Many CBH Talks were recorded. To view, visit the Center for Brooklyn History Talks YouTube channel at bklynlib.org/CBH-Talks.
Past Events
CBH Hosts the 2025 Liberación Film Festival: Two Days of Films, Music, and Conversation | Day 1
The Center for Brooklyn History is excited to partner with the Afrolatino Festival NYC, and the Afrolatin@ Project for the return of the Liberación Film Festival - 5th Edition. This year’s curatorial focus on Panamá, in collaboration with the Day of Independence Committee for Panamanians in New…
CBH Talk | Eric Foner and Andrew Delbanco Discuss “Our Fragile Freedoms”
Join two of our nation’s most distinguished historians for a searching conversation about freedom, democracy, and the lessons of the past. Eric Foner’s newest collection of essays, Our Fragile Freedoms, serves as the springboard for an intimate exchange with Andrew Delbanco. Together, these two…
CBH Talk | Susana M. Morris and Ibi Zoboi Discuss “Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler”
Susana M. Morris’s new book, Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler, is a magnificent cultural biography that charts the life of one of our greatest writers, situating her alongside the key historical and social moments that shaped her work.
As the first Black woman to…
CBH Talk | The Birth of Identity: Race, Racism, and Personhood in New York City Health Records
This program is offered in partnership with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, part of its 220th anniversary celebration.
Founded in 1805 during a yellow fever epidemic, the New York City Health Department began recording births and deaths in 1847—a…
CBH Talk | Two Dragons in Hollywood: Bruce Lee, Anna May Wong, and the Past and Future of Asian American Representation
This program is offered in partnership with the Asian American Arts Alliance and the Sunset Park Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.
Join acclaimed biographers Jeff Chang (Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America) and Katie Gee Salisbury…
New York City History Day Kickoff & Info Session
The Brooklyn Public Library’s Center for Brooklyn History (CBH) is host to NYC History Day! Come to the History Day kickoff to learn about the contest and this year's theme, see projects and get inspiration for your own NYC History Day journey! Students, Teachers, and Family's welcome.
New…
Just Conversations | This Moment in Immigration: What’s at Stake and What Can Be Done
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.This program is co-…
CBH Talk | The Erasure of Black History: Battling For America’s Narrative
This program is offered in partnership with The Dayton Literary Peace Prize.
Black history is under siege. Recent political efforts to erase America’s deep-seated legacy of racial injustice have gained ground at an alarming rate. Many narratives of Black…
CBH Talk | Howard W. French and Annette Gordon-Reed Discuss “The Second Emancipation”
Join us for a conversation between journalist and historian Howard W. French and Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar Annette Gordon-Reed about The Second Emancipation: The Rise of Global Black Power and the Retreat of Colonialism. In this sweeping narrative, French interweaves the struggles of…
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…
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