Blog posts by Michelle

Oil portrait of an older man in a black suit sitting in a chair holding law book in his lap

Lots of Lott: Examining Portraits of John A. Lott

Michelle

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…

Black and white photograph of a movie theater marquee over a sidewalk with three people walking further down the block.

POTW: Coal on the Marquee

Michelle

[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…

Multiple exposure color photograph of neon and electric signs at night

POTW: Seeing Double

Michelle

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…

Black and white photograph of the Brooklyn waterfront facing the East River with dozens of train cars and empty rail tracks

POTW: New York's Floating Cars

Michelle

[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…

Black and white photograph of a metal cylinder covered in floral patterns being worked by a pair of hands with a small hammer

POTW: Hello, Doily!

Michelle

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…