January, 2013

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Photo of the Week: Where is our snow?

Written by Julie May on January 30th, 2013

Henry Street & Love Lane, 1888, v1974.40.1.22; Brooklyn Academy of Photography Blizzard of 1888 photograph album, v1974.040; Brooklyn Historical Society.

While I am not hoping for a blizzard to hit Brooklyn, I am crossing my fingers for a little more snow than the dusting we received in the past week or so. This photograph was taken in 1888 by an unidentified member of the Brooklyn Academy of Photography soon after the Great Blizzard of 1888. The storm took place on March 12 and 13, affected a large part of the East Coast, and took about two weeks to dig out. It is appropriate that this photographer would find him or herself on Henry Street since the club was headquartered on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. As you may know, both Henry Street and Love Lane still exist; Love Lane being quaint as ever with some of the same structures standing as can be glimpsed above. While no longer located on Montague Street, the Brooklyn Academy of Photography also still exists, but is now known as the Brooklyn Camera Club. To learn more about the album this photograph came from check out the finding aid.

Finally, let me end by reiterating: Brooklyn deserves some sledding in Prospect Park, cross-country skiing on Flatbush Avenue, a day or two of school and meeting cancellations, and the sweetest cup of hot cocoa only experienced after a glorious flop in a feathery pile of snow.

Interested in seeing more photographs from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery which includes a selection of our images. To search our entire collection of images, visit BHS Othmer Library Wed-Fri 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Posted in Brooklyn Past & Present, Library & Archives | No Responses »
Tags: Brooklyn photos, Photo of the Week, Photography Collection

Renovation Report – Behind the Scenes

Written by Janice on January 24th, 2013

Welcome to Renovation Report, the first installment in a monthly series of blog posts to provide progress reports on Brooklyn Historical Society’s (BHS) current renovation and to highlight the fascinating features of our landmark building. Designed by architect George Post and opened in 1881, Brooklyn Historical Society’s building was ahead of its time, and will be once again.

BHS trustees and staff view the ceiling restoration of the ground floor event space

BHS is midway through construction to renovate the first floor and lower level. We are thrilled to see physical changes unfold! We remain OPEN during this construction period, and the new spaces are slated to open in fall 2013 in conjunction with the launch of BHS’s 150^th anniversary celebrations. We want to let you know what’s happening, what to expect, share some of the amazing architectural details of our building, and give you an insider’s view into the behind-the-scenes work that is underway.

The newly configured spaces will include 2,200 square feet of new galleries for exhibitions and create a classroom for student and teacher programs. We are also restoring the historic entrance to the building and will provide an exciting, new welcome desk and Brooklyn specific gift shop. These updates will improve visitor flow through the building with better ADA access. Central to the project is enlivening our main event space for public programs and space rentals by restoring the space to the full breadth of the original auditorium. It will once again accommodate up to 200 people seated, highlight the detailed wood ceiling with updated lighting, and offer a fully equipped audio-visual system. All of these changes to the building modernize the spaces for current and future use while respecting the magnificence of our landmark building. View the new designs here.

Cross-section of the newly designed spaces on BHS’s first floor and lower level

Please check back next month for the latest update. Or view the whole series in our blog category, Landmark Building.

Posted in Landmark Building | No Responses »
Tags: Architecture, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, George B. Post, Historic Landmark, Renovation

Photo of the Week: Volunteerism

Written by Julie May on January 16th, 2013

Reading aloud to the Tuesday group (blind women), ca. 1935, v1991.110.160; Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service records, ARC.129; Brooklyn Historical Society.

As we celebrate Martin Luther King Day and the President calls us to a National Day of Service (http://mlkday.gov/), I turned to the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service records to find a photo of Brooklyn volunteers, and remind us of the little things one can do for the benefit of the larger community. The Bureau of Community Service was an organization that led a number of initiatives for people with disabilities, children, and others. In this photo, a group of blind women are read to during their Tuesday group gathering. As the new year begins, we can all pitch in with big and small deeds via http://mlkday.gov/serve/index.php.

For more information about the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service, now Brooklyn Community Services, go to their website. Follow the MLK Day’s events or tweet about your own activities via @MLKDay.

Posted in Brooklyn Past & Present, Library & Archives | No Responses »
Tags: Brooklyn photos, Martin Luther King Day, Photo of the Week, Photography Collection

Map of the Month – January 2013

Written by Carolyn on January 14th, 2013

This month’s featured map shows a plan for the Parade Ground, laid out just south of Prospect Park. Parade grounds served a significant purpose in the 19th century by providing large expanses of land where the military could conduct drills and exercises. Originally, the park’s designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux proposed that the park’s parade ground be located in East New York, but they later settled on an area south of the park. Completed in 1869, about two years after the park opened to the public, the Parade Ground served the military’s needs while protecting the grasses of the Long Meadow from the stress of repeated drills. As early as 1881 the Grounds began to be used for field sports when not being used drills and parades. By 1905 the Parade Grounds consisted of twenty-five baseball diamonds, only half of which were regulation size and during the winter the area hosted rugby and four football fields.

Plan for the Parade Ground : proposed to be laid out for Kings Co., L.I. States & Koch. ca. 1860. Brooklyn Historical Society Map Collection.

(Click on the image to see more detail)

Special thanks goes out to Paul Nelson, Press Director of the Prospect Park Alliance, and the Prospect Park Archives who helped with some of the historic details of this post!

Interested in seeing more maps? You can view the BHS map collection anytime during the library’s open hours, Wed.-Fri., from 1-5 p.m. No appointment is necessary to view most maps. Our cataloged maps can be searched through BobCat and our map inventories through Emma . Map of the Month is part of a project to catalog our map holdings, funded through the Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Collections program. If you would like to help us do more of this kind of work with our exciting map holdings, donate here.

Posted in Brooklyn Past & Present, Hidden Collections, Library & Archives | 3 Responses »
Tags: Brooklyn, Map of the Month, maps, Prospect Park

Photo of the Week: Food Trucks

Written by Leah on January 9th, 2013

Workers Buying Lunch From a Food Truck, ca. 1965, v1988.37.39; The Anthony M. Costanzo Brooklyn Navy Yard collection, ARC.023; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Today gourmet food trucks can be found in every major U.S. city, but the initial concept of the food truck and “mobile kitchens” have been around since the 1860s. It came as a part of the westward migration which helped in defining the U.S. as a pioneering country. The first transportable meals came from the American West and chuck wagons. The invention of the chuck wagon is attributed to the Texas Ranger, Charles Goodnight. He realized that having a mobile kitchen would make it easier when feeding hungry cattlemen. On the East Coast this same concept became known as the lunch wagons, which later on become diners.

The humbler beginnings of these mobile eateries have been elevated to a nationwide sensation, even spurring a TV show. There was also a recent episode on the History Channel which delves into the origins of the food truck in America.

The image above depicts Brooklyn Navy Yard workers buying lunch at the Mobile Canteen lunch truck, most likely a quick lunch option for the workers on a busy schedule while also being a suitable and affordable alternative to bringing their own lunch.

This image comes from the The Anthony M. Costanzo Brooklyn Navy Yard collection, which was donated to Brooklyn Historical Society in 1987. Anthony Costanzo was employed by the Navy as a Public Information Officer for the U.S. Department of the Navy at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in its declining years of the 1960s. He held this position until the decommissioning of the Navy Yard in 1966.

Readers might also be interested in the Lunch Hour exhibit ongoing at New York Public Library and Food Truck Rally at Prospect Park.