Blog posts by Tess Colwell

POTW: Cyclone

Tess Colwell

Thrills on the Cyclone, circa 1955, V1973.4.1456.11; Postcard collection, v1973.4; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The Coney Island Cyclone is 90 years old! The wooden roller coaster opened to the public on June 26, 1927, costing twenty-five cents per ride. The Cyclone was declared a NYC landmark in 1988 and a National Historic Landmark in 1991. The photo of the week depicts the Cyclone around 1955 in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn.This photograph comes from the Postcard collection consisting of hundreds of…

POTW: Pride

Tess Colwell

[70 Willow Street], 1922, V1974.32.99; Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks, ARC.308; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Every June, NYC Pride is a month long celebration commemorating and celebrating the LGBT community. The NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project maps out historic sites associated with the LGBT community in all five boroughs, including Brooklyn.The photo of the week depicts one of those historic sites: 70 Willow Street in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn, pictured here in 1922. This home was…

POTW: Penny-farthing

Tess Colwell

[Boy with bicycle], 1886, V1974.7.49; Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection, ARC.191; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The photo of the week depicts Eddie Tepper posing with a penny-farthing bicycle in 1886. This is one of my favorite photographs in the BHS collections. I love the boy’s pose and how the circular wheels are echoed in the circle frame.Penny-farthing is a type of bicycle that was popular from roughly the 1870s until the 1880s. They were faster and lighter than previous bicycles, but they were also very dangerous…

POTW: Beach Season

Tess Colwell

[Group at the beach], 1909, v1981.283.3.88; Burton family papers and photographs, ARC.217; Brooklyn Historical Society.
It’s officially beach season! All NYC beaches opened on Memorial Day, operating daily from 10am to 6pm until Labor Day. The NYC Parks Department maintains 14 miles of beaches, many of those miles in Brooklyn. To learn more about NYC beaches, and to find one closest to you, check out this page.The photo of the week depicts a group at an unknown beach in 1909. This photograph comes from the Burton family…

POTW: Kennedy Memorial

Tess Colwell

Kennedy Memorial, 1965, v1988.12.4; Otto Dreschmeyer Brooklyn slides, v1988.012; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Monday was Memorial Day, a federal holiday remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. While Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971, its origins can be traced back to the years after the Civil War. Today, thousands of parades and events take place throughout the country . We hope you took a moment to honor those who have died in service.The photo of the week…

POTW: Shifting Perspectives

Tess Colwell

In the Surf, Manhattan Beach, U. S. A., 1889, v1972.1.1019; Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, ARC.201; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The photo of the week is a stereograph depicting men and women wading in the surf at Manhattan Beach. Stereographs are two nearly identical photographs that have been mounted on cardboard. When viewed through a stereoscope, a 3-D image appears. You can view this photograph, along with 7 additional stereographs from our collection at BHS Dumbo’s inaugural exhibition,…

POTW: BHS Dumbo

Tess Colwell

[Dockworkers, Brooklyn], 1924, v1973.5.917; Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection, ARC.202; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The photo of the week depicts dockworkers on Furman Street in Brooklyn, hoisting and moving goods into a waterfront warehouse—once a ubiquitous sight in the early twentieth-century, when Brooklyn boasted one of the largest commercial waterfronts in the world. Today, only a few of those waterfront warehouses remain. Empire Stores, located on Water Street in DUMBO, is one of them. It’s also the…

POTW: Happy Mother's Day

Tess Colwell

Waiting on Myrtle Ave. for Car- Mothers' Outing, 1911, V1981.284.27; Emmanuel House lantern slide collection, ARC.136; Brooklyn Historical Society.
In honor of Mother’s Day this Sunday, we bring you a mother-themed photo of the week. The photograph depicts women and children waiting for the Gates Avenue train car on Myrtle Avenue during a “Mothers’ Outing.” The closer you look, the more charming the photograph gets—small moments between mother and child and adorable outfits. If only we knew what this outing entailed!This…

“Views of Nassau County” now online!

Tess Colwell

Brooklyn Historical Society received a generous grant from Gerry Charitable Trust in 2015 to digitize and catalog seven scrapbooks from the Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks [Arc.308]. Eugene Armbruster was an amateur photographer and historian during the late 19th century and early 20th century in Brooklyn. Following retirement from The H. Henkel Cigar Box Manufacturing Company, he became interested in local history and took thousands of photographs depicting buildings and street scenes throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, and neighboring states. His scrapbooks are…

POTW: Ambergill Falls

Tess Colwell

[Ambergill Falls in Prospect Park], 1880 ca., v1974.7.109; Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection, ARC.191; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Now that spring is upon us, it’s the perfect time to explore Brooklyn’s green spaces. The photo of the week depicts Ambergill Falls located by Rock Arch Bridge in Prospect Park. This is one of several waterfalls that was designed by Olmsted and Vaux, the Park’s creators. Prospect Park Alliance offers many free walking tours and events throughout the warmer months, which is a great way to…

POTW: Housing and Building Research

Tess Colwell

[#1661-1665 85th Street.], 1958, v1974.4.491; John D. Morrell photographs, ARC.005; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Housing and building research is one of the most popular research topics at Brooklyn Historical Society. The library and archival collections include a variety of materials that are helpful in understanding the history of Brooklyn neighborhoods, blocks and buildings. If you’re interested in diving into your own housing research, be sure to check out our Housing and Building Research guide that outlines a…

POTW: Brooklyn Pets

Tess Colwell

Cat [in flower garden], 1967, v1988.12.134; Otto Dreschmeyer Brooklyn slides, v1988.12; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Pet photography appears almost immediately after photography was introduced in the mid-19th century. The first known photograph of a dog was a daguerreotype title Poodle with a Bow, on a Table by an unknown photographer in the 1850s. It’s clear from the photographic collections at Brooklyn Historical Society that Brooklyites love their pets! There are hundreds of pet photographs in our collections and many…

POTW: Aerial Photography

Tess Colwell

Our City, 1926, v1972.1.1266; Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, ARC.201; Brooklyn Historical Society.
This aerial photograph depicts downtown Brooklyn (foreground), the East River (middle), and Manhattan (background) in 1926. When this photo was taken, aerial photography had been in existence for nearly 70 years. In 1858, French portrait photographer Gaspard Felix Tournachon shot the earliest-known aerial photograph from a tethered balloon. Unfortunately, that image does not survive. The earliest known…

POTW: Jackie Robinson Exhibition

Tess Colwell

[Jackie Robinson (R) and Yogi Berra/ World Series- Yankees and Dodgers], 1955, v1987.1.4; Photography collection, v1987.1; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Jackie Robinson had an impressive and record-shattering baseball career. He was the first African-American player in the Major League; winner of the inaugural Rookie of the Year award in 1947 and Most Valuable Player award in 1949; and he led the Dodgers to their 1955 World Series victory. Robinson viewed his athletic career as an endeavor greater than baseball. He was an…

POTW: Spring

Tess Colwell

[Pathway and Trees in Prospect Park], circa 1975, v1990.2.166; Donald L. Nowlan Brooklyn collection, v1990.2.166; Brooklyn Historical Society.
*Update: We originally attributed this photograph to Brooklyn Botantic Garden, but thanks to reader feedback and to our colleagues at BBG we were able to confirm that it is in fact Prospect Park. Look how the public helps us update our collection records! Thanks!Monday marked the first day of Spring, after the sixth warmest winter in New York City. The photo of the week depicts a…

Bushwick and her Neighbors, Vol. 1-3 now online!

Tess Colwell

Brooklyn Historical Society received a generous grant from Gerry Charitable Trust in 2015 to digitize and catalog seven scrapbooks from the Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks [Arc.308]. Eugene Armbruster was an amateur photographer and historian during the late 19th century and early 20th century in Brooklyn. Following retirement from The H. Henkel Cigar Box Manufacturing Company, he became interested in local history and took thousands of photographs depicting buildings and street scenes throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, and neighboring states. His scrapbooks are…

POTW: Reliable & Frank's

Tess Colwell

Inside Reliable and Frank's, two customers], 1978, v1988.21.370; Frank J. Trezza Seatrain Shipbuilding collection, v1988.21; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The photo of the week depicts the interior of Reliable and Frank's, an Army-Navy store located across from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in 1978. The store sold uniforms to sailors until 1966, when the Navy decommissioned the Yard. Despite this, the store remained opened by diversifying their clientele. They later sold uniforms to cruise ship workers, college students, and even…

POTW: Bernard Gotfryd photographs

Tess Colwell

[East New York courtyard.], 1970 ca, v1987.3.6; Bernard Gotfryd color slides and photographs, v1987.3; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The Bernard Gotfryd color slides and photographs is one of my favorite collections at Brooklyn Historical Society. Gotfryd’s photographs capture Brooklyn street scenes with children playing, people sitting on stoops, and sidewalk activity from 1965 to 1983. The photo of the week is an image from this collection that depicts people cleaning up a courtyard in the East New York neighborhood of…

POTW: Smith-9th Street Station

Tess Colwell

[View of portion of Smith-9th Street Station (IND).], 1958, v1974.4.1131; John D. Morrell photographs, v1974.4; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Do you live off the Smith-9th Street station? The photo of the week depicts the snow-covered station located in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, in December 1958. The station opened in 1933 and closed for two years during massive renovations between 2011 and 2013. The elevated station is 87.5 feet high and is considered the highest above-ground subway station in the world.This…

POTW: Family Research

Tess Colwell

[Man with child], ca. 1909, v1981.283.3.103; Burton family papers and photographs, ARC.217; Brooklyn Historical Society.
The photo of the week is from around 1909 and depicts a man holding a baby outside a Brooklyn home. This photograph comes from the Burton family papers and photographs collection which contains personal documents and photographs from the Burton family. To me, family photographs can convey genuine, intimate interactions and evoke feelings of affection and comfort that resound in loving families. I admire…