POTW: The Blessing of Brooke the Office Cat

Alice

A photograph of Joseph R. Lentol holding a cat while a priest on the right. A stone church and other people are in the background. blesses him
[Photograph of Joseph R. Lentol at St. Cecilia Catholic Church], circa 2010, Joseph R. Lentol papers, CBHM.0004, Box 4, Folder 19; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

This week's Photo of the Week takes us to St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church in Greenpoint where Brooke the cat is being blessed by a priest during a Blessing of the Animals event circa 2010. The Blessing of the Animals is observed in the Catholic Church in conjunction with the annual Feast of St. Francis of Assisi on October 4th. The man holding Brooke, Joseph R. Lentol, was New York State Assemblyman for Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and Fort Greene from 1972 to 2020. Brooke served in her position as district office cat for less time (from 2010 to 2020), but the staff at Center for Brooklyn History have no doubt she served her district very well and wish her the best in retirement.

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We welcome appointments to research our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.

 

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

 

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