Blog Posts tagged as: Center for Brooklyn History

Black and white photograph of five children in winter clothes playing and sliding in slushy snow in a park pavilion.

POTW: Sliding in Fort Greene

Michelle

George Bradford Brainerd, [Five children playing under the roof of a pavilion in the winter], [187?], gelatin silver print. George Bradford Brainerd photograph collection, BRAI_0406. Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
No skates? No problem! Taken by amateur photographer George Bradford Brainerd (1845–1887) in the 1870s, this photograph shows several children sliding around on the slushy snow beneath a pavilion in what is today called Fort Greene Park. The park would have been known as Washington Park at the time…

Family around a dinner table raising a glass for a toast.

POTW: New Beginnings

Deborah

New Year's Day dinner toast, 6th Avenue. RCPO_0005. 1977. Larry Racioppo photograph collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Bidding a firm farewell to 2024, we offer this Photo of the Week featuring the Racioppo family gathered for a celebratory meal, as they raise a glass to that coming year, 1977. May this New Year be a happy one for you and yours.More of Racioppo's photographs of his native Brooklyn - its people, streets and celebrations - are hosted on our digital collections page, and a…

Front cover, spine, and back cover of an arsenic green book cover

POTW: Poison Books

Liza

Front cover, spine, back cover of First Impressions of the New World of Two Travelers from the Old, in the Autumn of 1858.
Many of the endsheets and title pages of the Center for Brooklyn History’s books are inscribed with holiday greetings, indicating that they were once given as gifts during the winter season. No harm ever came from gifting a book, right? Well, that depends on whether or not the book is bound in highly poisonous arsenical green pigment. In this Photo of the Week, we take a look at one such poisonous book in the…

POTW: A Mournful Ouroboros

Liza

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…

Railfan Sandwich Man's Loco-Motive to Increase Business

Deborah

Sodas delivered by train. WORK_0842. 1951. Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs 
Local businesses are acts of faith - an individual dream of creating a place that people will want to patronize, enriching the owners and community alike. This Photo of the Week shows one inventive owner’s novel idea to boost his business. In early 1951, Ben Lewanda took over the Parkway Sandwich Shop, 4223 Fort Hamilton Parkway. Finding his custom lacked pep, he got the idea of installing a model train to travel around the periphery…

New York City History Day

Sonya

Last June, 30 students from New York City participated in National History Day, a contest for Middle and High School students held at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. After months of hard work crafting original historical research projects and competing in multiple contests, they were selected from over 500,000 students who competed internationally. The projects, all connected to the theme – Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas – ranged in topic and presentation. From performances examining the visionary of David Sarnoff and his impact on television; to papers examining…

POTW: A Horse-Drawn Toilet

Liza

[Six horses pulling a Ronalds & Johnson Co. bathroom display], circa 1905, photographic print, ARC_202_Box_20_Folder_3_001_r. Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
  This Photo of the Week* highlights what at first seems to be a perfectly ordinary horse-drawn carriage. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the team of six is not drawing a carriage, but rather a toilet.
Contrasted detail of ARC_202_Box_20_Folder_3_001_r.
Ronalds…

POTW: Four Horses of Fort Greene

Liza

[Three horses drinking out of a fountain], ca. 1898, photographic print, V1972.2.23; Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 
In this Photo of the Week, Brooklynites of two and four legs are lured to what appears to be a refreshing fountain on a warm day. The women wear light, summery patterns, and the workmen have bared their shirtsleeves and even forearms. Yet neither heat nor work could disrupt hat fashions. The women display their ornamented millinery while the men sport a variety…

The Fashion Show that Helped Launch a Movement

Marcia

Photo Credit: Kwame Brathwaite courtesy of @Philipmartingallery
On January 28, 1962, a groundbreaking fashion show was held at the Purple Manor jazz club in East Harlem. The show, titled Naturally ’62: The Original African Coiffure and Fashion Extravaganza Designed to Restore Our Racial Pride and Standards, was organized by the African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS), a group of Black creatives, co-founded by legendary photographer Kwame Brathwaite and his brother, activist Elombe Brath. The show featured Black models, referred to as…