Many CBH Talks were recorded. To view, visit the Center for Brooklyn History Talks YouTube channel at bklynlib.org/CBH-Talks.
Past Events
CBH Talk | Scouting Brooklyn: Inside the CBH Film Location Archive
Before digital files, databases, and location-scouting apps transformed the industry, New York’s production world ran on hard copies—real photographs, taped into real folders, stored in real boxes. In the 1980s and ’90s, this analog system became an improvised but indispensable collective…
CBH Talk | Page by Page: Jennifer Egan and Hernan Diaz in Conversation
Two of today’s most acclaimed novelists, Pulitzer Prize winners Jennifer Egan and Hernan Diaz, come together for a rare, in-depth conversation about the foundations of their craft, their work in archives, and how the historical record can both anchor and ignite narrative invention.
In this…
Freedom and Its Futures: A Community Conversation on the Meaning of Freedom Today
Join a small group discussion about freedom and responsibility, one in a series of round table conversations in connection with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.New Yorkers live amid a tangle of crises that test both imagination and resolve: trust has…
New York City History Day Virtual Office Hour
Virtual drop-in office hour to talk to the New York City History Day Coordinator about your History Day project. Get one-on-one help with registration, brainstorming, research, and more! Open to all students and teachers. Zoom link will be sent on the day of the office hour to those who've…
CBH Talk | The Long Road to Change: A Screening and Discussion about NYC and Safe Streets
Ben Wolf’s new documentary, Changing Lanes, follows the multi-year fight to redesign Brooklyn’s notoriously dangerous McGuinness Boulevard from a high-speed four-lane thoroughfare into a safer, calmer street with protected bike lanes. Filmed over the course of three years, the documentary traces…
CBH Talk | The Changing Face of Progressive Brooklyn
Brooklyn’s reputation as one of America’s most progressive boroughs reflects a long history of demographic shifts, social movements, labor organizing, and vibrant urban culture. With each new wave of residents, Brooklynites have carried forward a legacy of progressivism, adapting it to new…
CBH Family Program: Brooklyn Stories & Art with Author-Illustrator Eric Velasquez
Celebrate the magic of creativity with author-illustrator Eric Velasquez in a family program inspired by his beloved book, Grandma’s Records!We’ll begin with a special storytime reading, inviting children and parents to experience Eric’s vibrant world, where music and art bring generations…
CBH Talk | Capturing Brooklyn’s Gilded Age
The Gilded Age is often remembered for its mansions and millionaires — J. P. Morgan, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt. Our collective imagination, reinforced by popular portrayals like HBO’s The Gilded Age, lingers in those ornate ballrooms and formal portraits. But photographer George Bradford…
CBH Talk | Terence Keel and Alex Vitale Discuss Death Records and Hiding Police Violence
Coroners’ reports are not innocuous. In his landmark study, scholar Terence Keel meticulously uncovers how death investigations can—and often do—obscure the violent circumstances of in-custody deaths. Now Keel has published his seminal research in a new book, The Coroner’s Silence; Death…
CBH Talk | The Gods of New York: Jonathan Mahler in Conversation with Bob Herbert
Jonathan Mahler’s new book, The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986–1990, is a sweeping chronicle of four tumultuous years that transformed New York—and foreshadowed the divisions that would soon define the nation.
In those years, the…
CBH Talk | Nameplates, Identity, and Adornment in Brooklyn
Nameplate jewelry has long served as a bold statement of identity, style, and self-definition. From scripted pendants to doorknocker earrings, bejeweled rings, belts, and bracelets wrought in gold, silver, or acrylic, nameplates speak volumes about individuality and belonging.
Join us…
CBH Talk | Ed Larson Discusses “Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters”
As we approach the 250th anniversary of American independence, join Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Edward Larson for a discussion of his timely and resonant new book, Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters. Larson takes us through the ideals, debates, and sacrifices that defined that pivotal…
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