POTW: Happy New Year

Julie May

[German Evangelical Home.], 1925, v1974.1.184; Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks , v1974.001; Brooklyn Historical Society. [German Evangelical Home.], 1925, v1974.1.184; Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks , v1974.001; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Perhaps some of you are enjoying the quiet wee hours before the partiers shake themselves from heavy sleep.  As I write this, I’m thinking about how odd this holiday season has been in terms of weather.  The snow covering the street and piled up on the curb in this photograph makes me wish for a healthy, normal dumping of snow -- the kind that crunches into a tightly packed mass beneath my snow boots; boots that I currently have no idea where to find.  It would be a refreshing way to start the new year with a crisp walk in the morning air after a snowstorm, when the sounds of the city are still quiet and one has a chance to think.  Anyway, Happy New Year, Brooklyn!

Also, the German Evangelical Home was located on Bushwick Avenue and Chauncey Street in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.  Bushwick was established in 1661 as one of the original six towns of what is now Brooklyn.   The city of Brooklyn annexed Bushwick in 1855;  Brooklyn itself was consolidated into Greater New York City in 1898.  In the mid-19th century, Germans were the dominant immigrant community in Bushwick.  They helped establish a flourishing brewing industry there, which hit its zenith by the end of that century.

The German Evangelical Home was one of many institutions that benefitted poor, elderly, or orphaned Brooklyn residents.  BHS has an extensive collection of materials across five archival collections that are related to aid organizations, including the Graham Home for Old Ladies, New York Home Congregational Home for the Aged, and others.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our new website here.  To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wednesday - Saturday, 1:00-5:00 p.m.

 

 

This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.

 

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