Welcome to the Center for Brooklyn History (CBH). CBH is a research library and community hub dedicated to public history.
Formerly known as the Brooklyn Historical Society, CBH became part of Brooklyn Public Library in 2020 and is now free and accessible to all for research, education, culture and more. Our freshly renovated landmark building—home to the Othmer Library's magnificent reading room—is a trove of special collections, archives, ephemera, art exhibits and programs that bring our borough's rich history to Brooklynites of all ages.
Brooklyn Is ...
The Center for Brooklyn History reopened on September 14th with an exhibition that celebrates the people and neighborhoods of our diverse, richly textured borough. What captures Brooklyn for you?
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NYC History Day 2024
New York City History Day (NYCHD) is a program where students in grades 6-12 create projects based on original historical research and analysis.
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Upcoming Public Programs
CBH hosts a wide range of free weekly programs to delight and engage our many audiences. See what's happening next, both virtual and in person.
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Visit the Othmer Library
Located on CBH’s second floor, the Othmer Library and its reading room are home to special collections and archives for public use. Researchers are encouraged to make appointments in advance.
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Brooklyn Connections
Brooklyn Connections is BPL’s standards-based local history education program for 4th through 12th grade educators in Brooklyn-based schools. Apply now for our 2023-2024 program!
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Brooklynology
Fascinating Brooklyn stories from our local history archivists, featuring our popular Photo of the Week posts.
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Search our collections
The Center for Brooklyn History makes its collections available to all researchers. Browse our books, photographs, oral histories, maps collections and more.
Search our collectionsOur History
The story of the Center for Brooklyn History began in 1863 with the founding of the Long Island Historical Society (LIHS) during a time of tumultuous change. In only a few decades, Brooklyn had grown from a tiny agricultural backwater to the third largest city in the country. Civic pride was at an all-time high. Many of Brooklyn’s citizens believed they needed to commemorate their city’s rural past before it quickly faded from memory. Founders also envisioned the LIHS as a center for dialogue about history. In the nineteenth century, the society’s roster of speakers included newspaper editor and reformer Horace Greeley, writer Arthur Conan Doyle and abolitionist and women’s rights activist Julia Ward Howe.
Over the next century, the fortune of LIHS mirrored that of Brooklyn: it navigated the consolidation into the City of Greater New York, played a part in historic conflicts such as its use as a Red Cross headquarters during World War I, and faced its own struggles as the city grappled with deindustrialization, economic decline and social change.
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Become a CBH Supporter
Whether through membership or a one-time gift, your support helps connect the past to the present and makes Brooklyn's vibrant history tangible, relevant, and meaningful for today's diverse communities—and generations to come.
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Contact Us
For general inquiries regarding the Center for Brooklyn History, you can call or email us, or submit a research request.
About CBH
Staff Picks
- Brooklyn History
- Family Genealogy
- The Bridge
- Brooklyn Literary Walking Tour
- Brooklyn Documentaries
A covenant with color : race and social power in BrooklynCraig Steven Wilder
Fighting Jim Crow in the County of Kings : the Congress of Racial Equality in BrooklynBrian Purnell
The power broker : Robert Moses and the fall of New YorkRobert A Caro
Gotham : a history of New York City to 1898Edwin G Burrows
Greater Gotham : a history of New York City from 1898 to 1919Mike Wallace
Brooklyn's promised land : the free black community of Weeksville, New YorkJudith Wellman
Battle for Bed-Stuy : the long war on poverty in New York CityMichael Woodsworth
Fight the power : African Americans and the long history of police brutality in New York CityClarence Taylor
The Black churches of BrooklynClarence Taylor
Knocking at our own door : Milton A. Galamison and the struggle to integrate New York City schoolsClarence Taylor
The invention of brownstone Brooklyn : gentrification and the search for authenticity in postwar New YorkSuleiman Osman
The great bridge : the epic story of the building of the Brooklyn BridgeDavid G McCullough
Brooklyn by name : how the neighborhoods, streets, parks, bridges, and more got their namesLeonard Benardo
Brooklyn : the once and future cityThomas J Campanella
The Brooklyn nobody knows : an urban walking guideWilliam B Helmreich
Brooklyn Heights : the rise, fall and rebirth of America's first suburbRobert Furman
DUMBO : the making of a neighborhood and the rebirth of BrooklynPaul Goldberger
A fortress in Brooklyn : race, real estate, and the making of Hasidic WilliamsburgNathaniel Deutsch
When Brooklyn was queerHugh Ryan
Gay New York : gender, urban culture, and the making of the gay male world, 1890-1940George Chauncey
Historic Black Brooklyn : 400 years of struggle and hopeBrian Merlis
The emergence of lesbian kinship patterns in the late twentieth century U.S. : a case study in Brooklyn, N.YClaire Riley
Genealogy 101 : how to trace your family's history and heritageBarbara Renick
The librarian's genealogy notebook : a guide to resourcesDahrl Elizabeth Moore
American passenger arrival records : a guide to the records of immigrants arriving at American ports by sail and steamMichael Tepper
How to climb your family tree : genealogy for beginnersHarriet Stryker-Rodda
Ancestry's guide to research : case studies in American genealogyJohni Cerny
Searching for your ancestors ; the how and why of genealogyGilbert Harry Doane
Black genealogyCharles L Blockson
Concerning genealogies : being suggestions of value for all interested in family historyFrank Allaben
Genealogical research : methods and sourcesAmerican Society of Genealogists
Research in American genealogy : a practical approach to genealogical researchE Kay Kirkham
The dictionary of genealogyTerrick V H FitzHugh
Afro-American genealogy sourcebookTommie Morton-Young
Finding our fathers : a guidebook to Jewish genealogyDan Rottenberg
Black genesisJames M Rose
Foundations of genealogy : with suggestions on the art of preparing records of ancestryWilliam Stowell Mills
Honoring New York's forgotten soldiers : African Americans of the Civil War : with research examples A-Z : a case study in historiographic genealogyHarry Bradshaw Matthews
Tracing your Hispanic heritageGeorge R Ryskamp
Bridge of dreams : the rebirth of the Brooklyn BridgeBurhan Dogançay
A picture history of the Brooklyn Bridge : with 167 prints and photographsMary J Shapiro
The Brooklyn Bridge : a cultural historyRichard Haw
Art of the Brooklyn Bridge : a visual historyRichard Haw
The Brooklyn Bridge : New York City's graceful connectionVicki Weiner
The Brooklyn BridgeG S Prentzas
Brooklyn Bridge : fact and symbolAlan Trachtenberg
The Brooklyn BridgeElizabeth Mann
Chief engineer : Washington Roebling : the man who built the Brooklyn BridgeErica Wagner
The great bridge : the epic story of the building of the Brooklyn BridgeDavid G McCullough
New collected poemsMarianne Moore
Just kidsPatti Smith
Halsey StreetNaima Coster
Bright linesTanwi Nandini Islam
When I was the greatestJason Reynolds
Brown girl, brownstonesPaule Marshall
Let me hear a rhymeTiffany D Jackson
The world according to Fannie Davis : my mother's life in the Detroit numbersBridgett M Davis
LibertieKaitlyn Greenidge
A walker in the cityAlfred Kazin
Brown girl dreamingJacqueline Woodson
Sour heart : storiesJenny Zhang
Proud shoes : the story of an American familyPauli Murray
You can't be neutral on a moving train : a personal historyHoward Zinn
Julián is a mermaidJessica Love
The snowy dayEzra Jack Keats
Leaves of grassWalt Whitman
A tree grows in BrooklynBetty Smith
The chosenChaim Potok
The promiseChaim Potok
The amazing adventures of Kavalier & ClayMichael Chabon
PrideIbi Aanu Zoboi
Unseen cityAmy Shearn
BrooklynColm Tóibín
Permanent recordMary H K Choi
YolkMary H K Choi
The city we becameN K Jemisin
When Brooklyn was queerHugh Ryan
Breath, eyes, memoryEdwidge Danticat
Brother, I'm dyingEdwidge Danticat
Decoded1969- Jay-Z
Death of a salesmanArthur Miller
The souls of Black folkW E B Du Bois
Goodnight moonMargaret Wise Brown
The runaway bunnyMargaret Wise Brown
Where the wild things areMaurice Sendak
Panic in a suitcaseYelena Akhtiorskaya
Only the dead know the Brooklyn Americans
Battle for brooklyn (DVD)
Brooklyn Bridge
Jackie Robinson
A hole in a fence
The new public (DVD)
Made in Brooklyn
Brooklyn matters
This is Brooklyn : an amazing place
Who grows in Brooklyn
My, my Brooklyn, U.S.A
To Brooklyn with love
The brownstones of Brooklyn
Heaven Touches Brooklyn in July (DVD)
Books and things the Brooklyn Public Library : [voices of Brooklyn]
Little Caughnawaga to Brooklyn and back
Brooklyn castle (DVD)
Once upon a park Prospect Park 1866-1966
Brighton Beach
District leader
Jamel Shabazz Street Photographer (DVD)
Flex is kings (DVD)
B.a.m.150 (DVD)
People's firehouse #1
Bushwick homecomings
Memoirs of a movie palace
Gut Renovation (DVD)
New York, a documentary film. Episode one: 1609-1825,
New York, a documentary film. Episode two: 1825-1865,
New York, a documentary film. Episode three: 1865-1898,
New York, a documentary film. Episode four: 1898-1918,
New York, a documentary film. Episode five: 1919-1931,
New York, a documentary film. Episode six: 1929-1941,
New York, a documentary film. Episode seven: 1945-2000,