John Zarrillo
Abraham Lincoln statue at Abraham Lincoln High School, circa 1939, V1974.16.812; Edna Huntington papers and photographs, ARC.044; Brooklyn Historical SocietyToday marks the 205th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. When I think of Honest Abe and Brooklyn, I think of the Lincoln statue which currently resides in Prospect Park’s Concert Grove, near the newly renovated LeFrak Center ice skating rink. Of course I should have realized that the Prospect Park Lincoln statue was already the subject of a Photo of the Week! So I scoured the BHS photography database to find another connection between the borough and the famed emancipator.
I discovered that there are in fact two statues of the 16th President in Brooklyn. The other statue is located (appropriately enough) at Abraham Lincoln High School in Coney Island. According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the statue had “graced the Flatbush porch [of late New York Supreme Court Justice William Donaldson Dickey] for 15 years” before being donated by his daughter to the school in 1932. This photograph was taken around 1939 by Miss Edna Huntington, a former BHS Librarian. Abraham Lincoln High School itself has an illustrious history, graduating a slew of famous authors, athletes, entertainers, politicians and scientists over the past 85 years.
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.
I am graduate of Lincoln,
I am graduate of Lincoln, class of 1970. There was no statue of Lincoln when I was a student. I do not believe to this day there is a statue. Do you know where it is and what happened to it?
Mon, Jan 2 2023 8:19 pm
Permalink
Hello,
Hello,
Please send your question to cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org and a member of our staff will assist you.
Thu, Jan 5 2023 7:22 pm
Permalink
Post a Comment
While BPL encourages an open forum, posts and comments are moderated by library staff. BPL reserves the right, within its sole discretion, not to post and to remove submissions or comments that are unlawful or violate this policy. While comments will not be edited by BPL personnel, a comment may be deleted if it violates our comment policy.
eNews Signup
Get the latest updates from BPL and be the first to know about new programs, author talks, exciting events and opportunities to support your local library.