Boy with horseshoe crab, 1990, COHEN_0180; George Cohen photograph collection; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Here at CBH, we are the first to admit that while we have several collections relating to gay history, our digital collections sorely lack in queer visual representation. I even sought photos of the famous February House, and found only photographs of the block to its east.Instead, I must horseshoehorn in this photograph of a crab and his tormentor. In addition to Pride Month, June is horseshoe crab mating season…
Down Mexico Way, 1946, DODG_0848, Brooklyn Daily Eagle Photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
In the present day, thirty percent of the Major League Baseball players are of Latino and Hispanic descent. Though it’s undeniable that the Latin invasion in baseball changed the way the sport has been played in the United States, this was not always the case. As baseball season is underway (Go Mets!), I wanted to examine the legacy of Luis Olmo, the first Puerto Rican player for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the second…
[24 Middagh Street], 1922, V1974.32.72; Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks (ARC.022), Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today’s Photo of the Week looks at 24 Middagh Street, the “Queen of Brooklyn Heights” and star of a recent New York Times article Bragging Rights in Brooklyn Heights. The article looks at two properties (24 Middagh Street and 25 Cranberry Street) and their claim to be the oldest homes in Brooklyn Heights. 25 Cranberry Street underwent a “peel-back” renovation several years ago to maintain…
Ragpicker, [187-?], BRAI_0219; George Bradford Brainerd photograph collection; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Rag-and-bone men, also called ragpickers or rag dealers, were poor laborers who gathered business and household scraps and sold them for recycling and reuse. They gathered rags, glass, bones, metal, and other scrap and waste products from the streets a resold them in bulk to merchants. This work exists today in New York and around the world, under different names.Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s…
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, “Making Brownstones Bloom” flyer with “Tulips” by Jacques Hnizdovsky, 1985, color ink on paper; Brooklyn Historical Society ephemera collection, ARC.272; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's Photo of the Week is a bright flyer advertising a day-long educational program at Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) with information sessions about maintaining a garden in the city. A stunning floral illustration - "Tulips" by Ukrainian-born artist Jacques Hnizdovsky - just about pops off the page, with its bold…
Photo credit: Gregg Richards, Brooklyn Public Library
There are three things you'll see immediately when you walk through the front doors of CBH: our friendly Visitor Services team; the Shop with its Brooklyn-inspired gifts; and the wall above the access ramp leading to the Othmer Library.It's a large wall that's undergone a big revamp as it's now home to 20 framed works from the collection. We call it the Salon Wall since it's hung salon-style, with the pieces tightly packed and having a variety of subjects, sizes, and frame styles. The idea…
Students sketching at botanic garden, 2008, DODIN_0134. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Very quickly spring is upon us in earnest and this week’s POTW gives us a spring view from 18 years ago, but eternal.We have five college-age students seated on the ground sketching at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. We know the season because we can see in the flower bed behind the students large purple ball flowers, the spring blooming Allium (ornamental onions), a little past their prime. The herring bone paving and the widthe of the…
Mrs. Jackie Robinson, 1952, Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier by playing on the field for the opening day of the season for the Brooklyn Dodgers. As we approach the 79th anniversary of Robinson shattering one of America’s most blatant examples of segregation in sports, this POTW will focus on Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson’s wife and partner. This image, from 1952, features Robinson accompanied by a friend from Chicago, as they root…
East Flatbush, [198-?], SHBZ_0039; Jamel Shabazz photograph collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Happy National Beer Day! April 7 marks the passing of the Cullen-Harrison Act in 1933, which made the sale of low alcohol beer legal during prohibition (the 21st Amendment was not passed until December that same year). And what better low-ABV beer than a refreshing can of Schafer's? The F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company was founded in 1842 by two German immigrants in New York City. The brewery was based in…
Content note: This story contains strong language, descriptions of violence, and descriptions of racism.This is the third part in a series, A Hanging in Brooklyn. Read part one here. Read part two here.
[Collage by author]: [Brain cross section], Edward Anthony Spitzka and Edward Charles Spitzka papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.; [Folder titled “Hangman’s Bungling”], Edward Anthony Spitzka and Edward Charles Spitzka papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Newspaper coverage is the only readily available…
[Safe, sound trophies], 1946, CRIM_0019; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
In the months following World War II, thousands of GIs returned home with serviceable weapons kept as souvenirs. In 1946, the Alcohol Tax Unit for the Eastern District launched a campaign to collect these guns and render them non-serviceable, free of charge. Once inoperable, the weapons could be returned to their owners as legal war trophies.The program was popular, with guns of all types including rifles, pistols,…
Twins with matching hairstyles buying flowers, circa 1978, V2008.013.80. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Inspired by warming temperatures and seeing the first early spring shoots peek up from the ground I went in search of flowers. My search uncovered a gem from the Lucille Fornasieri Gold collection for our Photo of the Week - a bouquet to tide us over until the bulbs burst forth.I love this photograph for its composition, which seems accidental luck, but is in truth a result of the photographer’s speedy and…
Peter Max, Brooklyn Yellow Pages cover, 1970-71, color ink on paper; Brooklyn City and Telephone Directories, BCMS.0064; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's Photo of the Week is the brightly colored cover of the 1970-71 Brooklyn yellow pages published by the New York Telephone Company. I was searching through our directories hoping to answer a reference question about a Brooklyn business when I was stunned to find that several 1970s volumes have gorgeous covers created by artists. Recognizing this style of art from…
[Story hour with Dr. Seuss books], 1959, CBPL_1223; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today's Photo of the Week is from 1959 and depicts a librarian reading a book to children. But not just any book because today is March 2 and that is the birthday of Mr. Theodor Seuss Geisel - or as he's better known, Dr. Seuss. I suspect this is a copy of The Lorax but it's hard to tell. Mr. Geisel was born March 2, 1904, in Springfield Massachusetts to Theodor Robert Geisel and Henrietta Seuss Geisel. He attended Dartmouth College…
[Save Franklin Avenue Shuttle meeting flyer], 1982; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 8, Folder 1; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
On July 23, 1981, the Transit Workers Union released a statement from John E. Lawe, President of Local 100: "The Authority must be stopped on its suicidal path to disaster." ([TWU news release], 1981; Eastern Parkway Coalition records, 2007.016, Box 7, Folder 21; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.)What was President Lawe railing against? The Metropolitan Transit…
[Woman wearing Chinese costume], 195?, CBPL_0574; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Happy Year of the Horse! Today’s Photo of the Week features a woman wearing an elaborate Chinese costume standing in front of exhibition cases at Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library. Brooklyn Public Library will be kicking off Lunar New Year with a series of programs featuring arts and crafts, painting and calligraphy, and musical performances. Find out more on our assortment of programs to commemorate the holiday!…
[Members of the 367th Infantry Regiment], circa 1918, Walter E.D. Robinson papers, box A0071, folder 2; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
February is Black History Month! Today, we’re celebrating Black Veterans with a look at the Walter E.D. Robinson papers. Robinson was born in Bed-Stuy in 1893 and attended Erasmus Hall High School, where he was involved with several clubs, including the Smart Set Athletic Club.In 1918, Robinson became one of the approximately 350,000 Black Americans to serve in World War I. According to The…
Cover and page from Charles (Karl) Blieffert photograph album, 2015.010. 1900-1917.
Today’s POTW comes from a collection I discovered when it was requested by a researcher. It is one of the many at CBH that is not digitized so can only be appreciated in person.I was originally struck by the album because it is constructed in a way I have never seen, with multiple photographs attached to a page by tabs which hold them in offset stacks, like shingles on a roof. It is an ingenious way to store quite a few photographs overlapping in a compact way in…
"Battle Ground of Golden Hill", January 1910, V1974.022.9.017, Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's photo of the week strays across the river to the site of the Battle of Golden Hill at 122 William Street in Manhattan. The image was clipped in 1910 by Eugene Armbruster and presumably taken around that time. Armbruster was a German immigrant who lived in Bushwick and worked at the H. Henkel Cigar Box Manufacturing Company. Later, Armbruster became an amateur photographer…
Recently I've been going through some boxes of genealogical files and manuscripts in order to create a finding aid for the material. Most of these are rather dry listings of vital statistics or pages of research notes. But when I came across a box labeled "Ancestry of Henry Clifton, Jr.", what I found inside was altogether different.A crumbling binder held an assortment of typed and handwritten pages, as well as scrapbooked ephemera, correspondence, and photographs. The manuscript was prepared by Adele Rollins Miller (Clifton) for her son Henry Clifton, Jr. There are sections for her ancestry…
Post_0047. Bookmobile in Canarsie. Brooklyn Postcard collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today's Photo of the Week is Brooklyn Public Library's very own bookmobiles. This image comes from our Postcard Collection and it depicts the bookmobile, the mobile unit that used to bring books to patrons throughout the borough. This photo is from Canarsie and is dated from the 1950s. Brooklyn Public Library still has a bookmobile program - three in fact - that bring books, programs, and technology all over Brooklyn.…
Ideal for Downtown Traffic, 1954, gelatin silver print, DEPT_0034; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, gelatin silver print, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Did you get what your heart desired under the Christmas tree? Throughout this holiday season, people were clamoring for Santa Claus to leave trends such as Stanley Quencher cups or Labubus in their stocking. This Photo of the Week taps into what folks were hoping to find under their tree during the 1954 Christmas season: the 1955 Ford Thunderbird. On display in the…
The Union Porcelain Works and Wares, The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N.Y., from 1683 to 1884, by Henry Reed Stiles, 1832-1909, editor, p.763
Some years ago, while researching a blog on Henry Reed Stiles, a prominent historian of Brooklyn, I was looking through the omnibus he edited with the help of many subject experts on Brooklyn history and the illustration above caught my eye. The book, published a short time before the…
All smiles, 1951, gelatin silver print, CONE_0280; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
This Photo of the Week captures the fresh and delightfully-eerie grin of “Funny Face” as his iconic pearly whites get a fresh coat of paint from Tom “Skippy” Campagna in 1951. This grinning gentleman was introduced to Brooklyn in 1897 as the mascot of Steeplechase Park in Coney Island. His name is a play on the park’s tagline “Steeplechase - The Funny Place.” Interested in seeing more photos from…
[Group portrait, cropped], circa 2000; Brooklyn Arts Council Folk Arts collection, CBHM.0002, box 74, folder 2, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Thanks to a generous grant from the New York State Archives Documentary Heritage Program, previously inaccessible audiovisual materials from the Brooklyn Arts Council Folk Arts collection are now available to researchers! One of the programs included in this project is "Praise in the Park: Musical Expressions of Faith." Held annually from 1999 to 2002 at the Prospect Park Music…
[Emma Bullet at desk], 1911, gelatin silver print, EAGL_0306; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Emma Bullet, seated at her desk in this week's Photo of the Week, was the Brooklyn Eagle's Paris correspondent. Looks glamorous, no?Emma Bullet was born in Belfort, France in 1842 and moved to New York with her mother in 1849. She stayed with a family in Brooklyn for a few months until she and her mother again relocated, this time to Cincinnati, Ohio. Bullet attended school in Cincinnnati, eventually becoming a French teacher at…
National Title Guaranty Co., 1929. BANK_0191, Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Center for Brooklyn History
Most days on my way to work, I pass a building which is a beautiful exemplar of the Art Deco style. The façade looks at first glance to be abstract, but on closer examination its symbols emerge - warriors in spartan helmets with large fanned crests, and fierce geometric eagles.
Photograph of 185 Montague Street by Deborah Tint, 2022.
Photograph of 185…
Verna Photographers, [Employees at Central Library], black and white photographic print, circa 1950s, CBPL_0694; Brooklyn Eagle photographs, BCMS.0002; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
As part of the current exhibition at the Central Library, Department of Transformation: Letters for the Future, library cardholders are able "to borrow a selection of works by the artists and collectives in the exhibition." Inspired by this project, this Photo of the Week shows a different art-lending program that started at BPL in 1950.…
Boys' Thanksgiving, 187-?, BRAI_0309, George Bradford Brainerd photograph collection, Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library.
Though today's photo of the week has "Thanksgiving" in the title provided by the photographer, the events pictured in the photo are, at first glance, mysterious. Boys surround a group of people dressed in women's dresses, wearing masks and hoods, as they all traipse down a residential street. Some damage to the negative or the print adds a graphic addition to the upper right corner. The…
Content note: This story contains strong language, descriptions of violence, and descriptions of racism.This is the second part in a series, A Hanging in Brooklyn. Read part one here. Read part three here."Jefferson the hateful ruffian has been lost sight of, and another person has been executed, namely, the interesting colored man, to save whose soul pious friends entered into competition, to nurture whose physical body the ingenuity of womankind has been set in action and to study whose anatomy learned professors in great numbers have been invited."—Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 1, 1884.…
[Russian grocery store in Brighton Beach], 1987, COHEN_0148; George Cohen photograph collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Obviously I’m hungry because today's Photo of the Week is an interior shot of market, most likely the in Brighton Beach back in 1987. It is a part of the George Cohen photo collection.M & I International Food was described by the New York Times as “breaking all the rules of retailing.” There was no catchy name and certainly no smiling servers. And yet it had…
[Boy saluting an American flag during an Armistice Day event], circa 1945, HOLI_0017; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today's Photo of the Week looks at a boy stopping to salute an American flag during an Armistice Day event, presumably at Borough Hall. Armistice Day was first observed on November 11, 1919, one year after the end of World War I. President Wilson honored this historic day with a stirring speech, a portion of which can be read here: "To us in America the reflections of…
New York City’s recent election of Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani is historic for a few reasons- he will be New York’s first Muslim mayor, the first immigrant mayor from a non-European country, and at 34, he is one of the the youngest New York City mayors in history. But he’s not the only young mayor who celebrated an election night win in Brooklyn. In fact, former mayor of the City of Brooklyn Seth Low had already completed two terms as mayor by his 34th birthday! He also went on to serve for one year as New York City mayor from 1902-1903, after the cities consolidated in 1898. So it feels…
[Elderly woman standing on boardwalk], 1974, gelatin silver print, HERZ_0104; Irving I. Herzberg photograph collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
This Photo of the Week celebrates an unnamed woman who stared cold weather and Irving Herzberg (photographer) in the face and let them know that neither would stand in her way of fresh air and a sandwich. The photograph was taken in November 1974 along the Coney Island boardwalk, an excellent time and place for an off-season stroll, a chic headscarf, and a breezy lunch…
[Children in Halloween cotumes], circa 1965, KALM_00155; Harry Kalmus papers and photographs, ARC.046, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
It's almost Halloween! Is your costume ready? This week's Photo of the Week is a digitized slide from the Harry Kalmus papers and photographs (ARC.046) showing two children dressed up in their Halloween best. The photographer, Harry Kalmus, was born in 1924 and grew up in East New York. He attended Yeshiva Toras Chaim and Thomas Jefferson High School. After serving in World War II, he…
[View of Concert Grove from Cleft Ridge Span], 1874-1915, photographic postcard, V1973.4.1136; Postcard collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
One of Prospect Park’s many great features is its free summer concerts. Today, these concerts are held at the Lena Horne Bandshell, which has hosted musical performances annually since 1979. In fact, free musical performances were part of the park’s original plans. All the way back in 1866, when Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux took over the park's design, they…
Front cover, Howard Orphanage and Industrial School Annual Report, 1912-1913, black ink on paper; Brooklyn Charitable Organizations for Children collection, 1985.106, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's photo of the week is the startlingly modern image that adorns the front cover of the Howard Orphanage and Industrial School's annual report for 1912-1913. The institution was founded as the Home for Freed Children and Others in 1866, and later renamed after Oliver Otis Howard, a Union general and commissioner of the…
Meet Mr. Halloween--Ida MacDermott of Visiting Nurse Association of Brooklyn staff introduces scarecrow to Linda Specht. 1953. WORK_0616. Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
The spooky season is upon us! Today's Photo of the Week was surely meant to be a cheery holiday Eagle feature about the Visiting Nurse Association of Brooklyn's annual Halloween party for children, but ended up creepier than intended. I can’t even discern what the arms of the pumpkin doll might have looked like in the…
[Clinton Hill Branch], 197-?, Folder: Brooklyn Public Library: Branches: Clinton Hill: General; Brooklyn Public Library photographs; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Happy fall! Things to appreciate in this photograph taken in the 1970s at the Clinton Hill Library: very cool but probably very warm checkered sweater, old BPL branding on the door, hand-drawn pumpkin poster made by library staff. Despite the unseasonably warm weather of late, I'm declaring it Pumpkins Outside, Books Inside season, starting now.The Clinton Hill…
Clinton Hill Branch, BPL_0557; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's Photo of the Week is welcoming Autumn to Brooklyn. Pictured here are two children holding pumpkins outside of the Clinton Hill Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.Pumpkin carving, as a tradition in America, is believed to have been started when Scottish and Irish immigrants came to the United States in the 19th century. They brought with them the tradition of carving scary faces into turnips, but upon encountering pumpkins for the first…
[Rabbi Irving Mirsky of Baith Israel Anishei Emes, 236 Kane St., blows the shofar], 1949, HOLI_0086; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Today's Photo of the Week shows Rabbi Irving Mirsky of Baith Israel Anishei Emes, located 236 Kane Street. The Rabbi is blowing the shofar to mark the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the new year and beginning of the high holidays. In addition to prayer and reflection, Jewish people celebrate with several traditional foods, including round challah sweetened with…
Paul Leicester. Love Finds the Way. Dodd, Mead and Company, 1904. Cover design and interior decoration by Margaret Armstrong.
This Photo of the Week takes a look at the author behind some of our most decorated book covers, Paul Leicestor Ford. Ford was an acclaimed editor, biographer, novelist and historian in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was also a Brooklynite. He was born in 1865 at 97 Clark Street, later lived at 177 Remsen Street, and eventually left for Manhattan’s 37 East 77th Street with his new bride, Grace Kidder, in…
Fifty Years of Teddy Bears, 1952, gelatin silver print, Folder: Teddy Bears; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
September 9 is International Teddy Bear Day! This Photo of the Week shows little Zia Shields "with original Teddy Bear (left), introduced 50 years ago by Morris Michtom of Brooklyn, founder of the Ideal Toy Corporation, and the new golden anniversary version of Teddy, a blue-eyed, gold-and-brown plush dressed little fellow with soft, moulded plastic."Morris Michtom emigrated from…
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel [workers], black and white photographic print, 1947, TRAN_0148; Brooklyn Eagle photographs, BCMS.0002; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
In honor of Labor Day, today's Photo of the Week is a group of hardworking "sandhogs" who were toiling underground to create the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel (now the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel) in 1947. This photo caught my eye because of the workers' exuberant joy, despite the abundant evidence of arduous work in their muddy boots and dirt-streaked clothing. When I searched…
Welcome to the wonderful month of September, which means it is officially fall, which I love. So for today’s blog post I thought we would take a look back at Brooklyn in Love. We have a number of collections that feature engagements, weddings, and anniversaries of Brooklynites from all different walks of life. Also, one of my favorite things, as a first generation American myself, is how it tells an immigrant story.
[Wedding photograph. [Joseph and Regina Schwartz, parents of Mrs. Julian Ramus], circa 1885, bhs_v1978.174.19 Ramus family papers and…
[Woman and cats, Coney Island], circa 1975, V2008.013.8; Lucille Fornasieri Gold photographs; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
For today’s Photo of the Week we have an offering to fans of felines everywhere. Here, the cats are on an expedition to the beach at Coney Island accompanied by their leopard-patterned mistress.The photographer is Lucille Fornasieri Gold, born in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1930. Her father, a professor of architectural studies, first exposed her to photography as a child. She attended…
[Fulton Street.], 8/1964, V1974.9.501; John D. Morrell photographs; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's photo of the week shows a building being demolished, possibly on Cadman Plaza West, in August, 1964. The exact location is unknown, and seems potentially difficult to identify. The photographer, John D. Morrell, who has been written about before in this blog, was a librarian at the Long Island Historical Society. He walked the streets of Brooklyn over several decades, documenting residential and commercial streets,…
[Young people posing in front of a bus, cropped], 1959, OSOS_0683; Our Streets, Our Stories collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. Donated for capture by Linda Burke Galloway at Boys and Girls High School.
We love Brooklyn but sometimes you need to get away! Today's Photo of the Week looks at a group posing in front of a Gold Star bus in Williamsburg before a trip to Bear Mountain State Park. Only 45 minutes from New York City, but a world away, these city kids could look forward to hiking, swimming, and enjoying…
The first and only time in my life that I heard about the AIDS epidemic was very briefly when my mom told me about the hospital where I was born. St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village was the site of the first AIDS ward in New York City, and was run by nuns at a low cost for patients. When I discovered the AIDS/Brooklyn collection while digging through the finding aid at the Center for Brooklyn History, I was curious to learn more about this unfamiliar topic. I requested one box from this archival collection, and thus began my research.
“Risky Stuff…
Jennie Jerome, PORT_0293 ; Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Today's Photo of the Week is from 1864 and features 10 year old Jennie Jerome, the young girl who would grow up to be the mother of Winston Churchill. Jennie was born in Brooklyn in what is now thought to be 426 Henry Street in 1850. The year she was born, Millard Fillmore became President of the United States - and Leonard Jerome, Jennie's father, was appointed U.S. Consul to Trieste. In 1860 the Prince of Wales paid a…
