Many CBH Talks were recorded. To view, visit the Center for Brooklyn History Talks YouTube channel at bklynlib.org/CBH-Talks.
Past Events
Trace/s Exhibition Tour
Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn.
Visitors will get an in-depth tour of the artwork and archival documents that make up the heart of this exhibition, and will get to explore the historical…
CBH Talk | Renewing Rikers: From Punishment to Possibility
The future of Rikers Island is one of New York City’s most urgent and complex political challenges. Once home to a Civil War-era military training ground, the island was purchased by the city in 1884 for $180,000 to serve as a garbage dump. In 1932, construction began on what would…
Oysters & the Archive: The Legacy of Black Foodways and Entrepreneurship in Brooklyn
For centuries, New York Harbor—including the waters around Brooklyn—was home to some of the world's most abundant oyster beds, making the city synonymous with oyster culture. Before the 20th century, when people thought of New York, they thought of oysters. This industry provided…
Brooklyn Stories & Art: Presented by Author-Illustrator Javaka Steptoe
Award-winning author-illustrator Javaka Steptoe brings his powerful story of young Jean-Michel Basquiat to life in this interactive program.
Participants will learn about Javaka's creative process, enjoy a reading of "Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat,"…
Summer Screenings | Slumlord Millionaire
Join us for a screening of Slumlord Millionaire, a powerful documentary that exposes the David-and-Goliath struggles for housing justice in New York City. The film shines a light on the ordinary Brooklyn residents whose courageous fights against powerful landlords and developers…
Summer Screenings | Gowanus Current
Join us for a screening of the documentary film Gowanus Current followed by a talkback with the filmmakers Jamie Courville and Chris Reynolds.
A century and a half of industrial waste and raw sewage has turned Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal into one of the nation’s…
Brooklyn Stories & Art: Presented by Author-Illustrator Melanie Hope Greenberg
Join author-illustrator Melanie Hope Greenberg for an enchanting sea-themed adventure! Transform into a mermaid, Neptune, pirate, or any sea creature you can imagine. See how the images in her book relate to the research library's special collections, archives,…
Summer Screenings | The Amazing Garden: A Film and Conversation on Community Gardening in NYC
Join us for an evening celebrating the legacy and future of New York City’s community gardens, inspired by the short film The Amazing Garden, produced and directed by Hiroko Tadano Neely and Deb Levine. The film tells the story of how, thirty years ago, a group of passionate neighbors…
Brooklyn Bee: A Spelling Competition
Think you know how to spell Brooklyn? Prove it one word at a time!Join us for the first ever Brooklyn-centric spelling bee, hosted by your resident experts at the Center for Brooklyn History. From historic names to iconic avenues, we are finding the most interesting and…
Trace/s Exhibition Tour
Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn.
Visitors will get an in-depth tour of the artwork and archival documents that make up the heart of this exhibition, and will get to explore the historical…
Trace/s Exhibition Tour
Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn.
Visitors will get an in-depth tour of the artwork and archival documents that make up the heart of this exhibition, and will get to explore the historical…
Environmental Injustice: Race, Class, and Toxic Inequality | The Way Forward
The final program in this three-part series on the intersection of racial inequality and the environment looks ahead. Join us in imagining a future free from the race and class based divides that determine who is — and isn’t — protected from toxins, pollutants, flooding, and the…
Just Conversations | The Welcome Myth: Immigration and America’s Contradictions
About Just ConversationsJust Conversations is a series co-presented by the Center for Brooklyn History and Brooklyn Org that brings into dialogue issues facing our borough, city, and society and gives voice to the change makers who move us towards a more equitable future.Special thanks to…
Trace/s Exhibition Tour
Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn.
Visitors will get an in-depth tour of the artwork and archival documents that make up the heart of this exhibition, and will get to explore the historical…
CBH Talk | Rules and Rutabagas: A Conversation about the Park Slope Food Coop with Joe Holtz, Sun Yu, and Alexandra Schwartz
In the early 1970s, a remarkable experiment in collective action took root in Park Slope: the Park Slope Food Coop (PSFC). Founded in 1973 as a members-only, collectively-run buying club, the Coop has grown over 52 years into the largest single store food cooperative in the United…
Opening the Archives: Finding LGBTQ+ History in the CBH Collections
When author Hugh Ryan researched his 2019 book When Brooklyn Was Queer, he delved deep into the archives at the Center for Brooklyn History. Queer history is rarely neatly labeled in finding aids or research guides. And so Hugh brought a queer lens to an array of seemingly unrelated…
Environmental Injustice: Race, Class, and Toxic Inequality | The Present Crisis
Join us for Part 2 of a three-part series exploring the intersection of racial inequality and the environment. This time we explore the situation today. Leaders from across the country share solutions to environmental crises within their communities and discuss a new urgent challenge…
Trace/s Exhibition Tour
Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn.
Visitors will get an in-depth tour of the artwork and archival documents that make up the heart of this exhibition, and will get to explore the historical…
Children of the Movement: Growing up with Parents in the Black Panther Party
This program is offered in partnership with The Guardian.
In March, The Guardian published a landmark article and produced a short film spotlighting the self-described “Panther cubs”—offspring of members of the Black Panther Party. This project, two…
CBH Talk | Deborah Archer and James Forman Discuss “Dividing Lines”
In her new book, Dividing Lines: How Transportation Infrastructure Reinforces Racial Inequality, acclaimed scholar and ACLU President Deborah Archer shows how seemingly innocuous transit planning functions – the development of roads, sidewalks, dividers, and other infrastructures –…
Trace/s Exhibition Tour
Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn.
Visitors will get an in-depth tour of the artwork and archival documents that make up the heart of this exhibition, and will get to explore the historical…
Environmental Injustice: Race, Class, and Toxic Inequality | The Path to Today
Join us for the first event in a three-part series exploring the intersection of racial inequality and the environment. Part 1 delves into the systemic roots of environmental racism and confronts a critical question: Why are communities of color and low-wealth populations…
Trace/s Exhibition Tour
Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn.
Visitors will get an in-depth tour of the artwork and archival documents that make up the heart of this exhibition, and will get to explore the historical…
Trace/s Exhibition Tour
Come for a free curator-guided tour of the exhibition Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn.
Visitors will get an in-depth tour of the artwork and archival documents that make up the heart of this exhibition, and will get to explore the historical…
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