World Wildlife Day & the Pigeon
Liza Katz
December 4, 2023
December 4th marks World Wildlife Day, which the United Nations describes as “an opportunity to celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that their conservation provides to people.” When thinking of Brooklyn wildlife, the first that comes to mind might be the pigeon. This bird certainly does not require conservation efforts today, and...
All this for the Dodgers!
Griffin, Alice
November 27, 2023
Anyone else missing baseball season? This week's Photo of the Week takes us to Ebbets Field where we see a crowd of fans who were unable to get into the final game of the Yankees-Dodgers 1952 World Series. Over 33,000 people attended the game, so many people were turned away at the gates. The boy in the middle appears to be pleading with the photographer to let him in, others look like they would squeeze...
Pint-Sized Pilgrims
Sarah Quick
November 20, 2023
Residents of the Infants Home of Brooklyn, located at 1358 56th Street attended their 1951 Thanksgiving dinner dressed as pint-sized pilgrims, ready to hunt their own turkey! For children living at the Infants Home, a holiday to gather with family may have felt a little sad, but we love how their caregivers tried to make the holiday a little more fun. We hope these little ones had the best Thanksgiving ever. At...
Friday, December 1 is World AIDS Day, a day started by the World Health Organization in 1988 to "show strength and solidarity against HIV stigma and to remember lives lost." The first World AIDS Day was recognized by awareness events (such as condom distributions and fundraisers), discussions among medical experts and human rights advocates, and world leaders calling on the United Nations to increase their efforts to combat the...
Opening the Pocket Doors: What Could Have Been
Katherine Sorresso, Leon Levy Senior Processing Archivist
November 15, 2023
Looking up at the looming and detailed façade of 128 Pierrepont, it’s difficult to imagine anything else in its place. The classic Queen Anne style seems to fit right in with the surrounding brownstones, completing the historic feel of the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. But in 1868, when the former Long Island Historical Society (LIHS)...
From the Vault: Ruby's Bar
Ally
November 13, 2023
This From the Vault post was originally written by Julie May and published on May 13, 2013 by the Brooklyn Historical Society. To see the latest Photo of the Week entries, visit the Brooklynology blog home, or subscribe to our Center for Brooklyn History newsletter. This Photo of the Week was originally written and published by the Brooklyn Historical Society, so some terms and links may be out of date. To see the latest Photo of the Week entries, visit the Brooklynology blog home, or subscribe to the Center for Brooklyn History...
Opening the Pocket Doors: A Stained Glass Mystery
Nicole Font
November 6, 2023
If you've visited the Othmer Library, you might have noticed the large stained glass lunettes (arched windows) on the gallery level. These are original to the space, but did you know there used to be more stained glass features throughout the building? Similar lunettes, faintly visible in the photo below, once adorned the Great Hall. More obscure is the stained glass screen at the rear...
May the Library Be With You
Dee Bowers
October 30, 2023
The year is 1977. You're obsessed with the best movie you've ever seen in your life, Star Wars. Of course you want to dress as the movie's hero, Luke Skywalker, for Halloween. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of Star Wars costumes everywhere, as retailers scrambled to catch up with the movie's unforeseen popularity. So you pull out your galoshes and utility belt to get that perfect...
Opening the Pocket Doors: A Room of (Our) Own
Katherine Sorresso, Leon Levy Senior Processing Archivist
October 23, 2023
If you were to go up to the third floor of 128 Pierrepont and walk to the doors that read “Gina Ingoglia Weiner Gallery” and peer through the windows, you would see a room that currently holds a portion of the Center for Brooklyn History’s collections in neat rows of archival boxes. But this room was not always utilized for storage; prior to a storage room, it was used as an exhibit...
National Pasta Day
Sarah Quick
October 16, 2023
Did you know that October 17th is National Pasta Day? According to Italy Magazine, there are approximately 350 different types of pasta, including a personal favorite, macaroni. These curved, bouncy little tubes are the perfect vehicle for a variety of sauces and cheeses or eaten alone with butter and garlic. If you lived in Brooklyn...
In 2023 Brooklyn Public Library, along with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated ®, Eta Omega Omega Chapter and the family of Lucille Cole Thomas commissioned a portrait of Dr. Thomas by Charles Edward Williams for prominent display in the Library’s Trustees Room. This public recognition of Dr. Thomas’s legacy serves to encourage the next generation of library leaders to strive for the same exceptional public service, unparalleled trust and goodwill that she brought to every aspect of her life. Dr. Lucille Cole Thomas served as a Trustee of Brooklyn Public Library from 1993-2019 and was...
Black Masons in Brooklyn: an Indomitable Brotherhood
Deborah Tint
October 10, 2023
I became interested in the subject of Freemasonry after happening upon several pictures of African American Masons in our Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs. I have...
Halloween Inspiration
Liza Katz
October 10, 2023
Tis the season to get your Halloween costumes ready! Need inspiration? Perhaps this haunting Photo of the Week can assist. Here we have six children dressed as what appear to be bears, bunnies, and…perhaps baby birds? Shrubbery? Stumps? Whatever they are, we hope they inspire you. This image is believed to have been taken during the 1910s at the Gregg Chapel at 190 4th Avenue. The...
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The Blessing of Brooke the Office Cat
Griffin, Alice
October 2, 2023
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...
From the Vault: Transformation and Discovery
Kevina Tidwell, Center for Brooklyn History
September 25, 2023
This From the Vault post was originally written by Julie May (who loves the fall) and published on October 1, 2014 by the Brooklyn Historical Society. To see the latest Photo of the Week entries, visit the Brooklynology blog home, or subscribe to our Center for Brooklyn History newsletter. As we should expect of our...
Prospect Park Zoo
Ally
September 18, 2023
Today's Photo of the Week is from the Daniel Berry Austin collection. Austin was an amateur photographer whose subjects often included farms and landscapes. This photo, of one of the buffalo's at the Prospect Park Zoo, was taken in 1902. The Prospect Park Zoo opened in 1890. At the time it was known as The Menagrie. Of the original facilities in the park, the Deer Paddock, located near the present Carousel, was...
Opening the Pocket Doors: Get Out Your Camera!
Nicole Font
September 12, 2023
Clams, anyone? In celebration of the 75th anniversary of its founding, the Long Island Historical Society (LIHS) sponsored a photo contest geared toward Long Island’s students. Dozens of private and public high schools from all four counties in Long Island (Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk) were invited to participate. LIHS specifically requested student involvement because the board...
I Married the Widow of the Man Who Shot Your Horse
Kevina Tidwell, Center for Brooklyn History
September 5, 2023
A researcher wrote to me a few months back, seeking to fact check a piece of romantic Civil War hearsay. * He had heard of a promise made on the battlefield between two soldiers of Brooklyn’s 14th Regiment at the second battle of Bull Run in August, 1862. Quartermaster Sargeant Alexander Barnie Jr. was said to have vowed to the mortally wounded Lieutenant Josiah M. Grumman to marry...
Park Slope's Colorful Past
Dee Bowers
September 4, 2023
Today's Photo of the Week shows one block of Park Place looking noticeably different than it does today. Several of the classic nineteenth century brownstone rowhouses on this block are painted not-so-classic colors, with blue, yellow, and mint green all lining up next to the traditional reddish brown of the leftmost house. A bright red convertible in the foregorund brings another...
These Homes are for the Birds
Deborah Tint
August 28, 2023
In spring of 1916 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle posted a challenge to the children of Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties: make a birdhouse for the birds of Long Island.
Opening the Pocket Doors: Save the Clock Tower!
Katherine Sorresso, Leon Levy Senior Processing Archivist
August 21, 2023
What time is it? Unfortunately, if you were to take a look at the clock tower at the top of 128 Pierrepont, you would not get a reliable answer. Part of the original design by George B. Post, the clock tower has been a part of the building since its construction between the years of 1878 and 1881....
The George Aptecker Collection
Sarah Quick
August 14, 2023
Today's Photo of the Week looks at an image from the George Aptecker collection. Aptecker was a photographer and diarist who photographed street scenes and portraits in and around New York City. He was a frequent contributor to U.S. Camera Magazine, Camera 35 Magazine, and Modern Photography Magazine. He also exhibited his work at the Village Camera Club, Underground Gallery, and the Metropolitan Museum of...
Telephone Booth: From the Vaults
Ally
August 7, 2023
This From the Vault post was originally written by Tess Colwell and published on October 4, 2017 by the Brooklyn Historical Society. To see the latest Photo of the Week entries, visit the Brooklynology blog home, or subscribe to our Center for Brooklyn History newsletter. In the not-so-distant past, telephone booths could be seen on...
New York City History Day
Sonya
August 1, 2023
Last June, 30 students from New York City participated in National History Day, a contest for Middle and High School students held at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. After months of hard work crafting original historical research projects and competing in multiple contests, they were selected from over 500,000 students who competed internationally. The projects, all connected to the theme – Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas – ranged in topic and presentation. From performances examining the visionary of David Sarnoff and his impact on television; to papers examining...
International Lifeguard Appreciation Day
Liza Katz
July 31, 2023
Celebrate International Lifeguard Appreciation Day (July 31) with this Photo of the Week, which ran in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle on August 20th, 1951. The original caption reads “Maxie, the lifeguard at the Infants Home of Brooklyn, whistles while he works.” The accompanying blurb continues, saying, “When it comes to expert protection of life, leave it to four-year-old Maxie. He is the...
Cumberland Street Hospital's magnet
Griffin, Alice
July 24, 2023
Is this modern art or Cumberland Street Hopital's 500-pound, $280 electric magnet? This Photo of the Week, originally published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in April 1924, shows a demonstration of the magnet's considerable power: "when plugged into an ordinary electric socket it can lift a steel door key from a hand 12 inches below." While this is an impressive display, the magnet was actually meant...
Opening the Pocket Doors: A Peek Inside the Vault
Nicole Font
July 17, 2023
This week’s photo of the week takes us on a journey into the depths of the Long Island Historical Society (LIHS) building. In the cellar, nestled opposite the crawl space and underneath the stairs, is where one would find the LIHS vault. The safe door, pictured here, was installed after the introduction of the elevator in 1937. The room was lit by a single lighting fixture in the center of...
Remembering Summer 2020
Dee Bowers
July 10, 2023
Three years ago this summer, the streets of Brooklyn, like the streets of cities all across the country, erupted in Black Lives Matter protests in response to the murder of George Floyd along with so many others at the hands of the police. As in years past, the area around Brooklyn's Central library became a gathering point for protesters. Then newly part of the...
Happy Fourth of July
Kevina Tidwell, Center for Brooklyn History
July 3, 2023
Today's photo of fireworks double exposed over a sherbet sky comes from the photographer Otto Dreschmeyer. Dreschmeyer was a resident of Ridgewood (briefly Brooklyn, once and currently Queens) and the son of German immigrants, about whom very little is known. Dreschmeyer was an amateur photographer who captured the kinds of images many of us have on our photo rolls today: parades, cats, and fireworks. Have...
Bookplates: Explanation and Inspiration
Sarah Quick
June 29, 2023
A bookplate is a label attached to the inside cover of a book, usually with the owner's name or initials, sometimes following the Latin phrase “ex libris” which translates to “from the books of.” Each label is unique to its owner, a way of announcing to the world, "This is mine!" A label that we would recognize as a modern bookplate has origins in late 15th century Germany. One of the first examples is this small hand-colored woodcut print depicting an angel holding a shield, which appears in books from the library of scholar and priest Hilprand Brandenburg (1442-1514). By...
Brooklyn Fire Headquarters
Griffin, Alice
June 26, 2023
This From the Vault post was originally written by Dan Brenner and published on June 5, 2019 by the Brooklyn Historical Society. To see the latest Photo of the Week entries, visit the Brooklynology blog home, or subscribe to our Center for Brooklyn History newsletter. In 1892, the Brooklyn Fire Department opened its headquarters at 365...
Opening the Pocket Doors: Humble Beginnings at the Hamilton
Katherine Sorresso, Leon Levy Senior Processing Archivist
June 19, 2023
When the Long Island Historical Society was founded in 1863, its founding members had grand ideas to house a library and host lectures but did not yet have their own building. The society’s permanent residence did not begin construction until 1878, eventually being completed in 1881. So where was the Long...
My Parents’ Wedding Photo
Larry Racioppo
June 13, 2023
We never had much artwork in our home. The visual centerpiece of our living room was a symmetrical arrangement of three framed photographs: my parents’ hand oiled color wedding portrait in the center, flanked by the black and white high school graduation photos of me and my younger brother Robert. My parents, Carmella and Anthony Racioppo, displayed this same wedding portrait in each of their three Brooklyn apartments. I grew up seeing it every day. As I learned about photography, I realized what a good photograph it was: a professionally lighted studio portrait taken with a Century view...
Brooklyn Army Terminal
Sarah Quick
June 12, 2023
Today’s Photo of the Week shows the interior of the Brooklyn Army Terminal (BAT), a sprawling complex spanning 95 acres on the Sunset Park waterfront. Designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1919, it was the largest military supply base in the United States. In this photo, we can see supply trains and balconies, which allowed cranes to access cargo from any floor. BAT also served as headquarters for the New York Port...
When Disco Was King
Ally
June 5, 2023
For this week's Photo of the Week we are rolling back the clock to 1980 and we're strapping on our skates for a cruise around the dance floor of the Empire Roller Disco on Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights. The indoor rink could accommodate 2,500 skaters and was reportedly so crowded that "if you fell, you didn't fall." In February of 1980 Patrick D. Pagnano, the street photographer, was hired by Forbes Magazine to capture that moment. “It...
A Horse-Drawn Toilet
Liza Katz
May 30, 2023
This Photo of the Week* highlights what at first seems to be a perfectly ordinary horse-drawn carriage. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the team of six is not drawing a carriage, but rather a toilet.
Penny-farthing
Griffin, Alice
May 22, 2023
This From the Vault post was originally written by Tess Colwell and published on June 14, 2017 by the Brooklyn Historical Society. To see the latest Photo of the Week entries, visit the Brooklynology blog home, or subscribe to our Center for Brooklyn History newsletter. The photo of the week depicts Eddie Tepper posing with a penny-farthing bicycle in 1886. This is...
I recently finished processing the library correspondence sub-series of the Brooklyn Historical Society’s (BHS) Institutional archive, which contains almost all the mail library staff received from 1863 to the mid-1990s. There are reference questions, membership acceptances and resignations, correspondence to and from other institutions, RSVPs, and much more. Looking at these records provides insight into the activities...
Olives on the Avenue
Dee Bowers
May 8, 2023
Today's Photo of the Week takes us to a Brooklyn institution, Sahadi's on Atlantic Avenue. This photograph of bins of olives and grains inside the store taken by Jim Kalett circa 1983 is similar to one published in Brooklyn...and How It Got That Way by David McCullough, for which Kalett was the photographer. The book notes that the western end of Atlantic Avenue became "...
Happy May Day from this Brighton Beach Fishmonger
Kevina Tidwell, Center for Brooklyn History
May 1, 2023
George Cohen, a Bronx-born photographer, donated a selection of his photographs of 1980s Brighton Beach to the Brooklyn Public Library in 2013. On this May Day qua International Workers' Day, I found a worker cutting a fish for sale in Brighton Beach in 1987. This fishmonger reminded me of my father, who worked as a fish cutter in Ohio in the 1980s. He made frequent trips to New York where he...
