Blog Posts tagged as: portraits

POTW: Fresh Air and a Sandwich

Liza

[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…

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 staff at CBH can usually give…

Faces of a Family in 19th Century New York: the Ramus Collection

Deborah

Isaac and Esther Ramus around 1855. bhs_v1978.174.38. Ramus family papers and photographs, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
The first set of photographs originating from the former Brooklyn Historical Society to be featured  in the Center for Brooklyn History digital portal is the Ramus family collection.   It is a tantalizing set of images rich in examples of fashionable dress between 1848 and 1910 and a variety of photographic techniques including daguerreotypes, tintypes,…