Blog posts by Nicole

Black and white photo showing the entrance to the New York State Exhibit and Amphitheatre Building, with a classic car parked on the left and stacks of materials in front.

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors – World of Tomorrow

Nicole

[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…

Child wearing headphones while holding a green teddy bear.

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: Here’s to Baseball!

Nicole

[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…

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: Voices of Brooklyn

Nicole

[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…

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: Adopt-A-Block

Nicole

[Daphney Desir (left) and Uchenna Agbim (right) rehousing land conveyances], ca. 1989. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
In the 1990s, the librarians at the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) dedicated significant efforts to implementing measures aimed at preserving and enhancing access to the Society’s collections. Several of these initiatives took the form of cataloging projects, many of which spanned multiple years and were funded by state and government agencies. By the…

Opening the Pocket Doors: A History of Education at the Brooklyn Historical Society

Nicole

[Kids in Museum], ca. 1990. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
Education departments play a pivotal role in museum settings. Through teacher workshops, student and adult programs, guided tours, and more, museum educators are tasked with creating accessible educational opportunities, facilitating open conversations, reducing barriers to participation, and ultimately ensuring that the museum experience is meaningful for all patrons. One of the record groups that I was most…

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: A Stained Glass Mystery

Nicole

[Stained glass lunette in the Othmer Library], circa 1990s. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
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…

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: Get Out Your Camera!

Nicole

Ruth Johnson, [Long Island Roadside Eating Stand], 1938. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
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…

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: A Peek Inside the Vault

Nicole

[Vault Door Closed, Historic Structure Report], 1993. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
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…

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: The Trails and Trials of Miss Edna Huntington

Nicole

[Edna Huntington in a canoe], 1935. Edna Huntington papers and photographs, ARC.044. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
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…

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: The Women’s Committee of the Long Island Historical Society

Nicole

[Women’s Committee Fashion Show], 1968. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, ARC 288. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
To celebrate Women's History Month, this week's photo takes us back to 1968 for a fashion show presented by the Women's Committee of the Long Island History Society (LIHS). The Women’s Committee formed in 1959 to further the objectives of LIHS through fundraising and planning social events. Its creation was spearheaded by Maud E. Dillard, who served as its president from 1959 to 1964. Following her term,…

Opening the Pocket Doors: What Past Exhibitions Reveal

Nicole

"Long Island Treasures Preserved in Brooklyn," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 27, 1900. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Throughout its 157-year history, the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) executed over 150 exhibitions. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working to process the Exhibits and Special Projects portion of BHS’s institutional archive. To wrap up this part of the project, this blog post highlights the exhibits that stand out as significant in BHS history, particularly those that demonstrate how the society's values…

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: Ba Da Dao/Sunset Park Chinatown History Project

Nicole

[New Neighbors Exhibit Opening], June 1996. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
Today’s photo of the week shows a moment from the opening of New Neighbors: Sunset Park's Chinese Community in June 1996. The event featured lion dancers, shadow puppets, food, games, and calligraphy workshops. In this photo, taken in the Othmer library, lions stand beside a shadow puppet theater as an excited audience (not pictured) waits for the play to begin. In 1992, The Brooklyn Historical…

POTW: Opening the Pocket Doors: Processing Brooklyn Historical Society’s Institutional Records

Nicole

[Man outside of the Long Island Historical Society], undated. Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Records, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
The week’s photo of the week shows an unidentified man standing in front of our landmark building located at 128 Pierrepont Street. Designed by architect George B. Post and built in 1878-81, the four-story Queen Anne-style building features ornamentation made from locally produced terra cotta. For over 150 years, staff in this building have worked to preserve, provide access to, and…