[Librarians at fireplace], 1915?, BPL_0383. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Christmas tree lots are fragrancing streetcorners, the sun is setting before 5, and a chill is driving us all into our homes where we light candles and settle in for the season. These librarians at Stone Avenue Library's gorgeous Carnegie building have set the perfect winter scene: a roaring fireplace, lit tapers, and coniferous adornments. Look at their perfectly trendy hair, some bobbed and some pinned up in a bob style for the…
The Center for Brooklyn History is home to a wide variety of portraits of Brooklyn residents. The walls of the Othmer Library include a handful of our portrait paintings—serious-looking oil on canvas images of wealthy 19th-century men and women dressed to impress.
Portraits on the west wall of the Othmer Library. Photo taken by Michelle Kennedy 2024.
Though most of these paintings were donated in the years between the founding of the Long Island Historical Society in 1863 to the early decades of the 20th century, the…
[Antique LIHS doorplate and knob], 2000. Renovation photographs, Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC. 288. Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library.
There are so many details in the décor and architecture throughout 128 Pierrepont Street. Some of the more noticeable ones immediately pop out to visitors, like the stained glass laylight and windows or the busts on the façade. But some of the intricate details are so small that you would easily miss them if you didn’t know where to look. A Center for…
[David Campanella] DODG_0045 [1950?] Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle collection has a large number of photographs concerning all aspects of the Brooklyn Dodgers: players on the field, in the locker room, at summer camp, crowds of celebrating fans, and all manner of general horsing around. Among them we also see Dodger families pictured. Today’s Photo of the Week features a Dodger family member, and a wonderful companion image. Our…
[1831 St. John's Place], 1945, PORT_0680; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today's Photo of the Week looks at 1831 St. John's Place, where the owners were supporting Kings County District Attorney William O'Dwyer in the 1945 mayoral race. O'Dwyer was elected the 100th mayor of New York City later that year, and after two terms was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico by President Truman. Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online…
[Coney Island Carousel], 1969, HERZ_0022; Irving I. Hertzberg photograph collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today's Photo of the Week is by Irving Hertzberg depicting the B&B Carousel. Built in 1906 it incorporates the work of four distinct masters of Coney Island style craftsmanship and artistry: William F. Mangels, Marcus Charles Illions, Charles Carmel, and August Wolfinger and is the centerpiece of the Steeplechase Plaza and a signature attraction at Luna Park in Coney Island.…
Infant incubators as amusement park attraction? Browsing through the digitized Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks, I saw a few photographs of the exterior and interior of an old German farmhouse-style building. At the bottom of each photo, Armbruster wrote: "Infant Incubators Dreamland, 1904."
Infant Incubators Dreamland, 1904, V1974.022.5.115. Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
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[Othmer Library, Long Island Historical Society], circa 1938. Long Island Historical Society photographs, v1974.031.65. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Welcome to the Othmer Library! The room you see pictured here is today known as the Othmer Library. It is original to the building when it was constructed for the Long Island Historical Society from 1878-81. The library was only open to members, where they could casually read and browse the stacks. Once the lecture hall was converted into a…
[Albemarle Theatre], [1940?], gelatin silver print, THEA_0003; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Opening to the public in 1921, the Albemarle Theatre at 973 Flatbush Avenue was designed to feature both "photo-plays" and vaudeville acts. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle predicted the theater's nearly 3,000-person capacity and reasonable ticket prices would "...prove magnets for the lovers of nitra attractions", referring to nitrate film base.The Eagle would be proved correct: the…
Storm of October 11, 1896, 1896, scrapbook, V1974.022.4.164; Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
In this Photo of the Week, we remember the storm that hit the south Brooklyn coast on October 11, 1896. To quote the Brooklyn Eagle, it was “a Remarkable Atmospheric Disturbance” that buried the old Brighton Beach Race Course under tons of sand, cut new channels to Sheepshead Bay, and left “Wierd [sic] Scenes Along the Beach.”One of the remarkable scenes along…
Garbage barge at Barren Island, 1910, NEIG_2117; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
This week's photo of the week takes us to a tugboat and garbage barge at Barren Island in 1910. I could not find the associated article with this Brooklyn Daily Eagle photograph, but this could have been meant to illustrate a proposed project to develop Jamaica Bay as a harbor extending "from the southeasterly border of Barren Island to a point some 7,000 feet east of the Long Island…
A little over two years ago, my colleague Katherine Sorresso and I began processing the institutional records of the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), now the Center for Brooklyn History at the Brooklyn Public Library. These records document the Society's activities from its founding as the Long Island Historical Society in 1863 until its merger with the Brooklyn Collection in 2020. The collection includes materials produced by various departments and records from individuals in leadership roles within BHS. The earlier materials consist of analog formats – ledgers, scrapbooks, correspondence…
Mrs. Shirley Chisholm, Key Woman of the Year. Detail from Key Women, Inc. Brooklyn Branch Annual Reception program, September 15, 1963. Irwin Lutzky collection, 1987.006, Box 1, Folder 4; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
In exactly two months, on November 30th, it will be the 100th birthday of Brooklyn's own Shirley Chisholm, who was the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, representing Bedford-Stuyvesant. Chisholm was also the first Black candidate for a major-party…
[Denise Joseph (left) and Robert Kolinski (right) at the welcome desk], 1990, arc.202_box16_065. Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection, ARC 202. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
This week’s photo of the week shows Denise Joseph and Robert Kolinski greeting visitors to the Brooklyn Historical Society. I recently came across an interview, which features this photo, in the January-March 1990 issue of the Brooklyn Historical Society’s newsletter. In the interview, Kolinski, the first Visitor Services…
[Garden at Flatbush Branch Library], Summer 1932, BPL_0721; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's photo of the week shows the garden of Brooklyn Public Library's Flatbush branch in the summer of 1932. You can see other views of the garden from the same day here.Maura Johnson, a librarian at the Flatbush branch, revived this garden in recent years in collaboration with colleagues and the New York Restoration Project. The library holds regular Accessible Gardening Hours and Open Garden Hours, which you…
Patric Piccione playing with a noise maker. OSOS_0194. [1923?] Our Streets, Our Stories collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today’s photo of the week features little Pat Piccione blowing a noisemaker on a Brooklyn street. His clothing is quaintly old-fashioned to our eyes: a blousy tunic and shorts, complete with gaiters - twice as much clothing as one would expect to see on a modern child. Adding a note of mystery is the shadow silhouette of a woman photographer in dress…
Prospect Branch, circa 1910s, BPL_1117; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
It's back to school time! Today's Photo of the Week shows school children sitting in a reading room at the Prospect Branch of Brooklyn Public Library, a Carnegie library, located at 431 Sixth Avenue. The branch was renamed the Park Slope Branch in 1975. Even back then, kids knew the library was a great place to get their school work done. Just like kids today! Interested in seeing more photos from CBH's collections?…
Here at the Center for Brooklyn History, we collect anything and everything related to Brooklyn history. That includes materials related to our borough's many schools, such as yearbooks and high school newspapers, documenting Brooklyn's long educational history. But did you know we also have artifacts from Brooklyn schools? Brooklynites have shown their school pride in all kinds of ways through the generations, and we collect and document it all, from our broad composite Brooklyn schools collection to collections of material from specific schools or individuals. In honor of Back to School…
Brooklyn Historical Society Staff, circa 1990. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
The academic year is approaching (or, for some of you, has already begun). Which means it’s time to hit the books and start researching! This picture shows staff members of the Brooklyn Historical Society doing some research, although on what we cannot say. It could range from putting together a program to creating a new exhibit to writing an article. Our staff members at…
[Boys at Fort Hamilton cannon], circa 1910, V1981.284.55; Emmanuel House lantern slide collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today’s Photo of the Week shows a group of youngsters posing on the Fort Hamilton cannon, a 116,000-pound Rodman gun at John Paul Jones Park. The cannon was made during the Civil War, but after several failed tests at Fort Hamilton it was deemed unsuitable for combat. After a brief stay in Pennsylvania, it was returned to Brooklyn in 1900 and installed in the park…
When visiting the Center for Brooklyn History today, you enter a vast space that today has been split into various sections. Upon entering, you are immediately greeted by our wonderful Welcome Services team at the front desk, behind which is a segmented wall that showcases upcoming programs. To the left, we have a quaint gift shop. But if you continue into the space, you will see a large room with chairs, tables, and couches. Occasionally, this space will be rearranged for lectures with a small stage and an array of seats. This lecture set up is reminiscent of this room’s original, intended…
This blog post is the first in a series, that is part of a project funded by The Robert David Lion Gardiner foundation to assess and improve access to archival collections in our holdings that relate to Long Island. It was written by Catherine Jonas-Walsh, an assessment archivist working on the project.
This cover page to the guidebook Out on Long Island features the stamp of the Long Island Historical Society, the precursor to the Center for Brooklyn History, and the year it was printed, 1889.
“It is a goodly…
Otto Dreschmeyer, [Night, Coney Island], August 10, 1965, color slide, V1988.12.117. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Have you visited Coney Island this summer? This Photo of the Week is a multiple exposure—created when several exposures are overlaid to create a single image—of amusements along Surf Avenue. Despite the layering of the photograph, many of the brightly lit signs are still legible including Faber's Fascination, the Cavalcade Skooter ride, the Tornado, Nathan's Hot Dogs, and a theater marquee for…
[Collection of oysters attached to a pipe, false teeth, golf ball, and rubber ferrule, belonging to Frank Seerveld of Great South Bay, Long Island], 1938, Brooklyn Daily Eagle collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
This Photo of the Week honors National Oyster Day, August 5, with a slew of images, advertisements, a recipe, and a dispute that document bits of the Brooklyn oyster's story. Many of us have heard the legends of oysters the size of dinner plates (how does one actually go about eating that?), but…
[Bike on Coney Island boardwalk], 1984, V1992.48.21; Anders Goldfarb photographs of Coney Island; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
This week's Photo of the Week features an Anders Goldfarb photograph of the Coney Island boardwalk in 1984. A man with his bike rests in the sun against a wall in the foreground. In the background is not the Cyclone, but the original Thunderbolt, a wooden roller coaster that operated from 1925 to 1982. The Thunderbolt soon became a ruin and the structure was demolished in 2000…
[New York State Exhibit and Amphitheatre Building], 1939. New York World's Fair scrapbook and photographs, V1977.024. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's photo of the week takes us away from Brooklyn to Queens, where we observe the construction of the New York State Exhibit and Amphitheatre Building for the 1939-40 World's Fair. Themed 'World of Tomorrow,' this historic event was held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, from April 30, 1939, to October 26, 1940. The fair…
Sand Street Memorial Church, Henry and Clark Sts. Cradle of Brooklyn Methodism, circa 1900; black and white photographic print, CHUR_507; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, BCMS.0002, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's Photo of the Week spotlights a long-gone church building that once stood at Clark and Henry Streets in Brooklyn Heights. Despite having grown up in this neighborhood and walked by this corner countless times, I had no idea that what is currently a boxy apartment building with the…
Moonlight, Nelson, Walter H., circa 1887, V1972.1.1218. Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, ARC.201. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Tonight's Photo of the Week is a cool evening on the water in 1887 by Walter H. Nelson from our Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection. In this scan the silvery photographic substrate slightly obscures the image. In person, the photograph seems touched with moonlight. Nelson was an amateur photographer about whom little has been written. Aside from…
One of the things I love about archival research is how many senses it activates. The obvious visual delights, tactile sensations, hints of grass and vanilla wafting from the boxes, and the reading room rustle of papers, chairs, and keyboards. Noticeably and rightfully absent is our fifth sense, taste. Archival research has no flavor*, but food is constantly on the minds of many researchers. What were their research subjects eating? What did it taste like? What did their homes smell like while it was cooking? How and where did they source ingredients? These questions are key to understanding…
Brooklyn Historical Society Staff, circa 1990. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.Have you ever felt like this at work? The real question is, what exactly is the person in the photograph feeling and expressing? Why was this photograph taken? To me, this photograph evokes extreme frustration, possibly having to do with their work or with their computer. But to different people, the picture could evoke different emotions, such as exhaustion or perhaps even pain from a headache. Unfortunately, we don’t have any more…
Rutter, E.E. [Coney Island Boardwalk], 1922, RUTT_0247; Edgar E. Rutter photography collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
It's officially summer time so today's Photo of the Week is brought to you by the Edgar E Rutter collection. It is an 8 x 10 print that shows the exterior view of Coney Island beach and the boardwalk under construction. Image includes a portion of the amusement park in the distant background. Inscription reads: "General view looking east from Steeplechase Pier."Edgar E.…
Library festival, BPL_0440. 1968. Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs
Summer is here, bringing long lazy days with time for relaxed reading at the beach and parks. This photo shows a group of youngsters attending a library festival at the Bushwick Branch of Brooklyn Public Library in 1968. Every year the library hosts free programs and resources to enrich your summer with reading and cultural activities. See what we have on offer this year on our Summer at the Library page.Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s…
Astronomical observatory/laboratory, Flatbush. [191-?] NEIG_0750. Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs.
Close on the heels of the recent excitement around the 2024 solar eclipse, we received an email from one of our readers who was able to expand on what we know about one of our photographs from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle: an astronomical observatory in the back yard of a Flatbush home. (I emphasize astronomical because I found in my research in our Brooklyn Newsstand that the word observatory was often used for observation points on high…
[Freight Trains at the New York Dock Company Docks, Red Hook, Brooklyn], circa 1920, V1973.5.878. Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection, ARC.202. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Before trucks became common, trains carried most American freight over land. In the same era, New York Harbor became the busiest port in the United States — if not one of the busiest in the world. Brooklyn’s (and all of Long Island’s) factories, refineries, and warehouses were only connected via freight rail to…
Bracelet, [1875-1900], M1990.53.6. Fred Hoyt family research collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
This black beaded bracelet is shaped like a coiled snake swallowing its own tail, which is an image known as an ouroboros. The ouroboros symbol can have many meanings, but this one, created during the late 19th century, represents the eternal cycle of life and death. The bracelet’s color, materials, and symbolism identify it as an article of mourning jewelry. Victorian mourning culture was…
This From the Vault post was originally written by Tess Colwell and published on January 9, 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.
Cat named “Lazybones,” circa 1910, V1981.15.182; Ralph Irving Lloyd lantern slides, V1981.15; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
The photo of the week depicts a cat named “Lazybones,”…
[Child wearing headphones], October 1995. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Brooklyn Dodgers' victory over the Yankees in the 1955 World Series, the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) curated PLAY BALL! – an exhibit that told the story of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson. Today’s Photo of the Week captures a moment from the exhibition's opening day festivities, where attendees were invited to participate…
Dina Abdulhadi reading, April 24 2024. Photo: Kevina Tidwell.
“She wrote poetry, she published, she was read, and then she died.” Former Brooklyn poet laureate D. Nurkse spoke those words as an introduction to the poet Enid Dame. Nurkse was one of seven poets who read in the Othmer library last month to a packed room. Each poet selected poems from the Center for Brooklyn History’s library and archives collections and read them in conversation with their own poetry and reflections. Nurkse, in his words on Dame…
The Albertype Co., Northwest Corner Ridge Boulevard and 85th Street, circa 1940; black and white photographic postcard, V1973.4.547; Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection, ARC.202, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's Photo of the Week showcases a beautiful home in Bay Ridge at 8311 Ridge Boulevard. This stunning mansion at the top of a hill is still standing today, though it is located at the corner of 84th Street and Ridge Boulevard, not 85th Street as this postcard states. The house…
Array of noted literary talent, 1960s, gelatin silver print, CBPL_1062. Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
I am reviving, from the vaults, this photo of a major gathering of Brooklyn "literary talent", first featured in this blog about Brooklyn poetry. The original Brooklyn Daily Eagle captions read:"Array of noted literary talent of Brooklyn gathers around folk singer Oscar Brand at the National Library Week Luncheon in the Hotel St. George on Tuesday, April 5. Seated, left…
Entrance to Greenwood Cemetery, [190-?], Brooklyn Postcard collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. The Center for Brooklyn History provides this guide for those researching Green-Wood Cemetery. The Center for Brooklyn History’s holdings include books, photographs, maps, deeds, illustrations, and oral histories. In addition to these materials, researchers are encouraged to browse the collections and other research guides for resources that may be relevant to their work. To make an appointment or ask a question, please contact cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org…
Jules Geller, Royal Lace Paper Works, 1954, gelatin silver print, WORK_0299. Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Mass-produced items can still require the human touch. This Photo of the Week depicts an employee of the Royal Lace Paper Works at 846 Lorimer Street hand-engraving a metal die with intricate floral patterns. Though the dies themselves were manufacturing tools, the skill needed to create them was similar to that needed to engrave fine silver. Each die would…
For the past few years, in pursuit of a new career as an information professional, I have been working towards a master’s degree in library and information science (MLIS) with a concentration in archival studies from the iSchool at the University of Missouri, where I will be graduating in May. My profound passion for libraries and archives stems from the belief that providing access to valuable resources is a fundamental service to the community, especially for those underrepresented individuals whose stories are often overlooked and difficult to discover. As a queer first-generation minority…
Brooklyn Historical Society Staff, circa 1994. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.Did your favorite singer release an album recently and use an image of a card catalog to promote said album? Are you not entirely sure what a card catalog actually is? Not to worry, we are here to explain! Let’s first look at the word catalog: for the purpose of libraries at its most basic level, it is an organized list of books held by a specific library. Prior to cards, library catalogs were recorded in books. But as…
One among a row of boulders in Prospect Park with protest posters showing the faces of Oluwatoyin Salau, Rem'mie Fells, Dominique Jonathan Ferrell and Freddie Carlos Gray Jr. in Prospect Park; BRCP_0039. 2020. Brooklyn Resists community photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
On June 8, 2020, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in Brooklyn, I took a walk in Prospect Park on a shady path across the East Drive from the Vale of Cashmere, notable for a line of large rocks…
[Garfield Place trees], circa 1916; Raymond V. Ingersoll collection (BCMS.0061), Box 13. Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library.
Walking around Park Slope is especially lovely in the Spring as the trees bloom to create a canopy over the sidewalks. One of the neighborhood's most beautiful streets, Garfield Place, has Raymond V. Ingersoll to thank. Ingersoll served as Brooklyn Parks Commissioner from 1914 to 1917, making tree planting around the borough a top priority for his administration. Garfield Place…
In the 1880s, two New Yorkers burst into the competitive scene of cloth book cover design: Margaret Nielson Armstrong (1867–1944), a Manhattanite, and Alice Cordelia Morse (1863–1961), a Brooklynite. They became two of the major forces behind the art's golden age, which lasted from about 1880 to 1910. Fourteen of their works are on display at the Center for Brooklyn History, now through June 2024.
Left: Van Dyke, Henry. Days Off. Scribner's Sons, 1908. Cover design by Margaret Armstrong. Right: Ford, Paul Leicester. Tattle…
Bklyn Eye & Ear Hospital, [189-?], photographic print, V1972.1.804; Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library.
Beware letting a photographer document your medical procedures lest it end up in a future form of communication we have yet to imagine. This Photo of the Week, taken around 1890, is one of five scenes captured inside the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital around 1890, possibly for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Here a doctor administers anesthesia to a…
[Voices of Brooklyn performance], 1998. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
On January 1, 1898, the city of Brooklyn officially became a borough and joined Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx to form New York City. To mark the centennial of this event, the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) created an original theatrical production titled Voices of Brooklyn. Voices of Brooklyn is a 40-minute dramatic performance that tells the…
Carpenters, 1952, Gelatin silver print, SWEL_0721; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Who knew shopwork classes could be so fun! This week's Photo of the Week depicts (from left to right) 6-year-olds Richard Steiner, Augustus Jackson, and Nicholas Parese working on some carpentry projects in May 1952. This class was hosted by Willoughby House, a settlement house founded in 1901, which provided art, drama, and athletic workshops for Brooklyn kids and young people in…
