If you’ve been clicking around the BHS website recently, you’ve probably seen the mentions of this new exhibit, Pages of the Past: The Breukelen Adventures of Jasper Danckaerts. Or if you’ve come into our building lately then you might have noticed that exhibit in the midst of installation. Days ago I was stunned to see the high school student-curators who’ve created this exhibit, painting images of whales and birds onto the walls. The images were straight out of Jasper Danckaerts’ diary, perfectly resembling the sepia drawings throughout his journals. I wonder if in 1679, Danckaerts had any idea that the contents of his diary would be enlarged and recreated on the walls of a venerable institution not far from where he originally stayed in “Breukelen.”

"Pages of the Past" opens June 5 and will be up through January 2010

This exhibit promises to be amazing and I am looking forward to talking to the nineteen student-curators when the exhibit opens on Friday night. I invite everyone to join us for the celebration, which runs from 5:30 -7:30 PM. Reveling in the history of New York’s finest borough is just how you should kick off your weekend. We’ll also be offering behind-the-scenes tours of our AMAZING, interior landmark Othmer Library. The Collections staff will offer tours and a peek at some of the prized items in the BHS Collections (ask Liz about the wax head!). If you’ve never been to the BHS Library, well I couldn’t improve upon the description offered by Francis Morrone in his column in the New York Sun. Suffice to say the Library alone is well worth a trip to BHS. 

In the meantime – got a question for our ace team of high school student-curators? Post them here in the comments section and we’ll have the students reply. See you Friday!

Welcome to Brooklyn - Sign on Pulaski Bridge

Okay, I’ll admit it right now. I am not a native Brooklynite. I originally come from Seattle, on the Left Coast, as many say here.  And do I live here in Bklyn now? No. Not yet, I always say sheepishly when someone asks me at the front desk. I live in a brownstone, but in another historic neighborhood – Harlem. Which is also a very cool place.

So, why, then, do I work at the Brooklyn Historical Society? What am I doing here? Well, because there is just something about this place, meaning both BHS and Brooklyn. BHS has an aura about it – the building and collections entice. And though I am not “from Brooklyn,” I have come to love Brooklyn – not only as it is now, but also from what I’ve learned about the history of this fine borough and city.

But as an “outsider” what both impresses and perplexes me is just how much Brooklynites love Brooklyn. The sense of pride in Brooklyn is unlike any other I’ve experienced. Borough President Marty Markowitz’s street sign confirms it – like no other place in the world.

I get that there’s lots about this place to love, but I feel like I miss out on something by not being a native Brooklynite.

So tell me, what is it about Brooklyn? What is the power and magic of this place that has such a hold on people? I really want to know. Will you let me in on the mystique? Help me out here!