath Iron Works was leaving New York harbor when the ship lost steering control and collided into the fully loaded tanker SS Esso Brussels, right under the Verrazano Bridge. The 31,000 barrels of crude oil released from three ruptured tanks ignited and the resulting fire engulfed both ships. A…
Ex Lab 2012: Get Ready to Say Cheese!
Samantha Gibson
I'm pleased to introduce a guest post by new-bloggers, David Estevez and Crystal Lau. David and Crystal are both students at Brooklyn Technical High School and part of BHS's Exhibition Laboratory (or "Ex Lab") after-school museum studies program. The Ex Lab students have been meeting twice a week since February to create the newest exhibit for Brooklyn Historical Society, Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics. Here's a sneak peek from David and Crystal about what they've been working on and what you can expect to see in the exhibit (opening June 6th)! Connect to the Ex Lab-ers on twitter @…
Brooklyn Documentaries
Keara Duggan
To help celebrate their one year anniversary DocumentaryStorm, a New York City-based website for documentary lovers, hand picked and organized a selection of documentaries focusing on Brooklyn and its community. BHS is proud to share this selection of documentaries with you. The Brooklyn Bridge: This documentary gives a contemporary twist to the story of the legendary Brooklyn Bridge. Completed in 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the entire world for the rest of the century. An excellent documentary about one of the wonders of modern architecture, the Brooklyn…
Map of the Month - May 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map is from the Gazzettiere Americano, an atlas published in Livorno, Italy in 1763. The map shows New York Harbor and surrounding areas, and includes a number of Brooklyn references. If you look closely, you will see the following names on the Brooklyn area of the map: Bushwick, Brockland, Redhook, Flatland, Flatbush, Gravesend, Utrecht, and Coney Isola. The small numbers on the map are called soundings and they represent water depths. Soundings were commonly featured on early nautical charts and maps and are still used today in navigation.…
The Mystery of Dennet Place in Carroll Gardens
Leah
When I first walked down Dennet Place to visit a friend, I immediately felt like I was in a magical place. This hidden alley street in Carroll Gardens is a rare gem, made more distinguished by the basement level apartments with half-size doors which give it an almost fairy-tale like quality. Lucky for me I managed to find and rent one of these basement apartments! My friends jokingly call my place the "hobbit home." After moving in I've become more and more interested in the history of the little street, and also perplexed by the name of the street itself. …
No Alligators or Ninja Turtles 'Round Here
Larry Weimer
I had the opportunity over the past months to help process a major collection at BHS: the records of the Brooklyn Bureau of Sewers (ARC.235). Sure, it does not sound especially appealing, but the collection has lots of useful documents, perhaps especially maps. The bulk of the collection consists of the documents compiled by the Bureau of Sewers principally for the purpose of establishing the tax levy to be assessed on those connecting to newly-laid sewer lines from the late 19th century to about 1960. So in addition to information about the expanding sewerage infrastructure in Brooklyn, the…
CBBG Sneak Peek!
Sady Sullivan
Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations (CBBG) is BHS's oral history project and public programming series examining the history and experiences of mixed-heritage people and families, cultural hybridity, race, ethnicity, and identity. We are very excited to give you a sneak peek at the project's website-in-progress: cbbg.brooklynhistory.org You can learn more about CBBG, upcoming Events, Project News, Who's Involved, and we're continually adding new oral histories you can Listen to via the online archive. Also check out the first digital exhibit on the site: Interracial Brooklyn by…
Map of the Month - March 2013
Carolyn
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. …
Map of the Month - April 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map dates from 1828 and features the "country thirty miles round the city of New York," including all five boroughs as well as portions of New Jersey, Long Island, and Connecticut. Drawn by J.H. Eddy of New York, this map is a new edition with edits by William Hooker and E. Blunt. While the map shows traditional elements such as roads, topography, and names of landowners (including the Lefferts, Cortelyou, and Vanderveer families in Brooklyn), it also shows more unusual things like taverns. The map appears to have been dedicated to Dewitt Clinton, Governor of New York,…
Map of the Month - January 2013
Carolyn
This month's featured map shows a plan for the Parade Ground, laid out just south of Prospect Park. Parade grounds served a significant purpose in the 19th century by providing large expanses of land where the military could conduct drills and exercises. Originally, the park's designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux proposed that the park's parade ground be located in East New York, but they later settled on an area south of the park. Completed in 1869, about two years after the park opened to the public, the Parade Ground served the military's needs while protecting the grasses of…
In Memory of Elsie Richardson
Sady Sullivan
Research, Writing, and Art: P.S. 312's Fourth Graders Curate a History of Bergen Beach
Samantha Gibson
Along with Educator Emily Gallagher, BHS Educator Alex Tronolone is working closely with a team of “young curators” at P.S. 312 to uncover the history of their Bergen Beach neighborhood this spring. The work the students create will ultimately go into three professionally-designed museum panels to be displayed at the school. BHS’s after-school program “Young Curators” is made possible by a Cultural After-School Adventures (CASA) grant from City Council Member Lewis Fidler. I’m happy to introduce today’s guest blogger, Alex, and his insights on getting students engaged with history.…
Mapping Weeksville
Carolyn
Recently, BHS staff had the privilege of touring the historic Hunterfly Road Houses at the Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC) in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The houses are original structures dating from the 1840s to the 1880s, and offer an intimate look into the lives of African Americans in Brooklyn. Founded by James Weeks in 1838, Weeksville was a free African American community with an independent infrastructure, including schools, an orphanage, churches, and newspapers. Below are some images that I took during our visit to WHC:…
Map of the Month - March 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map was created by the Ohman Map Co., a New York-based map company located at 258 Broadway, in the early 1900s. One of only a handful of maps in the BHS Collection to show ethnic communities in Brooklyn, it features various groups, from Europeans to African Americans to people of mixed heritage. It is clear from this map that early 20th century Brooklyn was a diverse community of people, just as it is today.…
"Young Curators" at P.S. 276 Dig Into Canarsie's History
Samantha Gibson
This spring, students from P.S. 276 are working with Educator Emily Gallagher to uncover the history of their neighborhood, Canarsie, through BHS’s after-school program “Young Curators.” This program is made possible by a Cultural After-School Adventures (CASA) grant from City Council Member Lewis Fidler. I’m very pleased to introduce our guest blogger, Emily, and her experience working with her great team of “young curators.”
Brooklyn's secret garden?
Carolyn
I love learning about Brooklyn through the BHS Map Collection. Looking at early 19th century maps reveals a very different landscape from our modern Brooklyn, one filled with farms and streets that have long since disappeared. My favorite discovery from this period is Brooklyn's first botanic garden, which was located at the junction of the Jamaica and Flatbush Turnpikes, in what is now the Fort Greene/Prospect Heights area. The garden was created by Andre Parmentier in 1825 and consisted of twenty-four acres, featuring fruit trees and bushes, flowers, and other plants. The following map…
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.…
Map of the Month - February 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map was created by the prolific Brooklyn surveyor Teunis G. Bergen, who copied it from an "ancient map." According to Bergen, there was no date or surveyor's name on the "ancient map," but it was probably made before 1750. The map roughly covers modern-day Brooklyn Heights south to the Gowanus and shows buildings and names of landowners. Please note that any writing on the map with an asterisk was added by Bergen and not found on the original map. If you're interested in learning more about Bergen, the BHS archive has an amazing collection of his writings and maps.…
The Changing Shape of Coney Island
Carolyn
Even with the best of technology and intentions, early mapmakers didn't always get it right. Browsing through the map collection a few weeks ago, I noticed that the shape of one of Brooklyn's most iconic features, Coney Island, appears drastically different from one map to another. While it's easy to think of maps as authoritative, scientific representations of geographic space, looking at these helps me to remember that maps are also interpretative. As such, they are affected by the historical context in which they were created and may reflect biases or contain inaccuracies. Either that, or…
Map of the Month - January 2012
Carolyn
This month's featured map dates from approximately 1776 and shows the routes of American and British troops throughout the New York area before, during, and after the "Engagement on the Heights" of August 27th, 1776. Known alternately as the Battle of Long Island, the Battle of Brooklyn, and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, this event was a significant moment in the Revolutionary War. Some historical sites relevant to the battle can still be visited today, including Battle Pass in Prospect Park, the Prison Ships Martyrs Monument, and the Old Stone House. Enjoy!…
Happy New Year!
Leah
As the year comes to an end the staff at Brooklyn Historical Society would like to wish you a very Happy New Year! In honor of New Year’s celebrations this weekend, here is a sample of festive images from Brooklyn’s past.
Can you solve the map mystery?
Carolyn
When I catalog historical maps, I always try to figure out the modern geographic area that they cover, ideally down to the neighborhood level. Usually, I can find the answer, but the following map has me stumped. It likely covers some part of Brooklyn, but that's about as much as I can figure out. So I'm sending this out to all you map sleuths with the hopes that you can solve the mystery. Thanks for your help!
The Lefferts family goes digital
Julie Golia
In 2010, the Lefferts historic house donated a rich collection of Lefferts family papers to Brooklyn Historical Society. Included were genealogies, bibles, recipe books, financial papers, personal recollections, and many other documents that offer an intimate glimpse into the lives and labors of one Brooklyn family over four centuries. Thanks to a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, BHS spent much of 2010 and 2011 conserving, organizing, and processing these materials. The goal: to make these unique artifacts available to researchers, students, and museumgoers, and to preserve their…
Map of the Month - December 2011
Carolyn
This month's featured map depicts the New York City subway system in 1955. Published by the Union Dime Savings Bank, the map shows various subway lines, stations, and sites of free transfer. Another interesting feature of the map is that it advertises banking by mail, calling it "the quickest and easiest way to open an account." Enjoy!
Adrian Vanderveer Martense's Lantern Slides
Carolina Garcia
As an intern for the IMLS CHART project, I have been working on scanning and cataloging lantern slides from the Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection. Containing some 130 slides, it is a popular collection at Brooklyn Historical Society, since the photographs depict A.V. Martense (1852-1898), other family members, and extends far beyond the lantern slides. As early Dutch settlers, the Martense family established a homestead and farm in Flatbush, part of which now is Greenwood Cemetery.…
What It Means to Be Hapa
Sady Sullivan
More Brooklyn Navy Yard!
Carolyn
Courtesy of John Cloud and NOAA Central Library, below is an image of the Navy Yard and Wallabout Bay in 1845. According to Cloud, "The gap between 1827 and 1900 was a time when the U.S. Coast Survey was most active in mapping New York Bay and Harbor and the Environs, as they put it." Below "is a crop from the Survey's first published charts of New York, Sheets 1 through 4 in 1844, and Sheets 5 and 6 in 1845. We particularly like how the Survey was attempting to differentiate agriculture in Brooklyn down to symbolizing different crops and farming row techniques in different ways."…
Shirley Chisholm Day!
Sady Sullivan
Celebrate Shirley Chisholm Day 11/30/11 by checking out The Shirley Chisholm Project's online collection of oral history interviews with people who knew her well, including Richard Green, founder of the Crown Heights Youth Collective, who worked on Chisholm's campaign; and feminist and journalist Gloria Steinem, who ran as a Chisholm delegate to the 1972 democratic convention. January 25, 2012 will mark the 40th anniversary of Shirley Chisholm's historic run for president, and launch a year-long, borough-wide celebration of this important Brooklynite - stay tuned! Intrepid political leader,…
Thanksgiving at Emmanuel House
Keara Duggan
Wallabout Bay and the Brooklyn Navy Yard
Carolyn
Earlier this week, BHS staff toured BLDG 92, the newly opened history center and museum at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. BLDG 92 explores the fascinating and changing history of the Yard, from the Revolutionary War to the present day. In honor of BLDG 92, this post will showcase maps from the BHS collection that feature Wallabout Bay and the Yard. The first map is a reproduction of a portion of Bernard Ratzer's "Plan of the city of New York..." (the Ratzer Map), which was surveyed in 1766 and 1767. This 20th century reproduction was created as an advertisement for the East Brooklyn Savings Bank,…
Otto C. Dreschmeyer's Brooklyn, 1965-1968
Cassie Mey
Jungle Fever
Sady Sullivan
https://youtu.be/kZ64smS4Lyk We're getting ready for the 20th anniversary screening of Jungle Fever (1991) at BAM next Tuesday 11/15 7PM. People who haven't seen the film an awhile remember that awesome Stevie Wonder song and that it was Halle Berry's first film role: We're interested in talking about how gender, race, and interracial romance play out in this film and we're curious about how people will receive the film 20 years later - especially a Brooklyn audience who will know why it's particularly relevant that Angie Tucci (Annabella Sciorra) is not only white, "H-bomb," says Cyrus (…
Museums and the Common Core: What's Your Role?
Todd Florio
Last Tuesday, Brooklyn Historical Society hosted the New York Museum Educators Roundtable (NYCMER) in an event dubbed “Museums and the Common Core: What’s Your Role?” The event was open to NYCMER members and the public and the audience wound up being museum educators from across New York and beyond. Common Core refers to the new Common Core Learning Standards which are being rolled out by the State of New York and the NYCDOE.
Map of the Month - November 2011
Carolyn
This month's featured map dates from 1946 and shows Native American communities in Kings County. It was created by James A. Kelly, who served as the Borough of Brooklyn Historian from 1944 to 1971. If you are interested in learning more about Kelly, his papers are available in the BHS Archives. Enjoy! (View this map as a PDF file to show more detail) Interested in seeing more maps? You can view the BHS map collection anytime during the library's open hours, Wed.-Fri., from 1-5 p.m. No appointment is necessary to view most maps. Our cataloged maps can be searched through BobCat and our map…
A response to the Goos Map ...
Carolyn
The Double Life of Don Francione
Patricia Glowinski
I didn't mean to imply anything sinister by the title of this post about Don Francione. I'm just pointing out that he was able to do something in life that many of us only dream about--to spend our lives doing the things that we love to do. We all know how hard it is to work a full time job and pursue other interests. In New York, it's even more of a challenge because there's always so much to do here; your own creative energy often gets stymied by merely going-out-on-the-town-- 'cause this is one "helluva town." Photographer Don Francione figured out how to do it. Through the small but…
Digging Deep Into Brooklyn's Past
Matthew Gorham
When I was a child, I was convinced for awhile that I would one day grow up to become an archaeologist. That is of course until I came to the cruel realization that archaeological work tends to involve a lot less of this, and a whole lot more of this. Unlike me, Terry Lymon was deterred neither by the tedium of some archaeological work, nor by a lack of professional training and education in the field, and his papers are one of my favorite collections that we’ve uncovered over the course of the hidden collections project. Little is known about Terry Lymon, a New Jersey native, Brooklyn…
Map of the Month - October 2011
Carolyn
This month's featured map dates from 1666 and covers New Netherland and the English Virginias from Cape Cod to Cape Canrick [i.e. Hatteras]. Attributed to Pieter Goos, this beautiful nautical chart is an excellent example of early cartography and map printing. Enjoy!
Farm maps
Carolyn
On Wednesday, Sept. 21st, BHS held its annual fundraiser Brooklyn Bounty, which is a wonderful event celebrating the borough's food culture and sustainability movements. This year we also displayed historic maps illustrating Brooklyn's farming history and pre-industrial landscape. In this post, I will be highlighting one my favorite maps showcased at Brooklyn Bounty. Titled "Plan of large & small gardens at the Pierrepont Homestead, Brooklyn," this manuscript map was created by William C. Pierrepont in 1821. First, an image of the map in its entirety. Although it may be underwhelming at…
What Are You?
Sady Sullivan
Today's guest post is by Jen Chau, founder of Swirl, a multi-ethnic, anti-racist organization that promotes cross-cultural dialogue. "What are you?" is one of those questions like "Where are you from, I mean from from?" that people pose (sometimes ungracefully) when they are curious about someone's racial/ethnic identity. What Are You? is also the title of an upcoming event (Monday, September 26th at 7pm), part of the Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations series, hosted here at the Brooklyn Historical Society and co-sponsored by Loving Day. BHS is learning more about Brooklyn's overlapping…
Map of the Month - September 2011
Carolyn
This month's featured map dates from 1933 and shows the Brooklyn Heights area. Published by the Garden Place Association, this charming map is indexed to show places of interest. Enjoy!
Cropsey's Cap: Discovering Brooklyn's Civil War History
Samantha Gibson
Each semester, the BHS Education Department asks our interns to research at least one object on display and present their findings. I'm very pleased to introduce the following post by guest blogger, Chelsea Trembly, and her excellent research on "Cropsey's Cap," now on display in Inventing Brooklyn.
Thanks, Chelsea!
Cropsey's Cap: Discovering Brooklyn's Civil War History
Brooklyn's Imagined Communities
Carolyn
I have always been interested in America's 19th century social reform movements. Maybe it's my Quaker heritage, but I find the history of Utopian communities fascinating and moving. In a century of great change and upheaval, many 19th century Americans sought comfort and stability through community. Whether these groups expressed their identities through conservative or radical ideas, they shared similar desires to live humanely, raise families, and care for each other. To my great surprise, I have found reform groups represented in the BHS map collection. From temperance groups to housing…
BHS's New Blog for Brooklyn Bounty
Keara Duggan
Want to know all of the latest news regarding chefs, food and guests attending this year's Brooklyn Bounty Cocktail Party? Check out BHS's newest blog, Brooklyn Bounty. This year's cocktail party will include tastings of food and drink from Brooklyn growers, chefs and purveyors; historic cocktails in our beautiful library; storytelling by local people from neighborhoods far and wide across Brooklyn; viewings of historical and new maps and materials related to local food and agriculture; a creative silent auction of unique Brooklyn prizes and experiences; and music by The Blue…
Crossing Borders this Fall
Sady Sullivan
Does your family, relationship, or identity cross borders of race, ethnicity, or culture? We're learning more about Brooklyn’s overlapping, interweaving communities. Join the conversation at these upcoming events, on Twitter using #cbbg, and at brooklynhistory.org/cbbg. What Are You? a discussion about mixed heritage Monday, September 26, 2011 7 p.m. Othmer Library, Brooklyn Historical Society 128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights Free Participate in this discussion about mixed heritage co-sponsored by Loving Day, a global network fighting racial…
The Frank J. Trezza Brooklyn Navy Yard Collection
Kenyetta Dean
Map of the Month - August 2011
Carolyn
This month's featured map shows the village of Williamsburg as it was laid out in 1827, though the map itself was published in 1833. Surveyed by D. Ewen, this map shows names of property owners. Please note that the map is oriented with north to the lower left. Enjoy!
"We Live in Brooklyn, Baby"
Patricia Glowinski
Several weeks ago I attended the Roy Ayers concert at SummerStage (here's the live performance) in Central Park. It was a gorgeous evening, with a crowd that probably represented six of the seven continents. When Ayers played Harry Whitaker's song, We Live in Brooklyn, Baby (originally recorded on Ayers' 1971 album, He's Coming), everyone knew it. The entire audience sang in unison "We live in Brooklyn, baby. We're trying to make it, baby. We wanna make it, baby. We're gonna make it, baby." (link to the 1971 version) It was an amazing feeling when we--people from Brooklyn, Manhattan, the…
Road maps
Carolyn
As a little girl, I went on many summer road trips with my family. I distinctly remember my dad plotting our courses with the help of a battered old atlas and a collection of road maps, all of which he kept in the glove compartment of our car. I loved looking at these maps with my dad, who would patiently explain to me the basics of reading a map, from what the legend was to how you could tell where the Appalachian Mountains were by looking at relief. This type of map is one of my favorites, not only for nostalgic reasons, but because it can provide a surprising wealth of information. In this…
The 1977 Blackout
Katie Hut
On July 13, 1977 at 9:34 pm, the lights went out in New York. This wasn’t the first blackout in New York City—the “where were you when the lights went out?” blackout of 1965 was a fairly recent memory—and it wouldn’t be the last, but it did leave an indelible mark. Caused by a series of lightning strikes to various components of the city’s electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system, the blackout left parts of New York without electricity for up to 24 hours. Per an article by Victor K. McElheny from the July 16, 1977 edition of The New York Times, “one factor in the slowness…
July 11th-July 14th 1977: The Week a Little Girl was Born in Flatbush, Brooklyn and the Lights Went Out Across NYC
Katie Hut
This post was written by Chantal Valencia Lawrence, a recent volunteer at BHS and a Brooklyn native. When I think of the 1977 Blackout that took place in New York City from July 13th-14th, I reminisce about a ritual that my mother would perform annually on July 11th. On this day in 1977, my mother, grandmother and the maternity staff of Brooklyn Jewish Hospital and Medical Center welcomed a baby girl named Chantal into the world at 4:05pm. From my birth in 1977 till her death in 1993, my mother would pull out an old photo album that contained an article from The Star newspaper and read to…
Map of the Month - July 2011
Carolyn
This month's featured map dates from 1889 and shows Long Island, including political divisions and railroads. It was published by the prolific firm of G.W. & C.B. Colton, who were located at 172 William Street in Manhattan. Enjoy!
Introducing College Students to the Joys of Archival Research
Julie Golia
Mapping the Heights
Carolyn
For the last two weeks, I've been cataloging 19th century manuscript maps of Brooklyn Heights. These maps represent our collection's earliest detailed views of the area; they show property ownership, street and waterfront development, businesses and more. I am very excited to be sharing one of these beautiful maps. The following map was hand-drawn by William C. Pierrepont in 1825. It covers the area north from Joralemon St. to Waring St. and east from the East River to Fulton St. Although the map mainly shows Hezekiah B. Pierrepont's property, it also shows sold lots, S. Jackson's Wharf,…
19th Century Kitchen Tools: Lecture by Harry Rosenblum
cgarza
BHS Celebrates Loving Day All Year
Sady Sullivan
Map of the Month - June 2011
Carolyn
This month's featured map dates from 1892 and shows a design for Bushwick Park, now called Maria Hernandez Park. The BHS collection has similar maps of Carroll Park, City Park (now Commodore Barry Park), Winthrop Park (now Msgr. Mcgolrick Park), and Tompkins Park (now Herbert Von King Park). Enjoy!
The Brooklyn Shore
Patricia Glowinski
Once described as the "nation's playground," (well, at least in the image above) the Brooklyn shore used to be the hot place to holiday. Except, back then, it was less Snooki, and more on par with a holiday Monsieur Hulot would take. As the BHS archives and photograph collection survey project enters its second summer, we've uncovered much in our collections, as well as uncovered so much Brooklyn history. The photograph collection tells volumes about Brooklyn. For example, beginning in the 1820s, but largely from the 1880s to the 1930s, people vacationed in Brooklyn--and not just tourists.…
Ex Lab Preps Students for College
Todd Florio
As the Ex Lab students put the finishing touches on their exhibit, Christina Valdez took a moment to share some of the ways working on Ex Lab has helped her prepare for the challenges of college.
Thanks, Christina!
Open to the Ideas of Others Working on Ex Lab
Racing across Brooklyn
Emily Reynolds
In honor of the Brooklyn Half Marathon, we've uploaded a portion of a film from the BHS collections, entitled Walking Race: Heel and Toe Artists Hoof it to Coney Island. It shows a group of men race walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as the arrival of the winner in Coney Island. The silent film is from a 16mm reel that was made around 1930 and found at a garage sale in the 1990s. The reel also contains a series of similar (but not Brooklyn-related) newsreel-style clips, all of which were recently conserved and digitized with a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.…
Brooklyn by any other name ...
Carolyn
Recently, I was speaking with Julie Golia, our public historian, who wanted to know if we had early maps that showed different spellings of the name Brooklyn. As I was looking through the collection to identify the most interesting spellings, I was surprised by the variations in nomenclature for our area. But I think I speak for most Brooklynites when I say that whether it's the Dutch "Breuckelen" or the anglicized "Brookland," we just call it home.…
Green Spaces and Moody Places
Weatherly
Bicycling in Brooklyn
Julie May
As you may know, it's bike month in the U.S. and Brooklyn cyclists and our streets tend to be big participants. Once again, I'd like to highlight more of the photographs from our historic collection that depict the bikes of our past. As you'll see, not much has changed. People still take their bikes to picnic in Prospect Park, lounge by the beach, and trek over our many bridges. Happy Bike Month everyone -- be sure to check out the many activities going on: http://bikemonthnyc.org/events
Map of the Month - May 2011
Carolyn
This month's featured map dates from 1896 and shows the Bay Ridge Channel, Red Hook Channel, Buttermilk Channel, Gowanus Canal, and Gowanus Creek Channel. Created to accompany the annual report of H.M. Adams of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, the map documents the Corps' planned improvements to the area. Enjoy!
Inventing This Year’s Ex Lab Exhibit: People, Stages, Progress
Todd Florio
This spring, BHS's fifth annual Exhibition Laboratory after-school museum studies program is underway. The fourteen participating high school students are hard at work co-curating BHS's newest exhibit. A few of the students wanted to give you the inside scoop on what it's been like to work on the project. It's my pleasure to introduce guest blogger, Brooklyn Technical High School junior Neil Alacha. Thanks, Neil! Inventing This Year’s Ex Lab Exhibit: People, Stages, Progress…
Guide to African-American Archival Materials at Othmer Library
Larry Weimer
In February, I first posted a new document to Emma, Brooklyn Historical Society’s catablog: the Guide to African-American History Archival Material at the Othmer Library. You might be interested in knowing a little of the context for this Guide. The Guide is an early outcome of the In Pursuit of Freedom project. Those readers who keep up on BHS’s many doings are already aware of the project. For those unfamiliar with it, In Pursuit is a multi-faceted public history project memorializing the history of abolitionism, anti-slavery and the Underground Railroad in Brooklyn. It aims to provide new…
Are You Related to Royals?
Sady Sullivan
House Hunting, 1800s Style
Carolyn
When I first moved to NYC, I was fascinated by the real estate ads posted in shop windows. Whenever I passed by one, I was compelled to stop and gawk at where I could be living. Of course, I knew I couldn't afford a $2 million townhouse in Park Slope, but it was nice to dream of having 3 bedrooms and room for a dog! As I've discovered from working with the map collection at BHS, posting real estate advertisements around the city is not a new phenomenon. Our collection has a substantial amount of 19th century auction maps that show property for sale throughout Brooklyn. These maps demonstrate…
Happy National Bookmobile Day!
Matthew Gorham
Though we're a little late to the party on this one, the BHS library and archives staff would like to wish everyone a very happy National Bookmobile Day! Designated as the Wednesday of the American Library Association's (ALA) annual National Library Week, National Bookmobile Day celebrates the vital role that bookmobiles and other direct-delivery outreach services play in providing underserved communities with access to valuable library and information resources. Here's an image from our postcard collection of some young residents of the Glenwood Houses checking out books from the Brooklyn…
In Like a Lion, and Out Like a Lamb?
Patricia Glowinski
Map of the Month - April 2011
Carolyn
This month marks the Civil War Sesquicentennial. In honor of this event, I would like to showcase one of our Civil War maps. Published in 1961 for the Centennial Celebrations, it shows major troop movements, battle sites, and portraits of important figures. It also features historical commentary and illustrations of flags, artillery, and uniforms. If you’d like to view more Civil War-related items, you can search the BHS collections or preview the National Archives’ upcoming exhibit Discovering the Civil War.…
The Reverend Obadiah Holmes Clock at the Brooklyn Historical Society
Julie May
I received an email some three years ago about a clock that was rumored to be standing in the main floor of the library at the Brooklyn Historical Society. The person asking happened to be a descendent of the original owner of this clock (which was given to the Long Island Historical Society (now known as the Brooklyn Historical Society) in May of 1869. I looked downstairs and saw no clock and could not recall ever having seen a clock (except for the plastic one on the ref desk) in my tenure at BHS. After a bit more head scratching, card catalog searching, and widespread questioning I located…
A Few of my Favorite Maps
Alli
This past year I’ve had my hands on many different maps. As one of the map catalogers for our CLIR Hidden Collections grant I’ve gone through and closely examined much of our collection. Every map is interesting and historically valuable, but some have stuck in my mind more than others. Yes, I have favorites. These are not necessarily the rarest or most valuable pieces in our collection – they’re just maps I’ve had fun poring over. I hope you enjoy them too.…
Worth 1,000 words and sometimes a smile
Weatherly
I always enjoy working with the photography collection, and finding an unusual or unexpected image tends to make my day. The sentiment of the majority of portraits from the late 19th and early 20th centuries could lead you to believe that very few people had fun in those days. With scant smiles and rigid posture, how could they? So, here are some examples from the BHS photo collection to prove that notion wrong. Take this portrait of an alumni association known as the Old First Class of Wilson Street School (now P.S. 16 in Williamsburg). At quick glance, it's just a group of middle-aged men…
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…
Map of the Month - March 2011
Carolyn
I'm very excited to introduce "Map of the Month," a new feature on the BHS Blog. Every month, we will showcase a different map from our collection, from subway maps of the 1940s to property maps of the 1820s. Look for our featured maps on the 1st Monday of every month. For March, I'm starting with a personal favorite. This map dates from approximately 1684 and shows New Netherland and New England. It is attributed to Nicholas Visscher and is lavishly illustrated, containing drawings of wildlife and Native American villages, as well as a view of New Amsterdam. Enjoy!…
Students and Faculty in the Archives
Robin M. Katz
Connecting to Universities The Brooklyn Historical Society has officially kicked off our Students and Faculty in the Archives (SAFA) project. The BHS has long been committed to introducing students of all ages and backgrounds to our remarkable facilities and collections. SAFA is a three-year, US Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant that will create a replicable pedagogical model for collaboration between museums like BHS and institutions of higher learning. In the first year, we will be working with local partners from New York…
Handsome Devils, or, Whiskers and the Men Who Wore Them
Nick
As we on the CLIR survey team have discovered in the hundreds of photographs we have encountered since beginning our work last April, the gentlemen and ladies who strolled the streets of 19th-century Brooklyn took great care to stay up on the hottest fashions of the day. For the gents, this often involved the sporting of some truly impressive and daring facial hair styles. I thought I might take this opportunity to share but a modest sampling of the mustaches, beards, and sideburns that have evoked our admiration and/or bewilderment. Let these photographs be a testament to the hidden power…
Of Equal Rights and Legal Forms
Larry Weimer
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.... Even before the ink used to write the Declaration of Independence dried on the paper, it was clear that these stirring words reflected both the promise and the paradox of America: that while the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness might form the very foundation of our nation, many Americans would also be systematically denied their equality and their rights. The promise has often been realized: the abolition of slavery, the extension of the vote to women, the elimination of restrictions…
Memories of MetroTech
Sady Sullivan
A Taste of The Lefferts Collection
Craig P. Savino
One of the most fun aspects of working with the Lefferts family papers for me was getting to see some of the cookbooks the collection contained. In particular, the handmade and handwritten cookbook that likely belonged to Maria Lott Lefferts (1786-1865) with some possible contribution from her daughter Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt (1824-1902).
The Battle of Long Island in Maps
Alli
I was in Greenwood Cemetery a couple months ago and spent some time lounging in my favorite spot: Battle Hill. Doesn’t it have the greatest view? I could sit there for hours. The history of Battle Hill is just as interesting as the view. It was here that Maryland troops kept the British forces distracted while Washington evacuated the rest of his army to Manhattan. We have a few maps in our collection that cover this battle, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to post a couple now.…
The Blizzard of 1888
Julie May
Interested in seeing more photos from BHS' collection? Visit our online image gallery. Use this database to search for individual photographs. Currently a small number of our images are available online, but we regularly add new photographs. You can also visit BHS' Othmer Library Wed-Fri, 1-5pm to search through our entire collection of images.
Archives and Religion
Fred Folmer
As anyone who’s spent an afternoon looking through one of the archival collections at the Brooklyn Historical Society undoubtedly knows, archival research is an imaginative exercise. Scrapbooks, ledgers, letters, pamphlets, record books, collectibles, photos – such things work primarily to provoke the imagination, pointing to the human activity that may have produced them. And if one is willing to take the time to look carefully through them, archives can show us important things about a particular historical social world: what was important to the people in that world, where some of their…
The Ratzer Map 1770
Sady Sullivan
Listen to historian Barnet Schecter, author of The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution, and conservator Jon Derow discuss the historical importance of this rare and recently conserved map of New York City made by Bernard Ratzer in the late 1760s.
You can read more about the Ratzer map in this recent article in The New York Times (1/16/2011).
The Tale of January 1871
David Randall
The Brooklyn Historical Society has a largely complete run of the Proceedings of the Board of Aldermen of the City of Brooklyn—bound volumes for much of the late nineteenth-century that detail the week-by-week proceedings of the Brooklyn city government. The Tale of January 1871 So what can the Proceedings provide for the researcher?—I thought it would be fun to find out. I decided to look at just one month, January 1871, in the volume that covers proceedings From January 2 to June 26, 1871. I found a bunch of entertaining incidents that illustrate Brooklyn in 1871 -- the Street Commissioner…
More than just a pretty map
Carolyn
Recently, I was speaking to a woman about what I do. After I told her that I work with maps, she responded, I love maps! They're so beautiful. I'd love to get a framed one for my living room. To me, this comment highlights a shift in the way that we view maps. Now that we live in the era of GPS and Google Maps, the printed map has become more valued for its aesthetics than its functional capabilities. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it made me want to highlight some of the maps in our collection that I think are interesting because of the data that they impart, as opposed to the way…
Fort Greene / Clinton Hill Audio Tour
Sady Sullivan
Engineering Love
Patricia Glowinski
As the Archives Survey Team enters into our ninth month on the CLIR survey project, we've had our share of surveying interesting archival collections, be they large or small. Recently we've come across a surprisingly fantastic little collection, the Brooklyn Engineer's Club publications (ARC.156). As you may have realized by now, we here at BHS love our Brooklyn architecture. But this collection reminds us that behind every great building, structure, or city infrastructure project, stands an engineer. Forever in the shadows of architects who get all the love and adoration (especially today),…
Happy New Year from BHS!
Leah
In honor of upcoming New Year's celebrations, here is a sample of "celebratory" images from Brooklyn's past. Happy New Year everyone!
Celebrate Forefathers Day!
Nick
My favorite holiday of the year is nearly upon us, and I think the time is right for a celebratory BHS blog post! Sure, while there are many holidays populating the month of December, I think we can all agree that there is one that obviously outshines all the others. That day, of course, comes on December 22nd, when we unite in celebration of Forefathers Day, the anniversary of the Pilgrims’ landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620!
Brooklyn Air Disaster, December 16, 1960
Elizabeth Call
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.…
Church of the Saviour
Craig P. Savino
Patricia had a great post recently discussing Brooklyn architecture and architects materials among the Historical Society’s collections. Brooklyn was once characterized as “the city of homes and churches” and while Patricia’s post certainly pointed out some examples of homes and commercial buildings exemplifying a portion of the range of Brooklyn’s architecture, I wanted to focus on a specific instance of the latter half of that characterization with a great example of Brooklyn’s church architecture in our collections. While working on the records of the First Unitarian Congregational Society…
Calling Fort Greene / Clinton Hill
Sady Sullivan
Repeal Day is this Sunday!
Julie May
For those of you who are unaware, let me tell you that Sunday is an important date in United States history. Sunday is Repeal Day. 77 years ago on December 7, 1933 the 21st Amendment reversed the 18th Amendment enforced by the Volstead Act and referred to as the Noble Experiment, the Great Illusion, and possibly some other names I should not list here. The 21st Amendment ended 13 years of illegal activity related to the sale, distribution, and public consumption of alcohol. If the culture of New York City was anything like it is today, how could our pickled residents of yore have…
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.
Artist and Artifact exhibit - artists interpret Brooklyn's history
Janice
BHS is really excited about our new exhibit, Artist & Artifact: Re|Visioning Brooklyn's Past, presented in partnership with our neighbor BRIC Rotunda Gallery, the contemporary art space of BRIC Arts|Media|Bklyn.
Tourist maps
Carolyn
First off, let me admit that I am new to New York. I've been in the city for almost a year, and while I've learned to navigate the streets pretty well, sometimes I still turn a corner and find myself hopelessly lost. So I am very sympathetic to all the tourists wandering around BHS and Brooklyn Heights, struggling to find their way. Unfortunately for tourists, Brooklyn Heights does not have a great deal of signage to help them find the neighborhood's landmarks, or even the way to the Promenade or the Brooklyn Bridge. In response to this, a professor from Parsons the New School of Design gave…
Emma Toedteberg, Librarian Extraordinaire
Weatherly
Part of what I love about working as an archivist is getting to peek in at lives of the past, and getting to know the Brooklynites who walked the streets decades, and centuries, before us. What’s even better (and yes, even nerdier) is learning about a woman who helped build the collections at BHS that we use today. A few months ago, my teammate Patricia and I surveyed a collection from BHS’s third librarian, Emma Toedteberg. If you’re a regular patron of the archives, then you may have already heard of Emma—she’s the namesake of our catablog. Her collection is slim, but it gives us some…
Brooklyn Architecture and Architects
Patricia Glowinski
As part of the CLIR team surveying the archival, manuscript, and photography collections at BHS, we’ve come across several collections that document either iconic Brooklyn architecture or local Brooklyn architects. With the recent conclusion of the 8th annual Open House New York, I’ve been thinking about architecture, the multitude of buildings I encounter everyday, and my relationship with them. From the Hotel St. George where the subway lets me out in the morning, to the George B. Post landmarked building I work in at BHS, to the sprawling Concord Village I walk past everyday on my way to…
Centenarian Faity Tuttle!
Sady Sullivan
BHS is happy to see Brooklynite Esther Leeming "Faity" Tuttle celebrated in The New York Times among fellow centenarians! Hear Faity talk about John's Group, a playgroup for children in Prospect Park, Brooklyn accents, and how John narrowly avoided being struck by the 1960 plane crash in Park Slope: Faity was born in 1911 and she grew up in Brooklyn Heights, on Henry Street. She became a professional actress, appearing on Broadway with Humphrey Bogart, among others. In 1944, she moved to Park Slope with her husband, Ben, and their three children. She's a longtime supporter of the Brooklyn…
Pictorial Maps
Alli
I love a good pictorial map. When maps use pictures, rather than symbols or text, to show points of interest, it always adds a little something for me. Sometimes the "something" is humor, sometimes it's a better sense of the map's time and place. Below, a few examples from our collection.
Drama on the High Seas
Nick
A colleague here at BHS recently informed me that the National Archives of the UK has made its collection of Royal Navy surgeons' journals entirely accessible online. This immediately reminded me of a small collection of nautical journals that the CLIR team recently uncovered, in which a ship's surgeon is also featured, only not quite in the way you'd think. The journals were kept by Henry W. Dodge, a New Yorker who served on a number of highly-publicized expeditions to explore the Arctic before passing away suddenly in a saloon on Fulton Street in 1874. His journal kept aboard the…
Map Scam?
Carolyn
Here at BHS, my job is to catalog maps. We have a wonderful collection of Brooklyn maps from the 1700s to the present; however, when I first started looking at the collection, I noticed that some of the maps were very similar to each other. So similar, in fact, that if you were just casually glancing at them, you'd think they were duplicates. In particular, I became interested in a group of maps of Brooklyn published by A. Brown in the 1860s and 1870s; 3 maps, with virtually identical content...what was going on? Turns out, producing maps in the 1800s was very expensive, and map publishers…
Delicious: The Event
Alli
Last night BHS' trivia event whipped more than 120 trivia buffs into a frenzy. We covered the gamut from Biggie Smalls to shuttle stops and team "Culver Express" proved unstoppable. Congrats to our winners and thanks to everyone who came. Perhaps you'll all want to swing by BPL tonight for an encore? From trivia to delectable local food, BHS isn't stopping anytime soon. If you are a fan of the borough's amazing fare, you'll want to join us this coming Thursday, October 7 for Brooklyn Bounty, our fall fundraiser that celebrates local food makers. Red Hook Winery, Brooklyn Brewery, Madiba…
The Atlantic Antic
Emily Reynolds
The Atlantic Antic, Brooklyn's largest street fair, stretches along Atlantic Avenue from Hicks Street to Fourth Avenue. This Sunday (the 26th) will be the 36th year of the event. Some photos in our collection show the table that BHS had at the Antic in 1977 - the fourth year of the fair. BHS was still called the Long Island Historical Society, because we didn't change our name until the mid-1980s. Our display that year was in front of the old Independence Savings Bank building, which is now Trader Joe's. These days, the event draws crowds of more than a million people, with all kinds of food…
School days of Brooklyn's past
Weatherly
The passing of Labor Day is always a sign that fall is near and school is back in session. All of the excited students—and the not-so-excited students—I’ve seen with backpacks and books this week got me thinking about school items the CLIR team has found during the survey of archival, manuscript, and photography collections. While you can browse yearbooks from Brooklyn schools in the Othmer Library, family papers and manuscript collections also have photographs, homework, and ephemera that give us an idea of what school was like in Brooklyn way-back-when. The James Atkins Noyes collection…
Four Must-See Exhibits
Sady Sullivan
Time Out New York has named BHS' exhibit Painting Brooklyn Stories of Immigration & Survival as one of Four Must-See Exhibits this Fall! Opening Reception: Thursday, September 16. 5:30 - 7:30 pm. Exhibit dates: September 17 – February 27, 2011
Mystery surrounds Society's second librarian...
Elizabeth Call
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.
Un-hiding our Collections
Chela
I am beyond thrilled to be writing a post to tell you about a grant the BHS library received a few months back from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant, awarded as a part of the CLIR Hidden Collections program and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will make possible a project called Uncovering the Secrets of Brooklyn's 19th Century Past: Creation to Consolidation. It is a big and exciting project for us to undertake. Over the next two years, we will be working to catalog many, many maps and survey and catalog a huge array of materials in our archival,…
Gentrification in Fort Greene
Sady Sullivan
Check out Story #1 on this City of Memory tour! You'll find a painting by Nina Talbot and oral history interview from the Weeksville Heritage Center's collections which are both featured in BHS' upcoming exhibit Painting Brooklyn Stories of Immigration and Survival which opens here Thursday, September 16. Curated by Nina Talbot, painter, in collaboration with Rachel Bernstein, public historian at New York University, the exhibit presents striking stories of Brooklyn residents through paintings, oral histories, poetry and personal effects. These different modes of expression offer multiple…
Was it standard to have gun racks in libraries in 1959?
Todd Florio
Ever since Chela mentioned offhand at lunch the other day that the BHS library had once had gun racks, my imagination was captured. I once helped move insanely heavy boxes of muskets in our storage and wondered where and when they'd been on exhibit.
Well, thanks to the "Random Images" button in our online photo search of the John D. Morrell collection, an image popped up which quelled my curiosity.
Dr. Bob (In Memory of Bob Vadheim)
Janice
Bob Vadheim, 1920-2010
Sady Sullivan
Dr. Robert H. Vadheim, preservationist, music lover, and longtime friend of BHS passed away on July 16 at 90 years old. I interviewed Bob at his home in Brooklyn Heights in 2008 for the BHS Oral History collection and remember feeling so inspired as he talked about Robert Johnson, his partner of 43 years, and the wonderful music salons they would hold in their home. Over tea after the interview, Bob and I got to talking about all kinds of things, favorite songs (Someone to Watch Over Me), movies (I had just discovered William Powell) and what life was like for a gay man in the 1950s. He…
Whitney Museum: History Plays at BHS
Sady Sullivan
This summer, Whitney Museum Artist-in-Residence, Colin Gee, filmed a series of History Plays in response to works in the Whitney's permanent collection. Three pieces, In Transit, What, and Lobby, were filmed here at BHS. Here's Lobby, which is a response to Eva Hesse's Untitled (Rope Piece), 1969–70:
Home Base on NY1
Sady Sullivan
Check out this NY1 video feature about Ebbets Field and the BHS exhibition Home Base - plus interviews with two Ex Lab students: Borough reporter Jeanine Ramirez visits the former site of Ebbets Field where its legacy continues to make its presence known: The housing complex on Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights looks similar to others in the city. But it's no ordinary location. It's the former site of Ebbets Field -- the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers until 1957, the place where Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier and the site of numerous World Series showdowns. Brooklyn…
Remembering First Grade
Sady Sullivan
BHS partnered with the Brooklyn School of Inquiry (BSI), a citywide gifted and talented school located in Bensonhurst, to conduct oral history interviews with all of the students in the school's first First Grade class. Although these narrators are only 6 or 7 years old, their interviews add much to BHS's Oral History collection, documenting important things about life in Brooklyn in 2010, including details that can only be captured by youthful candor. Students will receive copies of their interviews when they graduate from 8th Grade in 2017. Check out this video from BSI's series A School…
How fun is this?
Sady Sullivan
How the Architectural Walking Tour Built the Preservation Movement
Sady Sullivan
Brooklyn Beatmakers
Sady Sullivan
The Brooklyn Historical Society is proud to announce Brooklyn Beatmakers, a showcase with headliner The New School Sun Ra Arkestra, led by 22-year Sun Ra arkestra musician, master jazz trumpeter, and music director of Sistas' Place, Ahmed Abdullah! Joining the Arkestraʼs “21st century, interplanetary sound and philosophy” made famous by the legendary composer-bandleader Sun Ra, will be emerging songwriter and emcee Imani Kairee, the dub diva Honeychild Coleman, and the Bushwick teen hip-hop collective Nine 11 Thesaurus. The New School Sun Ra Arkestra “represent[s] a milestone in the…
Crown Heights Oral History Exhibit
Sady Sullivan
Early Views of Prospect Park
Alli
Tupper Thomas announced her retirement as administrator of Prospect Park just as we were beginning a project to catalog our 19th Century map collection. The collection includes a number of maps covering the progress of Prospect Park from early proposals to today. In honor of both Ms Thomas and the beautiful park she has worked to preserve, here are a few interesting pieces: An early plan by Egbert Viele. Note Flatbush Avenue cutting directly through the middle of the park. Land was purchased based on Viele's plan, but plans changed as time passed and the park ended up looking very different…
Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field
Sady Sullivan
Through archives, photos and oral histories, Home Base: Memories of the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field explores the connection between Ebbets Field, the Dodgers and the Brooklyn community. This exhibition is curated by high school students from Brooklyn Technical High School, Cobble Hill School of American Studies, The Packer Collegiate Institute and Saint Ann’s School as part of the Brooklyn Historical Society's Exhibition Laboratory (Ex Lab) after-school museum studies program. Ex Lab introduces high school students to the art of exhibition development: conducting…
New Luna Park opening in Coney Island on May 29th
Elizabeth Call
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,…
Horsecars and trolleys and plank roads, oh my
Chela
One of my favorite things about being an archivist at BHS is all the different people I get to meet in the library. Researchers and their work are fascinating, and with each new person I work with, I get to learn something new. When I first started working as an archivist, I was amused to make the connection that libraries and archives have regulars-- folks that come in often enough that you know their names (and sometimes their stories and their quirks)-- just like the bars and coffee shops and restaurants I'd worked at in the past. At BHS we have some great regulars, either because they…
Stories from Puerto Rico
Sady Sullivan
Writing in 1975, Angelo Falcón, founder of the National Institute for Latino Policy and currently a professor at Columbia University, said: The more than century-old presence of a politically active Puerto Rican community in New York City has been curiously obscured, afflicted by what Russell Jacoby calls 'social amnesia’ and with serious consequences. (Puerto Rican Politics in Urban America, 1984) 35 years later, last Friday, BHS celebrated the newly accessible Puerto Rican Oral History, 1973-1975. This oral history project, initiated in 1973 by John D. Vasquez, then Director of Puerto…
The Things They Carried
Sady Sullivan
BHS and Queensborough Community College hosted a reading and discussion last Saturday of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, a collection of short stories about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War. This event was part of The Big Read, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to encourage reading and cultural conversation. Joseph Giannini, Joan Furey, and Anthony Wallace, three veterans featured in BHS's exhibit In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans, read from their own writings and generously shared stories about their…
Hancock Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant
Julie May
There are certainly some architectural gems in Bedford-Stuyvesant. A researcher in the library today researching her block for the purpose of landmarking it and The Brownstoner making 247 Hancock Street the Building of the Day drew me into another section of our Photography Collection. In the early 70s, BHS president James Hurley, with others, photographed this beautiful block of Hancock Street.
Dropping Anchor in Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
Watch this great video of a giant anchor arriving home to the Brooklyn Navy Yard where it will soon become part of the exhibition at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92. Since 2007, BHS and BNYDC have partnered on an oral history project documenting the important work that happens in the Navy Yard. We are currently interviewing people who worked in they Yard in the 1950s and 1960s and for any of the private shipbuilders after the 1966 decommissioning. You can listen to some clips from WWII-era interviews here. And to suggest someone we should interview please contact the…
Postcard craze
Julie May
The recent New Yorker blog post "Off the shelf: Folk Photography" by Rollo Romig about the popularity of postcards renewed my enthusiasm for our collection at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Widely printed, mailed, and collected, we have thousands of postcards depicting a long ago Brooklyn and from one Brooklynite to another. Not only are the images great to see, they show a Brooklyn from years ago that may or may not still exist and the correspondence is fascinating to read. They are somewhat like the tweets, text messages, and emails we send today. At only a penny to send, why not,…
Taylor Branch at BHS Library Dinner
Sady Sullivan
On March 8, 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch spoke at the Brooklyn Historical Society's Annual Library Dinner. Taylor Branch is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and author of the King Era Trilogy, a narrative history of the U.S. during the Civil Rights era which includes Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Non-Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for History. His most recent book is The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President (Simon and Schuster 2009), a presidential memoir based on secret late-night…
Basketball in Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
Bats, Balls, Nets and Hoops: Stories of Sports in Brooklyn is the latest in a series of educational curriculum kits from the Brooklyn Historical Society (forthcoming Spring 2010). Organized around four case studies, the kit is packed with more than 50 primary source documents from the BHS archives, including newspaper articles, photographs and oral histories of Brooklyn athletes born between the 1920s and 1950s. Each case study comes in a separate folder with critical thinking questions and document-analysis activities to help students observe, question, analyze and interpret the material.…
Rites and Ceremonies of the Brooklyn African Diaspora
Sady Sullivan
Puerto Rico, March 2, 1917
Sady Sullivan
Saffire
Sady Sullivan
Well, this is just awesome: Here are two videos of the band Saffire playing at BHS for the Make Music New York festival last spring. Saffire is an all-girl rock band from Nyack, New York -- two sets of multi-instrumentalist sisters who play original music.
Ebbets Field Oral History project
Sady Sullivan
Oh the weather outside is frightful
Chela
In honor of all the snowpocalypse and snowmageddon talk I've been hearing for the past few days, and my really rather lovely snowy walk in to work this morning, I thought I'd post a few pictures of snowy Brooklyn in years past. Enjoy!
Oral History Seminar
Sady Sullivan
Virginia Woolf and Dame Ethel Smyth; photo courtesy of NYPL Digital Gallery Listening to Women: Documenting Women's Lives through Oral History a six week non-credit course at BHS The Brooklyn Historical Society's oral historian Sady Sullivan leads a seminar this spring (March 24 - May 5, 2010) introducing the practice of Oral History as an historical methodology, a unique narrative genre, and a tool in the reconciliation of social injustices. The course is interdisciplinary, drawing from history, sociology, memoir, and gender studies. We will examine oral history in all its forms --…
Brooklynite Howard Zinn
Sady Sullivan
In memory of Howard Zinn (1922-2010) and in appreciation of his life's work, the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation would like to share these excerpts from an interview we conducted with Howard Zinn on December 8, 2008. Howard Zinn was an historian, activist, playwright, and author of more than twenty books including A People’s History of the United States. In these (very) roughly edited clips, Howard Zinn talks about growing up in Brooklyn, working as an apprentice shipfitter in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and his first date with his future wife…
Tivoli Towers in Crown Heights
Sady Sullivan
Tivoli: A Place We Call Home is a new multimedia exhibit curated by Delphine Fawundu opening at BHS next Thursday, February 11. Check out this NY1 News Story and this trailer below:
Crown Heights Oral History Project
Sady Sullivan
Peace Love Hope
Sady Sullivan
This morning I was lucky to witness students from Brooklyn's PS261 Magnet School for Integrating the Arts on their March on Brooklyn Borough Hall in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They were carrying signs that read Peace and Hope and I Have a Dream and some students were chanting "Peace, Love, Hope". The cellphone photos below capture just a bit of the inspiring spirit these young people brought to Brooklyn today.
Meet Emma
Sady Sullivan
Emma is the name of BHS's ever-growing catablog of archives, manuscripts and special collections, including oral histories. The catablog is named after Emma Toedteberg, who was BHS's librarian for more than 50 years. She began as an assistant librarian in 1869, just a few years after BHS was founded, and was promoted to Librarian in 1889, serving until shortly before her death in 1936. Try browsing the collections by the Category Oral History and if something peaks your interest, you are welcome to come listen to oral history collections in the Othmer Library.
In Line with Jive Turkey
Alli
City of Memory: The Porto Rico Steamship Co.
Sady Sullivan
Got cycling photos?
Janice
Coney Island Carousel Carver
Sady Sullivan
Park Slope Walking Tour
Sady Sullivan
Brooklyn Utopias? - 'Utopian' Urban Planning - what does it mean?
Janice
Making Antibiotics in Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
Brooklyn's Vietnam Veterans
Sady Sullivan
In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn's Vietnam Veteran's (2007 - ongoing) is the first exhibit in BHS's oral history gallery. With the use of oral histories, portraits, and personal artifacts this audio installation explores the impact of the Vietnam War on the lives of Brooklyn’s diverse residents, from the first person perspective. Meeting people who were touched by the Vietnam War, visitors are prompted to consider the on-going impact of the Vietnam War in the lives of Brooklynites, from their memories of the war to how it affects them today. From portrait to portrait, from person to…
FOLK FEET: Irina Roizin
Sady Sullivan
This past year, BHS and the Brooklyn Arts Council partnered on an oral history project interviewing local dancers. BAC initiated Folk Feet, a Folk Arts program dedicated to supporting the work of traditional dancers in Brooklyn, in 2003. The goals of Folk Feet were to identify the range of traditional dance practices represented in Brooklyn by individuals, companies, and community and social dance groups; to document these artists and their practices; and to present them to a wider public by way of concerts, showcases and workshops. This is the fifth in a series of five audio slideshows from…
FOLK FEET: Carlos Vasquez
Sady Sullivan
This past year, BHS and the Brooklyn Arts Council partnered on an oral history project interviewing local dancers. BAC initiated Folk Feet, a Folk Arts program dedicated to supporting the work of traditional dancers in Brooklyn, in 2003. The goals of Folk Feet were to identify the range of traditional dance practices represented in Brooklyn by individuals, companies, and community and social dance groups; to document these artists and their practices; and to present them to a wider public by way of concerts, showcases and workshops. This is the fourth in a series of five audio slideshows…
Bountiful Borough
Alli
A few weeks ago I went to Frankie's Spuntino on Court St. in Carroll Gardens for the first time. My entire experience at Frankie's was amazing from the warm service staff to the delicious Soppressata, which even broke the will of my mostly vegetarian boyfriend.
FOLK FEET: Donny Golden
Sady Sullivan
This past year, BHS and the Brooklyn Arts Council partnered on an oral history project interviewing local dancers. BAC initiated Folk Feet, a Folk Arts program dedicated to supporting the work of traditional dancers in Brooklyn, in 2003. The goals of Folk Feet were to identify the range of traditional dance practices represented in Brooklyn by individuals, companies, and community and social dance groups; to document these artists and their practices; and to present them to a wider public by way of concerts, showcases and workshops. This is the third in a series of five audio slideshows from…
FOLK FEET: Marie Basse-Wiles
Sady Sullivan
This past year, BHS and the Brooklyn Arts Council partnered on an oral history project interviewing local dancers. BAC initiated Folk Feet, a Folk Arts program dedicated to supporting the work of traditional dancers in Brooklyn, in 2003. The goals of Folk Feet were to identify the range of traditional dance practices represented in Brooklyn by individuals, companies, and community and social dance groups; to document these artists and their practices; and to present them to a wider public by way of concerts, showcases and workshops. This is the second in a series of five audio…
Back to School / Web Tools for Teachers
Todd Florio
FOLK FEET: Shock-a-lock
Sady Sullivan
This past year, BHS and the Brooklyn Arts Council partnered on an oral history project interviewing local dancers. BAC initiated Folk Feet a Folk Arts program dedicated to supporting the work of traditional dancers in Brooklyn in 2003. The goals of Folk Feet were to identify the range of traditional dance practices represented in Brooklyn by individuals, companies, and community and social dance groups; to document these artists and their practices; and to present them to a wider public by way of concerts, showcases and workshops. This is the first in a series of five audio slideshows from…
For Columbia Oral History Master's Students
Sady Sullivan
In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans opened at the Brooklyn Historical Society in December 2007 and, while it is a temporary exhibit, there are no plans as yet to de-install it. One of the featured Vietnam veterans, who actively supports Iraq Vets Against the War, suggested BHS keep the exhibit up for as long as American soldiers are in Iraq and Afghanistan. This exhibit was the first to be launched in BHS's Oral History gallery. Background materials: History of the Brooklyn Historical Society Original Press Release for exhibit, featuring short narrator biographies…
More Brooklyn Navy Yard Stories
Sady Sullivan
Brooklyn Summer H.E.A.T. Reflections
Janice
Today's post is written by Evan Threadgill, who worked at BHS this summer through the Borough President's Office program, Brooklyn Summer H.E.A.T. Evan is entering his junior year at East NY High School of Transit Technology. BHS is proud to participate in this program and gives tremendous thanks to Evan for all his hard work! Today is my last day working at BHS, and the time that I have been here has been great. Everyday since the first day I started has given me more and more experience in the museum and the office environment. I was able to see how a museum operates behind the scenes…
Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral Histories
Sady Sullivan
Secret Bookstore on Montague
Todd Florio
Oral History Interview with Radical Priest Frank Morales
Sady Sullivan
Today's post is by oral historian Amy Starecheski. Amy was Lead Interviewer for the 550-hour Atlantic Philanthropies Oral History Project at the Columbia University Oral History Research Office from 2005-2008. She was a lead interviewer on the September 11, 2001 Narrative and Memory Project, for which she interviewed Afghans, Muslims, Sikhs, activists, low-income people, and the unemployed. Amy is co-author of the Telling Lives Oral History Curriculum Guide and she is currently pursuing a doctorate in anthropology at the City University of New York. Oral History Interview with Squatter…
Up for Debate: Thinking about the Supreme Court and Civil Rights with NYC Public School Teachers
Emily Potter-Ndiaye
I am working as an intern at Brooklyn Historical Society this summer as part of my Masters Program in Museum Studies at NYU. Last week I attended a four-day summer institute for New York City Public School Middle and High School teachers. Brooklyn Historical Society is one of the partner cultural institutions for Leadership in American History (professional development sponsored by a federal Teaching American History Grant [TAHG]). I was there representing BHS with our head of school programs, Todd Florio.…
Chinese-American Oral Histories Translated by a Chinese-American
Sady Sullivan
Today's post is written by Qin Yong David Chen, our BHS summer intern from the Chinese-American Planning Council. This fall, he will be a sophomore at Stony Brook University where he studies economics and political science. He plans to attend business school after graduating. Many people have proclaimed 8th Avenue in Sunset Park as New York City's third Chinatown. My name is Qin Yong David Chen and I am an intern here at the Brooklyn Historical Society. My job includes many roles: I am a tour guide, a promoter, a receptionist, and an amateur historian. One task that was assigned to me was…
To Gravesend and Back
Chela
Last week's guest post was so well received, we thought we'd try it again this week. Today's post is from Joseph Ditta, BHS friend, Reference Librarian at the New-York Historical Society, and born-and-bred Brooklynite. Joseph has a great new book out through Arcadia Publishing called Then & Now: Gravesend, Brooklyn. The book is packed with cool photographs comparing the same locations in the 19th and early 20th Centuries with modern day. It is really fun to see what familiar buildings looked like in their past, the way that people have attempted to modernize buildings (both to good and…
Coming Up in Bed Stuy
Sady Sullivan
2007 marked the 40th anniversary of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration, the oldest community development corporation (CDC) in the United States, founded in 1967 through the efforts of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Jacob Javits.
What’s wrong with my scrapbook?
Chela
The library at BHS is lucky enough to have a great team of interns working on all kinds of projects from answering your reference questions to scanning historic images to cataloging archival collections. Today we'll hear from Katy Christensen, who has been working in the archives processing and cataloging archive, manuscript and photo collections, about some of her recent work. Scrapbooking has become increasingly popular in recent years and one can now find webpages devoted entirely to scrapbook layouts and suggested themes. They are hardly a new phenomenon, however. Scrapbooks have been…
Love and Financial Services
Sady Sullivan
Before most of us had ever heard of credit default swaps and other financial services, products, and derivatives, there were changes afoot in the banking industry as local savings banks, also known as thrifts, got involved in other kinds of investment banking following federal deregulations in the 1990s. Many of the smaller banks were eventually bought out by larger banks, which is what happened to Brooklyn-based Independence Community Bank in 2006 when Sovereign Bancorp (which is itself owned by Banco Santander, based in Spain) took it over. An integral part of Brooklyn’s economic and…
Important records for the study of African history digitized and available on Ancestry.com for FREE!
Elizabeth Call
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…
Breukelen State of Mind
Alli
The Brooklyn Paper's going Dutch this week? The newspaper's title banner has been changed to the Dutch spelling of the word (or at least a version of the Dutch spelling) and is replete with an animated windmill. Jasper Danckaerts would be thrilled - though perhaps not as much with reporter Shannon Gies' "good riddance" send off of Danckaerts and the Labadists. As for the Breukelen/Breuckelen spelling of the Dutch-settled land - this is something that BHS debated about during the preparation of the Pages of the Past exhibit. After all, BHS has a t-shirt that uses the spelling with the 'c', and…
Park Lit TONIGHT Coney Island ALWAYS
Sady Sullivan
Two of BHS's Interpreting Brooklyn artists, novelist Elizabeth Gaffney and Coney Island playwright Michael Schwartz, will be reading tonight in Fort Greene Park with L.J. Davis, a fellow contributor to the magazine A Public Space. Another friend of BHS and Coney Island, Charles Denson, founder of the Coney Island History Project, is hosting an online conversation at The New York Times City Room Blog this week. If you haven't been following the debates about revitalizing Coney Island, the City Council is about to vote on a rezoning plan and the Municipal Art Society has suggested improvements…
MMNY at BHS
Sady Sullivan
Photos from the Make Music New Y0rk show at BHS yesterday And a review of the show in Girls Rock & Girls Rule!
Old Ladies and Respectable but Indigent Females
Chela
Women Make Movies @ BHS
Sady Sullivan
Join BHS and the New York Chapter of COLAGE, a national movement of children, youth, and adults with one or more LGBTQ parents, as we celebrate Brooklyn PRIDE with a screening of films on same-sex marriage from Women Make Movies: My Sister, My Bride directed by Bonnie Burt (26 min) As the issue of gay marriage grips the country, this touching documentary follows the heartwarming and historic journey of two Jewish lesbians as they seek to celebrate their commitment to one another. In Sickness and In Health directed by Pilar Prissas (56 min) A battle to legalize same-sex marriage turns…
ExLab Students on WNYC!
Sady Sullivan
Listen to the Ex Lab student curators of Pages of the Past: The Breukelen Adventures of Jasper Dankaerts on WNYC: And here they are giving a virtual tour of the exhibit which is on view now: AND the students have a blog where they wrote about foot-long oysters and much more...
Now You've Got Plans for Friday
Alli
If you've been clicking around the BHS website recently, you've probably seen the mentions of this new exhibit, Pages of the Past: The Breukelen Adventures of Jasper Danckaerts. Or if you've come into our building lately then you might have noticed that exhibit in the midst of installation. Days ago I was stunned to see the high school student-curators who've created this exhibit, painting images of whales and birds onto the walls. The images were straight out of Jasper Danckaerts' diary, perfectly resembling the sepia drawings throughout his journals. I wonder if in 1679, Danckaerts had any…
Admirals Row
Sady Sullivan
BHS is collaborating with the Brooklyn Navy Yard to interview people who worked in the Yard during WWII for our oral history collection. It's a fascinating project and I felt really lucky the first time I got to snoop around inside the gates of the Navy Yard (after spending years riding my bike past it and wondering what goes on in there). It seems like a lot of other people share this curiosity since BHS's new tours of the Navy Yard always fill up fast (the next one is June 21 at 1:30pm)! One part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard is still owned by the federal government and there is a lot of…
What is it about Brooklyn?
Janice
The “Figurative Border”
Listen Up Brooklyn
Sunset Park Oral Histories
Sady Sullivan
The current Public Perspectives exhibit, Living and Learning: Chinese Immigration, Restriction, and Community in Brooklyn, 1850 to Present curated by Andy Urban, features audio clips from BHS's oral history collections - you can listen online or download the BHS podcast from iTunes (search the Store for Brooklyn Historical Society). In 1993 - 1994, BHS and the Museum of Chinese in America, then known as the Chinatown History Museum, collected interviews regarding Brooklyn's Chinese Community in Sunset Park. The resulting oral history collection, 8th Avenue - Sunset Park Oral History Project…
Robert Moses, the Power Broker
Civic Holidays
The below blog is posted on behalf of my Visitor Services colleague, Eric Ursol, who's having a few issues with his log-in info. Eric's here every weekend with me, at the front desk and gift shop, and is a recently graduated History major at St. Francis here in Brooklyn Heights- so his thoughts on the history texts we carry at the BHS gift shop are pretty informed! Robert Moses is one of the most important figures in New York City history. His reign as Parks Commissioner is mired in both fame and infamy. The decades you've lived in will probably determine your opinion on Robert…
iDream of BHS
Alli
As someone charged with marketing BHS and our many awesome projects, programs and collections I often find myself weighing the most innovative and cost-effective options to spread the word about our work. Last night it came to me in a dream, (perhaps because of Julie's obsession with them) that creating a BHS iPhone app would certainly be the best way to introduce people to the Brooklyn Historical Society. But then again, what would a BHS app do? Would people be able to look up their family genealogy with the touch of a screen? Or trace their house history by simply typing in the address?…
Beautifying Montague Street with Guerrilla Knitting
Julie May
I think we can all admit there's an aesthetic division on Montague Street in our Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. In one several-block stretch little shops of delicacies, restaurants with sidewalk seating, and cafes to satiate your caffeine addiction abound. However, in just the one block between Clinton and Court Streets, a parking garage, banks, construction and the subway entrance leaves little to admire (excepting the lovely Brooklyn Trust Company, now the Chase Manhattan Bank). I suppose that's why it was attacked by guerrilla knitters this week. I don't know about anyone else, but I…
Change in Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
Nelson George and Rosie Perez were on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC last week talking about Change in Brooklyn neighborhoods - it's a great segment, good callers, and it's not just about gentrification, have a listen: AND THEN join us TONIGHT at BHS @ 6:30 – 9:00 pm when Nelson George, esteemed cultural critic, author of Hip Hop America, screenwriter and lifelong Brooklyn resident will launch his memoir City Kid: A Writer's Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success.Nelson George will read from his memoir and discuss growing up in Brownsville and living in Fort Greene. He'll be joined…
House Genealogy
Elizabeth Call
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…
Brooklynite Marilyn French 1929 - 2009
Sady Sullivan
Studio in a School - Teachers' Workshop
Todd Florio
Bicycling in Brooklyn!
Julie May
Perhaps others have also noticed that Spring is brewing in Brooklyn. With last weekend's record highs, bicycles and their cyclists came out in force all over the borough. I was one of these people churning over the Williamsburg Bridge on my folding bike on Saturday, parked by the grocery store on Sunday, and commuting via bike path to work on Tuesday. All of which gave me some time to think about bikes! Not only are they a great way to get around New York City, but they have seen some interesting leaps in terms of technology and design. Here are a few of my favorite examples from the…
National Poetry Month Ends Today
Alli
On this, the last day of National Poetry Month, I am thinking of Walt Whitman's volume of 12 poems "Leaves of Grass." A perfect celebration of spring and the senses can be found in this collection in poems like "I Sing the Body Electric." First published at a printing shop (not too far from BHS) on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, "Leaves of Grass" lives on in Brooklyn.
Oral History and Environmental Justice
Sady Sullivan
Got an idea you want to see on our museum walls?
Janice
Oral History in the Classroom at PS 27 in Red Hook
Todd Florio
Exploring Brooklyn!
Civic Holidays
It's been such a beautiful weekend (and will hopefully stay that way..), and many of the visitors who come into BHS want to find a way to explore the neighborhood and learn without being stuck inside for too long. Brooklyn has so many amazing museums, historic spaces, and galleries that sometimes it's too easy to forget that just wandering around can be really enriching. Aimlessly exploring can discover neat and unexpected points of interest, but for those looking for something more focused or specific, there are tons and tons of wonderful walking tours of the borough. Of course, my…
Alfred T. White and Brooklyn's Better Self
Chela
Last night, BHS hosted a book launch for The Social Vision of Alfred T. White, a new publication from Proteotypes, the publishing arm of the fantastic Brooklyn gallery and reading room Proteus Gowanus. It was a great event. Sasha Chavcahcadze and Tom LaFarge from Proteus spoke about White, his work and what compelled them to tell his story, and an interesting and diverse crowd of people were there to enjoy the speakers, our library, and some tasty treats. Brooklyn Historical was a collaborator on the book, and much research was done for it in our library. It is a great resource, and we were…
Annette Gordon-Reed Wins 2009 Pulitzer for History
Alli
Congratulations are in order for author and historian Annette Gordon-Reed, whose book "The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family" has won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for History. Ms. Gordon-Reed, who also wrote "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy," was the Speaker at BHS' Annual Library Dinner in March. She delivered an amazing speech on the lives of the Hemings family, including much about Sally Hemings, who bore seven children by Thomas Jefferson. Again, congratulations from BHS and we hope that Ms. Gordon-Reed will return to the BHS Library when she begins to…
Memoirs
Sady Sullivan
I just finished reading Nelson George's new memoir City Kid: A Writer's Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success. George's personal reflections on Brownsville, East New York, and Fort Greene; his open discussions of race and class; plus his impassioned knowledge of the complex relationships between the media, music & film industries, and popular culture, make for an inspiring read. I'm looking forward to the City Kid launch party and reading here at BHS on May 13th. Students in the BHS oral history seminar I'm teaching are choosing books of oral histories (or memoirs) to read and…
BHS Breaks 100 Followers on Twitter!
Todd Florio
Support Your Local Storefront Photographers
Alli
Brooklyn Dodgers on WNYC
Sady Sullivan
If you missed the Forever Blue event at BHS on March 21st, you can listen to it here on WNYC: Join Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael D'Antonio with Peter O'Malley, president of the Los Angeles Dodgers 1970 - 1998, and Richard Sandomir, Sports Broadcasting Reporter for the New York Times, as they discuss the true story of Walter O'Malley and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles on the occasion of the launch of Mr. D'Antonio's new book Forever Blue.
Font of Knowledge
Todd Florio
I just discovered this excellent article about lettering on Brooklyn architecture by Paul Shaw on the AIGA website. BHS's original 1881 lettering spelling out "Long Island Historical Society" is included along with dozens of other great lettering in Shaw's article. Check it out!
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/lettering-grows-in-brooklyn
5 1/2 Things About Ft. Greene
Sady Sullivan
A tour of 5 1/2 black culture spots in Fort Greene by Nelson George: 5 1/2 Things About Ft. Greene By Nelson George from Nelson George on Vimeo.
Brooklyn Beekeepers
Sady Sullivan
I'm loving this new blog about raising bees in Brooklyn: BQE KEEPER And it's really neat that City Councilmember David Yassky (D - Brooklyn Heights) is Pro-Honey: Legalized beekeeping would 'stimulate just the kind of niche manufacturing sectors that will be critical to an economic turnaround'.
Surfing Oral History
Sady Sullivan
Despite yesterday's snow, soon it will be warm enough to go to the beach. In honor of impending summer, here's a clip from the Surfing Heritage Foundation's oral history collections:
Nelson George's Fort Greene
Sady Sullivan
Great essay on in the New York Times on Fort Greene by Nelson George. He'll be here at BHS on May 13th to launch his book City Kid: A Writer's Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success. I had always viewed the area as a crucial black artistic enclave. It had nurtured some of the most important African-American talents of the past two decades, from Wynton Marsalis and Chris Rock to Erykah Badu. And the neighborhood became the centerpiece of this black alternative vision precisely because it was a place where many whites were afraid to go. While Harlem carried the weight and burden of its…
An Unusual Suspect Visits BHS Library
Alli
When an American Airlines commercial shot at BHS a few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see Kevin Spacey walk into the library for the shoot, and I was floored when I saw Michel Gondry directing. I just found the final version online, a commercial for the airline that won't air in the U.S. Enjoy the finished product, apparently Mr. Spacey's first commericial. BHS makes its debut in the library scene around the :23 mark and the Tile Lobby is used in the shoe shine shot (don't blink!). And here's a precious Gondry-gem, completely unrelated to BHS:
Oral History of the Zombie War
Sady Sullivan
Important primary source documentation: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. It's good background reading for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
Student Oral History Projects
Sady Sullivan
Today I spoke to a class of high school seniors at Packer Collegiate Institute. They are planning to conduct oral history interviews regarding the current financial crisis. The students had insightful questions about how to handle the subject of Money which stirs up all kinds of emotions in people no matter how the global economy is faring. Some students plan to interview their parents who work in the financial field and so, we talked about how intimacy can sometimes add to an oral history interview and sometimes it can make certain things more difficult to talk about. I think it's a great…
More History Than We Can Handle?
Sady Sullivan
This is an interesting discussion from the National Council on Public History conference blog. I've mentioned before that we need a new term to describe this wonderful phenomenon of more and more people documenting their lives publicly, and projects like StoryCorps, that fall somewhere between journalism and oral history. Opening keynote speaker Jill Lepore, keying on a New York times article that talked about an "unprecedented pileup of historic news," bemoaned the lack of depth or analysis in most of the discussions of historic candidacies, elections, meltdowns, and what have you, and…
Brooklyn Bridge Saves Engagement Ring
Sady Sullivan
Good Brooklyn story on MSNBC: While proposing to his ladyfriend, Gina Pellicani, on the pedestrian walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge, Don Walling dropped the engagement ring and it fell through the wooden slats to the roadway below! He recovered the ring from the roadway, the band was bent but the diamonds were intact. Happy ending!
Oral History of Public Housing
Sady Sullivan
My first job out of college was to be "Resident Initiatives Coordinator" in a public housing development near Boston. The plan was, I would interview as many people of the 616 families who lived there as I could, find out what kind of programming and services they would find most helpful, and then make that programming and those services happen. That's a big undertaking for a 21-year-old, but I was naive and didn't understand the bureaucratic impasses and catch-22s people in the neighborhood were navigating, such as the confusing system by which childcare vouchers were dolled out according…
Iraq History Project
Sady Sullivan
The Iraq History Project is one of the largest independent human rights data collection and analysis projects in the world. The IHP has gathered over 7,000 testimonies from throughout Iraq which have been entered into a secure, searchable database. The project is managed by the International Human Rights Law Institute of DePaul University College of Law in Chicago and run by an all-Iraqi in-country staff.
Dave Eggers and Oral History
Sady Sullivan
Novelist Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, What Is the What), publisher of McSweeney's, and founder of 826NYC, a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn that supports students in developing their writing skills, is an oral history buff. In this interview in Mother Jones magazine, Eggers talks about Studs Terkel and Voice of Witness, a non-profit book series that uses oral histories to bring to light contemporary social injustices such as the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina and the lives of undocumented workers in the US.
Archie Green
Sady Sullivan
Folklorist and musicologist Archie Green (b. 1917), who established the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress, has died. Raised by a socialist father, Green worked in the San Francisco shipyards during WWII and both experiences inspired his lifelong love of labor history. He influenced countless oral historians and the American Folklife Center houses the Veterans History Project and StoryCorps collections among much much more. He also wrote Tin Men, a book documenting folk art robot-like figures crafted out of found metal.
Batters Up
Sady Sullivan
Forever Blue author Michael D'Antonio was on the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC yesterday.
Open Forum: Dodgers
Sady Sullivan
This Saturday, March 21, 1 - 3 PM BHS is hosting an a program: Walter O'Malley and the Brooklyn Dodgers, A New View a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael D'Antonio and Peter O'Malley, moderated by Richard Sandomir, Sports Broadcasting Reporter for the New York Times, followed by a Q&A session, on the occasion of the launch of a new book Forever Blue. This program has sparked lots of press and community interest. BHS is providing this open forum for discussion: we invite you to share your thoughts in the comments section below. This blog forum will be open…
Storyscape
Sady Sullivan
Last Friday, Storyscape launched their third issue with a night of readings and performance here at BHS, it was great. As editor Anne Hays described, Storyscape is a different kind of literary journal since it's not about Fiction or Poetry or Prose, it's about Stories, and stories can be true, untrue, part true and part fiction, told through photographs, drawings, audio pieces such as Ken Cormier's Sounds of Lunch - so good!
Kids Workshops
Sady Sullivan
Last weekend, the Center for Architecture Foundation’s Family Day and BHS hosted a workshop for kids about building the Brooklyn Bridge and lots of fun was had by all. Which got us thinking... Parents, teachers, babysitters, mentors and friends of young people: We'd love to hear your ideas for future Kids Workshops. Are mornings or afternoons better? What age group has the greatest need? What would your kids be into? Let us know! Photos by Catherine Teegarden
Elders Share the Arts
Sady Sullivan
I just went to a wonderful performance presented by Elders Share the Arts: Talkin' Brooklyn - A Story Circle Showcase. Story Circle has been partnering with neighborhood branches of the Brooklyn Public Library and local senior centers for six years, inviting elders to get together to share memories and reflect together on their long and unique lives. For this showcase, eight storytellers read from a script made up of multiple narrators' stories which echoed, overlapped, and brought to life Brooklyn childhoods. They told about sing-a-longs in neighborhood movie theaters and street games: "…
North Brooklyn Story Project
Sady Sullivan
Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG), a community organization that has been serving North Brooklyn since 1994, is starting a project called the North Brooklyn Story Project and their first meeting is tonight at 7pm at 101 Kent Avenue at North 8th Street in Williamsburg. This is such a wonderful idea, it's an oral historian's fantasy that everyone everywhere will start recording everybody else everywhere! If you live in North Brooklyn, get involved, and if you live in another part of Brooklyn think about starting your own local Story Project. And if you would like to learn more about…
Brooklyn Barbados Africa
Sady Sullivan
I can't wait to read Brooklyn-born novelist and MacArthur fellow Paule Marshall's new memoir Triangular Road. In our Listening to Women seminar, we will be discussing the differences between oral histories, autobiographies, and memoirs - I'm curious what people think.
Brooklyn Born
Sady Sullivan
We're enjoying this blog today:
Brooklyn Born: Views of a Born and Bred Brooklynite
And the New York Times' Brooklyn blogging foray based in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill:
The Local
And photos of Brooklyn covered in snow:
Brooklyn's New Culinary Movement
Sady Sullivan
This time the New York Times got it right about Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Kitchen is a dreamy store, the owners Taylor and Harry are wonderful, and it's a great place to take classes like How to Make Kombucha. Plus, it's good to read about the growing successes of mom & pop operations and not just their closings, like Jimmy Prince's Major Prime Meat Market on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island which opened in 1934 and is closing at the end of the month. In honor of Jimmy Prince, shop local this weekend and come see our exhibit Counter/Culture: The Disappearing Face of Brooklyn's Storefronts!…
Women Veterans
Sady Sullivan
Here's more information about this event next week: Women Veterans: Citizen-Soldiers in Changing Times Thursday, March 5, 6:30 – 8:30 PM *This BHS event is being held around the corner from BHS at the Rotunda Gallery, 33 Clinton Street* Women veterans who served in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan discuss their military experiences and the expanding role of women in U.S. Armed Forces. Presented in conjunction with the Brooklyn Historical Society exhibit In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn’s Vietnam Veterans Featuring: Joan Furey, author with Lynda Van Devanter of Visions of War, Dreams of…
FUREE Film Premiere
Sady Sullivan
Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), a Brooklyn-based, multi-racial organization announce the premiere screening of the documentary Some Place Like Home: The Fight Against Gentrification in Downtown Brooklyn this coming December - tickets are on sale now. Check out the trailer, what do you think?
Grunge Is Dead
Sady Sullivan
Following in the footsteps of Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, authors of Please Kill Me: An Uncensored Oral History of Punk, comes Greg Prato's Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music. I'm excited to see how this book talks about Riot Grrrl. And I'm always interested in this small but powerful distinction: THE Oral History vs. AN Oral History, hmm... is there a difference?
Brooklyn Women
Sady Sullivan
Yesterday, I was getting some ducks in order for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History Project we're working on and browsing through some audio recordings to double check dates of birth and I happened to listen to two striking moments. In one, a woman who grew up in Red Hook in the 1920s and 1930s breaks into tears when she talks about having to end her schooling and go to work. She was a proud honors student but she didn''t finish high school. In the second, a woman who worked as a welder in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WWII talks about how she would have loved to continue her career as a…
America I AM
Sady Sullivan
America I AM: The African American Imprint is currently on view at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. I heard about it on NY1 yesterday where they quoted the exhibition's press release: An interactive component of the exhibition will allow visitors to leave their own video “imprints,” and this collection will grow throughout the life of the exhibit to become the largest recorded oral history project in U.S. history. And that got me thinking about the meaning of oral history. Recording the impressions of museum visitors certainly creates an excellent video document that future…
Federal Writers' Project
Sady Sullivan
Oh wow, this is a treasure: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940.* There are 417 stories in the New York City collection. In one titled Brooklyn Streets the worker (that's how the WPA writers were cited) William Wood describes The Hundski Pickers he heard many tell about: The Hundski Pickers were a strange occupational group whose scattered membership plied their business in Brooklyn during the early years of the present century. Their calling was definitely unconnected with the harvest fields; nor was it related with the garnering of some strange genus of flora. In…
New Oral Histories
Sady Sullivan
Islam, Women and Violence in Kashmir: Between India and Pakistan by Nyla Ali Khan I have chosen to deploy oral evidence in my book, which has allowed me to approach events, notions, and literatures about which there was meager evidence from other sources. The use of oral history has empowered my interviewees/correspondents, people of Jammu and Kashmir, in significant ways, bringing acknowledgment of hitherto disregarded opinions and experiences. Chicana Sexuality and Gender: Cultural Refiguring in Literature, Oral History, and Art by Debra Blake Since the 1980s Chicana writers including…
Citizen Soldiers
Sady Sullivan
While We Lie Sleeping, a silent short film by Monica Sharf, is a tribute to those who have served or are still serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's a provocative addition to the 'support the troops and oppose the war' conversation. Relatedly, we're hosting a discussion with women who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam: Women Veterans: Citizen Soldiers in Changing Times Thursday, March 5th 6:30 - 8:30pm
Collective History of LGBT Groups
Sady Sullivan
Spreading the word about a good public history project: OutHistory, an educational website produced by CUNY's Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies is collecting histories of LGBT Employee and Other Groups. Jonathan Ned Katz, director of OutHistory.org, says: We’d especially like to have histories of LGBT employee organizing at Google and IBM, at other electronic media companies, and at other corporations. We are also asking users to create histories of organized LGBT groups within unions, and among LGBT professionals.
Lincoln's 200th Birthday
Sady Sullivan
Thank goodness for well-preserved audio archives! On the occasion of Lincoln's 200th birthday, WNYC is sharing a clip from their audio archives recorded in 1938: This is William R. Rathvon, the only known eyewitness of both Lincoln’s arrival at Gettysburg and the address itself to have left an audio recording of his recollections. Click here to listen.
Brooklyn Vets Share with Teachers
Todd Florio
Red Hook Wedding Hall?
Sady Sullivan
Yesterday, we hosted the Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable. I wasn't there, but according to the Brooklyn Paper this morning, Red Hook developer Greg O'Connell (who built the Fairway) is proposing a high-end wedding hall near the end of Van Dyke Street. The funny thing is, while this announcement was being discussed downstairs, I was upstairs interviewing Frank Palescandolo (b. 1917), a writer who grew up in Coney Island and whose most famous book Rumble on the Docks (1953) is set in Red Hook. It's about longshoremen and teenage gangs, it's got a classic pulp cover, and in 1956 it was made…
West Indian Roots of Hip Hop
Sady Sullivan
Saturday, February 28, 3 - 6pm Organized by our friends at City Lore and featuring Dr. Natasha Lightfoot, DJ Kool Herc, Kool DJ Red Alert, Ralph McDaniels, and Co-founder of VP Records in Jamaica, Patricia Chin.
Food in Bushwick
Sady Sullivan
This sounds like it will be a really interesting community conversation: Past, Present, Future of Food: Bushwick, Brooklyn A(n Urban) (Farm) Salon March 7, 2009 1:00 to 4:00 Brooklyn Public Library, Bushwick Branch 340 Bushwick Avenue, L train to Montrose stop We will explore how Brooklyn and Bushwick in particular went from being so rich an agricultural community to the desert it is today, and we’ll talk about what people can and ARE doing to grow food here. How did it happen that all the land was developed? What kind of food can you get to eat here now? What’s made here? Is it good for you…
Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales visits BHS
Alli
Jimmy Wales, founder of the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, filmed a promo in BHS' Library for USA network's "Character of the Year Award". Click here to see the longer version of the commercial with Mr. Wales discussing censorship, the future of the internet and other fascinating ideas with the stunning Othmer Library as backdrop.
Counter/Culture Extended
Sady Sullivan
The rumors are true! We're extending the Public Perspectives exhibition Counter/Culture: The Disappearing Face of Brooklyn's Storefronts. If you haven't yet seen Karla and Jim Murray's photographs of mom & pop shops in Brooklyn or their gorgeous new book Storefront: The Disappearing Face of New York, make the time to visit, it's really great. Jim and Karla also photo-document grafitti in their book Burning New York and that's how they fell into the Storefront project.
Oral History in Turkey
Sady Sullivan
Oral history workshops are becoming really popular in Turkey. Professor Leyla Neyzi, who leads the workshops, was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “We have started to think very differently about our history. The past is being rethought in terms of the demands of the present.” Yesterday, we hosted a workshop for teachers regarding our oral history exhibition In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans. We discussed ways to teach contested histories and difficult material; using oral history as a tool in the classroom both to bring history alive and to teach important…
Lakota Oral History Found
Sady Sullivan
Oral historians are always talking about the best way to archive and preserve oral history interviews. At this moment in time, we're all working to digitize interviews in our collections recorded on cassette tapes, since cassette tapes degrade and break over time. Storing things digitally seems like an archivist's dream because digital files can be copied over and over without effecting the original and you can easily store them in multiple places. But what's still the most reliable way to preserve an oral history interview? Paper. Good ol' (acid free) paper. Proof positive: A woman in…
Women in Archives
Sady Sullivan
Last Friday, I had the pleasure of attending a conference at Columbia University called Archiving Women, "bringing together scholars and archivists to examine feminist practices in the archive". It was as interesting and interdisciplinary as one would expect, and it was very crowded! Many people spoke about the historical and habitual lack of focus on women in archival collections. Central to that is the debate about What constitutes archives-worthy materials. To illustrate how public/professional lives intertwine with the personal Michael Ryan described his processing of Erica Jong's…
Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
Everytime the New York Times writes about Brooklyn neighborhoods it's like they are just discovering the borough!
In Brooklyn, A Slice of the South
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…
Astroland Rocket
Sady Sullivan
The Astroland Rocket of Coney Island finally found a new home. Former Astroland co-owner, Carol Hill Albert donated the super-awesome Rocket to the NYC Economic Development Corp. on behalf of the Coney Island History Project. We still don't know where it will actually live though. Photo by Peter Kleeman, Space Age Museum
Archiving Women
Sady Sullivan
Cool conference @ Columbia this Friday: And check out this related project: Engendering the Archive.
Worst Joke Ever
Sady Sullivan
Ok, so, this post isn't Brooklyn-related, but this is an important document of our times: Watch George H.W. Bush telling an infuriating joke about women: I'm looking forward to having the space to discuss the ramifications of things like this at our forthcoming seminar Documenting Women's Lives.
Brooklyn Navy Yard
Sady Sullivan
Check out this great, and kinda creepy, video about the Brooklyn Navy Yard - it features Rubena Ross, a woman we've interviewed for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History Project. The City Concealed: Brooklyn Navy Yard from Thirteen.org on Vimeo.
Keepin' It Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
Students at the Secondary School for Research in Park Slope working with Urban Memory Project, Park Slope Civic Council, and BHS on a wonderful oral history project. Check out their blog Keepin It Brooklyn!
Listening to Women
Sady Sullivan
The Brooklyn Historical Society announces a New Seminar: Listening to Women: Documenting Women's Lives through Oral History A six-week non-credit course meeting once per week for 2 hours Wednesdays March 18, 2009 – April 29, 2009 6:30 – 8:30pm Registration Deadline: February 25, 2009 Admission limited to 15 participants. Sign up HERE I took it for granted that like most of the billions of people who are born and die on this planet I was just an accident. There was no reason for me. Yet my life burned inside me. Even such as it was, it was the only record of me, and it was my only creation…
Inauguration Day
Sady Sullivan
We here at BHS just gathered in the kitchen to watch the Inauguration. We tried to spot our colleagues who made the trip to DC among the inspiring millions on the Mall. Oral historians sixty years from now will be saying: "Tell me what it was like to see the first black person elected President of the US..." Interestingly, this painting, View of the Yosemite Valley (Thomas Hill, 1865), hung behind President and First Lady Obama at their Inaugural Luncheon and is on loan from the New York Historical Society.
Hopeful Barack Obama
Sady Sullivan
Barack Obama at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday. President in less than 24 hours!
The War Comes Home
Sady Sullivan
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Brooklynite Luis Carlos Montalvan, a veteran of the Iraq War who came with Philip Napoli to see our exhibit In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans. Mr. Montalvan's assistance dog Tuesday was a wonderful visitor to the museum! Here Luis Carlos Montalvan and Aaron Glantz, author of The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle Against America's Veterans speak with Laura Flanders:
Kent Ave Bike Lane
Sady Sullivan
While not a solution to the Kent Ave Bike Lane Debate, this is a good idea:
Narrative Medicine
Sady Sullivan
While reading on the train this morning, I saw an ad in The New Yorker for a Master of Science in Narrative Medicine program at Columbia University: enhance your 'witnessing' skills as applied to providing quality healthcare Doctors and nurses are picking up deep-listening skills from the Columbia Oral Research Office! What a wonderful thing, and much-needed training for many of the medical professionals I've encountered.
Abandoned Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
Brooklyn photographer Nathan Kensinger has a show opening on January 24th at Union Docs, a documentary arts collaborative in Williamsburg. He photographs abandoned industrial spaces in Brooklyn, getting into those haunted spaces in your neighborhood you've always been curious about.
The Impact of Listening and Being Heard
Sady Sullivan
I just rediscovered this video on Channel Thirteen's website of a panel we hosted here at BHS in conjunction with the exhibit In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans:
Student Exhibit in Park Slope
Sady Sullivan
We worked with these students on the oral history elements of their project (stay tuned to hear some of their interviews on our website). They're a great group and I can't wait to see their exhibit!
Jay-Z & Santogold: Brooklyn (Go Hard)!
Sady Sullivan
Apparently Kanye West and Jay-Z are as obsessed as I am with Santogold & Diplo's mixtape Top Ranking - as it inspired this awesome track from the new Notorious B.I.G. biopic. (Thanks, Peter!) Jay-Z on iLike - Get updates inside iTunes
Real World: Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
MTV's Real World: Brooklyn premiered last night. I haven't seen the show since the 1990s and although I admit to being curious about their Red Hook habitat, I think reading the Recaps on Gawker will suffice: Every time they mentioned Brooklyn or played a song about Brooklyn they used, well, a black male chorus of dudes shouting "Brooklyn!!" Which is all well and good, that kind of Bed-Stuy braggadocio is certainly a significant part of popular, visible Brooklyn culture. But I hope they switch it up sometimes. To like a bunch of Lubevitch from Midwood singing "Brooklyn!" or some old Polish…
Moving the Astroland Rocket
Sady Sullivan
Oh wow. An icon of Coney Island and nostalgic symbol of enthusiasm for the Space Age, the 14,000 lb Astroland Rocket was moved today... To Where? We don't know yet. video courtesy of magicalthemeparks on YouTube
Face of Brooklyn
Sady Sullivan
Interpreting Brooklyn artist Nora Herting's project Face of Brooklyn is nearly completed!
Check out her amazing portraits of Brooklynites.
Polar Bears for Coney Island
Sady Sullivan
On New Year's Day, when the Polar Bears take their annual chilly swim in the Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island, they were joined by Reverend Billy (of the Church of Stop Shopping), Lola Staar and others hoping to Save Coney Island as we know it.
Happy New Year!
Sady Sullivan
Something lovely for the New Year from Brooklyn Photographer Etienne Frossard:
Vanity Fair: Oral History of the Bush White House
Sady Sullivan
I don't think I can bring myself to read this just yet but Vanity Fair just published Farewell to All That: An Oral History of the Bush White House which is bound to be interesting if you can stomach it.
Bowery Boys Blog Brooklyn Too
Sady Sullivan
The Bowery Boys gave us a shout out on their blog today in a post about Mayor George Hall. They admit to being a little Manhattan-centric so cheers for the Brooklyn post! And I just listened to their fun podcast about Green-Wood Cemetery.
Interestingly, one of the first people we interviewed when our Oral History Program began in 2006 was Charles Hamm whose grandfather commissioned the statue of Minerva who stands in Green-Wood Cemetery keeping watch on the Statue of Liberty.
It's Happening in Brooklyn!
Todd Florio
BHS's exhibit, It Happened in Brooklyn, has been drawing great attendance from NYC public school kids. You may not have known that BHS education staff was part of the Task Force that developed the Scope & Sequence curriculum guide used by Social Studies teachers throughout the city. It Happened in Brooklyn was designed to directly link up to what the kids are learning in class. Kids love the big map on the floor and the musket, but they're also fascinated by the slave bill of sale for a transaction that happened right here in Brooklyn.
Zinn at Studs Terkel's Memorial
Sady Sullivan
Voices of Rwanda
Sady Sullivan
Voices of Rwanda documents the testimony of survivors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Oral histories are a very powerful tool in the protection of human rights.
After the Forgetting
Sady Sullivan
WWII Army Nurse
Sady Sullivan
This is neat: a local paper in Michigan posted an oral history interview (transcript and audio) with Imojean Ketter who served overseas during WWII as an Army Nurse. What a great project for local papers. I do know that the role of the woman has changed over the years. We are recognized as someone that can contribute. I think that now that we see a woman running for president and vice-president, not long ago that wouldn't have happened so I'm sure that women in the military now have not only changed the military but have changed people's ideas of what women can do.…
Iraq War Veterans
Sady Sullivan
I'm very much looking forward to reading this new book from the Palgrave Studies in Oral History series: SOLDIERS AND CITIZENS: An Oral History of Operation Iraqi Freedom from the Battlefield to the Pentagon by Carl Mirra, a soldier in the U.S. Marine Corps during the first Gulf War, currently an Associate Professor of Education at Adelphi University. This book is an oral history of soldiers, policymakers, and family members effected by the ongoing Iraq War. I've met many Iraq & Afghanistan War veterans who come here to see our exhibit In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam…
Brooklyn Docs @ BHS
Sady Sullivan
DNA and Oral History
Sady Sullivan
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote a really interesting piece in this week's New Yorker about tracing his family genealogy using oral histories, sometimes the only source of family history for Americans of African descent since civic records, such as the Federal Census, often didn't include African-Americans until after the Civil War. Now, developments in DNA testing are challenging the verity of some family stories which leads to interesting questions about which holds more truth: what generations pass on or what science demonstrates?…
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…
What Do You Get...
Sady Sullivan
When you put a bunch of oral historians together in a room? Lots of talk about digital storage and server space! bahdumbum But it was a good conversation last night up at the Columbia Oral History Research Office with Ann Cvetkovich, author of An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures (2003). Ann discussed the unique strengths of the ACTUP Oral History Project, an activist archive of 100 interviews with surviving members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, coordinated by Jim Hubbard and Sarah Schulman. Video clips of the interviews are available online and…
Imagine Coney @ BAM Part 2
Sady Sullivan
Imagine Coney @ BAM Part 1
Sady Sullivan
TODAY: Reflections on Community Development
Sady Sullivan
IMAGINE CONEY
Sady Sullivan
The Municipal Art Society will be presenting exciting new ideas for the planned redevelopment of Coney Island at BAM this coming Monday, November 17, 2008 at 6:30 - 8:30pm.
My fantasy for the future of Coney Island is that they reconstruct the Elephant Hotel which burnt down in 1896. There have been other elephant buildings but none of them compare to this pleasantly debaucherous Victorian beast standing over the boardwalk:
Coney Island Maybe
Sady Sullivan
Coney Island Maybe is a new show opening at The Puffin Room this Sunday, November 9th, and one of our Interpreting Brooklyn artists, Michael Schwartz, will be reading some of his work at 4pm - looks good! From Michael: I'll be presenting my new story "Hey Jerry!", and my new poem "The Freak", and if time permits, I'll also present my new poem "The Fat Laughing Lady", and if time gets REALLY permissive, I'll also do my new poem "The Shooting Gallery". Lots of Coney Island paintings and photos will be hanging on the walls, and on the same day I'm doing this reading, Charles Denson and the…
Lioness
Sady Sullivan
Last night, on Channel Thirteen, I saw a documentary called Lioness about women Iraq war veterans. I was totally turned off by the title until I learned that "Lioness" is actually the Army term they use in Iraq and Afghanistan when they need units of women for particular tasks like body searching Muslim women, for example. The main point of the film is that in the current wars, military women are serving in combat situations even though Congressional law prohibits women from combat - which means that women are serving in combat but not being trained for combat duty, nor are they being…
BHS Gossip here, your one and only source into the non-historical activities at the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Julie May
Rumor is there was a filming for the holiday episode of Gossip Girl in our humdrum facilities the other day. No, the staff was not lingering in the tile lobby just because Lily, Rufus, and Bart were hanging out in between shoots. Nor were their faces and cameras mashed up against the library's second and third floor windows to catch a glimpse. However, sometime around 10am, an audible scream emanating from 20 St. Ann's students across the street revealed this borough's true feelings for the show that glorifies DUMBO while calling it Williamsburg and secretly shoots in Brooklyn…
Studs Terkel Dies at 96
Sady Sullivan
Oral historian, radio charmer, and Pulitzer prize-winning author Studs Terkel passed away on Halloween at the age of 96. I got a chance to talk to Studs Terkel in 2005 when he was a guest on a radio show I was helping to produce. He was so patient, optimistic, funny, and sweet it's no wonder people found him easy to talk to.
New York Times Obituary
Chicago Tribune Obituary
Where Do I Go to Vote?
Sady Sullivan
My grandmother worked the polls for every election in her small town until she was physically unable to. I remember her going "off to the polls" when I was little and not really understanding what that meant but gathering that it was an exciting thing to be doing. Election Day still feels like a holiday to me (more people would turn out to vote if it were!) so, I'm gearing up. Where I grew up in Massachusetts, everyone always went to the elementary school cafeteria to vote and if you forgot where to go you could ask anyone in town and they'd tell you - it's harder here in Brooklyn, fourth…
Fiesta Time!
Alli
I don’t know about you all, but it’s been a crazy couple of weeks (election antics, economic meltdowns…). I’m looking forward to great music by OP! and all the other fun to be had this Thursday night at BHS’ Fall Fiesta. This year ticket proceeds will go to support Education programs at BHS. Rumor has it that the guests to the Fiesta will get spaldeens in their gift bags (spaldeens are those red bouncy balls that you use to play handball or streetball with), which I'm thinking can also double as a fantastic stress-reliever when the fiesta-ing is over.
Back on the Block
Sady Sullivan
Check out this video on the New York Times website where a reporter returns to her Brooklyn neighborhood after 20 years: Back on the Block
Cinema of the Vietnam War
Sady Sullivan
Tomorrow at 6:30pm we'll be screening Thanh's War, the fourth in the series Cinema of the Vietnam War we've been co-hosting with Brooklyn For Peace. Moss Roberts, Professor of East Asian Studies at NYU will be leading the discussion following the film. These film discussions have been really great. At the last one, Brooklynite and former Congressmember Elizabeth Holtzman talked about Constitutional war-making powers and how things haven't been the same since Nixon's secret bombing of Cambodia.
Pollution Testimonies
Sady Sullivan
I've lived in Greenpoint for three years now, I get most of my food from an organic farm and I'm generally health conscious all around - yet somehow I manage to conspicuously Not Worry about living above the largest oil spill on the planet which still oozes on the underground water table at Newtown Creek. A plume of oil - 17 million gallons, bigger than the famous Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska - was discovered in 1978 and while cleanup began in 1990, it's been slow and underfunded and not much has improved. "Are you worried about health problems caused by the pollution in your neighborhood?" A…
BHS on NY1
Sady Sullivan
Check out the clip here.
It's a piece about the upcoming tours of the Brooklyn Navy Yard that BHS is organizing with BNY and the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment.
Barry Lewis describes BHS
Sady Sullivan
Open House New York podcasts: "Architectural Historian Barry Lewis describes the Brooklyn Historical Society and its context within the architecture of Brooklyn Heights. Learn how the Queen Anne elements of the Historical Society set it apart from the neighborhood’s brownstones." Listen here: Barry Lewis on BHS Check out the other podcasts - there's so much good stuff happening for Open House New York Weekend!
Pete Hamill's Brooklyn Revisited
Sady Sullivan
New York magazine's 40th Anniversary issue has an article by Pete Hamill, who grew up in Park Slope. And here's an article he wrote about Brooklyn for the same magazine in 1969. Coincidently, our Park Slope Neighborhood and Architectural History Guide launches this Thursday. The guide includes two Walking Tours of Park Slope and accompanying audio tracks which can be downloaded from our website or through the Brooklyn Historical Society's podcast on iTunes. Here's one track from the audio tour where Pete Hamill's brothers John and Denis Hamill talk about the street gangs in Park Slope in the…
Red Hook Film Festival
Sady Sullivan
A film from our exhibit Counter/Culture, curated by James and Karla Murray, is included in this festival!
Sir, No Sir
Sady Sullivan
Last Thursday, we screened Sir, No Sir, the second film in the Cinema of the Vietnam War series we are co-presenting with Brooklyn For Peace. It's an award-winning documentary about anti-war activism within the military, including underground GI newspapers, the coffeehouse movement, and some high-profile cases of resistance such as Dr. Howard Levy's. We were lucky to have Dr. Levy himself leading a discussion following the film. A dermotologist, Dr. Levy was drafted in 1965 and assigned to instruct Green Berets in some simple medicine that they could use in Vietnam to "win hearts and minds…
90 Years of the Brooklyn Chamber
Alli
Congratulations to the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce for 90 years of supporting Brooklyn businesses and local economic development! BHS currently has an installation of images and archives in our Tile Lobby commemorating the Chamber's years of service to the Borough.
Our Library
Sady Sullivan
From The New York Sun today: "The cast-iron columns in the first-floor auditorium support the library floor, while iron trusses in the attic support the library ceiling, the attic floor, and the roof. The loftiness of the space and its exquisite woodwork take your breath away. The gorgeous carved-wood fluted columns, with Corinthian capitals, encase iron columns that support the galleries that encircle the room. It is everything a library should be." Read more here
Flatbush Neighborhood History Guide
Sady Sullivan
Check out this review in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
Recent Photographic Finds
Julie May
As told to me by our Library Assistant Extraordinaire, Sarah Steele: This week I began an inventory of four or five strangely organized boxes of Long Island photographs and images. Despite the outdated accession numbers and unknown provenance, a lot of really excellent things have been turning up. My favorite so far is the collection of approximately 40 original photographs from the late 19th century of maritime life on Long Island. Here is the first item from what I hope will become our Long Island Whaling Collection: Amagansett, L.I. Whale taken off Amagansett, Feb. 23, 1907 [now in…
Floyd DeSilva
Sady Sullivan
Floyd DeSilva, owner of DeSilva South Brooklyn Liquors on 5th Avenue in Park Slope, passed away on August 7, 2008. Corie Trancho-Robie interviewed Mr. DeSilva in July for the Park Slope neighborhood guide we are working on, and clips from this interview will be made part of the audio tour (due out in October). I learned of Mr. DeSilva's passing when I called the store to get his approval for the clip we'd like to use. I'm so glad we were able to record Mr. DeSilva's memories of the neighborhood. Born in Trinidad, Mr. DeSilva came to New York as a teenager. He saved up the money to buy his…
Our Podcast
Sady Sullivan
Updated April 2016: You can find out about Brooklyn Historical Society's podcast Flatbush + Main on the web at www.brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main and via iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and most major podcast applications.
Eleven Dreams in Red Hook
Sady Sullivan
Wow, this is really neat.
Betsey Biggs, an artist and composer, has created audio tours of Red Hook and she's hosting them every Saturday in September. Check out Eleven Dreams in Red Hook.
Save Coney Island
Sady Sullivan
Charlie Denson from the Coney Island History Project gave a talk at the Municipal Arts Society last night. Spirits were low three days after the closing of Astroland but some folks are organizing a letter-writing campaign, among other things, to Save Coney Island and insure that redevelopment plans are kept to a human scale and include an amusement district. The conversation at the Municipal Arts Center will continue next Wednesday, September 17 at 6:30pm when Lynn Kelly, president of the Coney Island Development Corporation and Carol Hall Albert, owner of Astroland and others will discuss…
John Wayne
Sady Sullivan
Last night, BHS screened John Wayne's The Green Berets (1968), the first film in the series Cinema of the Vietnam War that we are co-hosting with Brooklyn For Peace. What a cultural artifact! One of the Vietnam veterans in the audience said it was like a 2.5 hour long recruitment movie, and that's a good description. Marilyn Young, author of The Vietnam Wars who lead a discussion with the audience, noted that John Wayne actually got permission from President Johnson to make the film on a military base in Georgia. They were given access to all kinds of military equipment - and that was…
Recent Photographic Find
Julie May
I have a mystery box. This mystery box is filled with things that come out of drawers, unlabeled boxes, nooks and crannies, seemingly nowhere. Occasionally, I pluck something out of this mystery box and decide what it is, what to do with it, where it came from, and to whom I should show it. This plucking tends to occur on Saturday mornings when the library is scheduled to open in the afternoon. On one such Saturday, I came upon this inconspicuous scrapbook. From the outside, it looks like something haphazardly put together, probably never completed, of ordinary family snapshots. Even…
Park Slope Food Coop
Sady Sullivan
Seventeen seconds of sound from the Park Slope Food Coop, recorded today around 11:30am. Click here to listen: Park Slope Food Coop Today
Lesbian Herstory Archives
Sady Sullivan
Today took me to the Lesbian Herstory Archives in Park Slope to interview one of their volunteer staff for our forthcoming Park Slope Neighborhood Guide's audio component. They have over 2,000 tapes of oral history in their collection that they are slowly digitizing. It's a warm, welcoming, and inspiring place.
Speaking of Coney Island...
Sady Sullivan
Here's an a little clip from an oral history interview from our collection (circa 1987) with Lillian Santangello, former owner of the Coney Island Wax Museum. The interviewer, Benjamin Filene, asks Lillian about a bunch of things from the Wax Museum that became part of the BHS' collection, including a wax Nat King Cole head! Click on the link below to listen: Six Wax Mystery Heads
Coney Island Hall of Fame
Sady Sullivan
Found in Stacks: Rare Art Deco Brooklyn Magazine
Elizabeth Call
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…
Exhibit Opening Sept 10 - Counter/Culture: The Disappearing Face of Brooklyn's Storefronts
Janice
I want to let everyone know about a new community-curated exhibit in our Public Perspectives series that will open at BHS on Wednesday, September 10, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Counter/Culture: The Disappearing Face of Brooklyn's Storefronts features color photographs by James and Karla Murray of mom and pop shops all over Brooklyn. Keeping it old school, the photos were taken with film. There are photos of single storefronts, and then they took the film and created digitally-edited panoramas of stretches of an entire block of storefronts. In addition to the photographs, there is audio and video of…
Cataloguing Our Oral History Collection
Sady Sullivan
This summer, with the help of two wonderful interns Naomi (Brooklyn College) and Amna (Stuyvesant High School), we have been cataloguing our oral history collection so soon visitors can search through and listen to our oral history interviews right in the library.
Welcome!
Sady Sullivan
The Brooklyn Historical Society began our Oral History Program in 2006 to collect important audio documents: primary sources about people, ideas, and events that make up the history of 21st century Brooklyn. In December 2007, we opened our Oral History Gallery with the exhibit In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn's Vietnam Veterans. Come visit! We're located in Brooklyn Heights, an historic landmarked district, in a building designed by architect George B. Post and completed in 1881. We're down the street from Borough Hall (and the Borough Hall Farmers' Market on Tuesdays and Thursdays)…