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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Sign up to start getting our weekly programming updates, plus our popular Photo of the Week series.
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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
- All about Brooklyn
- Brooklyn Nonfiction
- The Bridge
- Brooklyn Literary Walking Tour
Brooklyn : the once and future cityThomas J Campanella
Brooklyn by name : how the neighborhoods, streets, parks, bridges, and more got their namesLeonard Benardo
The Brooklyn nobody knows : an urban walking guideWilliam B Helmreich
Crown Heights and WeeksvilleWilhelmena Rhodes Kelly
Brooklyn Heights : the rise, fall and rebirth of America's first suburbRobert Furman
Flatbush : the heart of BrooklynNedda C Allbray
Just kidsPatti Smith
Brooklyn BridgeLynn Curlee
Beer school : bottling success at the Brooklyn BrewerySteve Hindy
Identical strangers : a memoir of twins separated and reunitedElyse Schein
Banquet at Delmonico's : great minds, the Gilded Age, and the triumph of evolution in AmericaBarry Werth
Forever blue : the true story of Walter O'Malley, baseball's most controversial owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los AngelesMichael D'Antonio
Barbara McClintockRay Spangenburg
Brooklyn spaces : 50 hubs of culture and creativityOriana Leckert
The accidental playground : Brooklyn waterfront narratives of the undesigned and unplannedDaniel Campo
First historical report of the ... Brooklyn masonic veterans ... from date of organization, November 26, 1888, to June 30, 1894Freemasons Brooklyn Masonic veterans
SteelworkGilbert Sorrentino
Fiftieth anniversary souvenir program of the Cuyler Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, New York, 1886-1936.New York Cuyler Presbyterian Church (Boerum Hill
The great bridge : the epic story of the building of the Brooklyn BridgeDavid G McCullough
The lost treasures of R&B : a D Hunter mysteryNelson George
Off track planet's Brooklyn travel guide for the young, sexy, and brokeFreddie Pikovsky
Walking Brooklyn : 30 tours exploring historical legacies, neighborhood culture, side streets and waterwaysAdrienne Onofri
Design Brooklyn : renovation, restoration, innovation, industryAnne Hellman
The Brooklyn BridgeElizabeth Mann
Brooklyn by name : how the neighborhoods, streets, parks, bridges, and more got their namesLeonard Benardo
Song of Brooklyn : an oral history of America's favorite boroughMarc Eliot
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