Brooklyn Navy Yard

Brooklyn Navy Yard land acquisition records, 1940 (1985.044)

Brooklyn Navy Yard publications and ephemera collection, 1865 – 1966 (ARC.222)

Brooklyn, N.Y., Department of Law, Corporation Counsel records, 1843 – 1920 (2013.015) 

Brooklyn newsletter collection, 1877 – 2010 (ARC.174)

Downtown Brooklyn Development Association records, 1929 – circa 1985 (1979.021)

Publications on the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1930 – 1967 (1992.006)

Gene T. Condrill papers, 1940 – 1965 (ARC.022)

Anthony Costanzo Brooklyn Navy Yard collection, 1952 – 1970 (ARC.023)

Celestine De Martini Brooklyn Navy Yard collection, 1943 – 1945 (ARC.029)

Solomon C. Frucht Brooklyn Navy Yard ephemera, 1934 – 1963 (1987.050)

Bancroft Gherardi farewell address, 1894 (1977.636)

Louise Hasbrook Brooklyn Navy YMCA collection, 1925 – 1986 (ARC.042)

James F. Kelly Brooklyn Navy Yard collection, 1950 – 1952 (1987.018)

Alfred and Lucille Kolkin papers, 1942 – 1965 (ARC.048)

John McTernan Brooklyn Navy Yard collection, circa 1953 – 1970 (ARC.065)

John A. Mosley papers, 1911 – 1919 (2005.020)

Thomas J. Nerney Brooklyn Navy Yard papers, 1950 – 1965 (ARC.072)

Evelyn Rudon Brooklyn Navy Yard collection, 1951 – 1972 (ARC.076)

William W. Stoddard Brooklyn Navy Yard correspondence, 1898 – 1910 (1991.008)

Frank J. Trezza Seatrain Shipbuilding collection, 1861 – 1988 (1988.016)

Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection, 1986 – 2010 (ARC.003)

Extent: 49 digital audio files

Link to oral history portal.

This collection includes oral histories conducted by the former Brooklyn Historical Society (now the Center for Brooklyn History) from 1986 to 1989 as well as oral histories conducted in partnership with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and Brooklyn Historical Society from 2006 to 2010. In 1987-1989, Brooklyn Historical Society interviewed 10 people who worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WWII. Interviews were conducted by Benjamin Filene and Diane Esses and focus on working conditions and the experiences of women doing nontraditional labor such as welding and shipfitting. These interviews were recorded on cassette tape and have been digitized to make them available for listening.

In partnership with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, the former Brooklyn Historical Society collected interviews from 2006 to 2010 with men and women who worked in or around the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Interviews were conducted by Jennifer Egan, Sady Sullivan, and Daniella Romano. The majority of the interviews are with people who worked in the Yard during WWII.  The narrators discuss growing up in New York, their work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, their relationships with others in the Yard, gender relations and transportation to and from work.  Many narrators bring up issues of ethnicity, race, and religion at the Yard or in their neighborhoods.  Several narrators describe the launching of the U.S.S. Missouri battleship and recall in detail their daily tasks at the Yard as welders, office workers, and ship fitters.  While interviews focus primarily on experiences in and around the Yard, many narrators also discuss their lives after the Navy Yard, relating stories about their careers, dating and marriage, children, social activities, living conditions, and changes in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Most oral histories can be accessed via our oral history portal or onsite at the Center for Brooklyn History. Restrictions vary according to narrator agreement. Permission to use the oral histories other than for private study, scholarship, or research requires the permission of both the Center for Brooklyn History and the narrator. For assistance, please consult the collections team at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org. Oral histories also available at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at Building 92.

Anthony Costanzo Brooklyn Navy Yard collection, 1952 – 1970 (ARC.023)

Dwight B. Demeritt, Jr. Brooklyn Navy Yard photographs and negatives, 1989 (V1989.015)

Dwight B. Demeritt, Jr. Downtown Brooklyn photographs and negatives, 1990 (V1990.015)

Frank J. Trezza Seatrain Shipbuilding collection, 1861 – 1988 (1988.016)

Marie Aalbue collection of Brooklyn Navy Yard photographs, circa 1940 – 1955 (V1988.039)

Veronica Kieffer Brooklyn Navy Yard photograph and badge, 1944 – 1945 (V1988.047)

Individual images: V1973.6.365 – V1973.6.370; V1988.39.3

John C. Champion journal, 1862 (1991.017)

Sineus Hopping letter, 1862 (1974.217)

U.S.S. Gemsbok Records, 1864 – 1865 (1978.036)

Diagram of the Wallabout Bay &c. from 1776 to 1783. (B A-1776-1783 (18–?).Fl)

Valuable property in Brooklyn, lots on Clinton Avenue, 1833 (B P-[1833]c.Fl)

Map of U.S. Wallabout property : surveyed for Washington Avenue extension, Dec. 1859 (B P-1859.Fl)

Survey of lands directed to be sold to the City of Brooklyn, 1892-1894. [Part of the Brooklyn, N.Y., Department of Law, Corporation Counsel records, 1843 – 1920 (2013.015); box 237]

Wallabout Channel, New York Harbor, surveyed in pursuance of joint resolution of Congress approved June 16, 1898 (B A-1898a.Fl)

Map of the United States Naval Property, Brooklyn, N.Y., 19–? (B P-1849 (19–?).R)

[Map of Wallabout Bay and the Brooklyn Navy Yard], 19–? (B A-1810 (19–?).Fl Non-circulating)

Brooklyn-Queens connecting highway : Hamilton Avenue to Navy Street, 1943 (B C-1943.Fl)

Brooklyn-Queens connecting highway : Hamilton Avenue to Kent Avenue, 1949 (B C-1949.Fl)

County of Kings, Borough of Brooklyn, 14th Congressional District, 1962 (B A-1962a.Fl)

M1993.15.1 – M1993.15.15 (Passes, identification card, traffic regulation booklet, and telephone directory)

This booklist highlights some of the Center for Brooklyn History’s titles pertaining to Brooklyn Navy Yard history. Researchers are encourage to browse the catalog for additional titles. As the book collection is non-circulating, titles cannot be placed on hold online. To request books, please contact us at cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org. Click the heart beside the book title to create your own booklist (sign in to your account first).