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Teens Explore History & Innovation at the Navy Yard

Written by Samantha Gibson on November 15th, 2012

Once again, I’m pleased to introduce a guest post by Fall Education Intern, Stephanie Krom.  Stephanie is a student in the NYU Archives and Public History MA program.  This semester in the Education Department, Stephanie has worked with K-12 students on school tours here at BHS and she has helped facilitate our brand new after school program that debuted at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92 this fall, “Teen Innovators.”  The teen innovators will show off their work at the culminating event tonight at BLDG 92, so check out Stephanie’s inside look at the work they have done along the way!

Fall 2012 Education Intern, Stephanie Krom

The Teen Innovators are a group of 9th graders from Benjamin Banneker High School who have been working in a six-week afterschool program at BLDG 92. The Teen Innovators program is designed to teach these students about the sustainability-centered businesses, careers, and culture at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In my capacity as a graduate intern at Brooklyn Historical Society, I have aided the Teen Innovators’ Educators, Emily Potter-Ndiaye and Tracy Cook-Person, in a few sessions of the Teen Innovators program. Working with Teen Innovators was the first time I have really worked closely with high schoolers (I am most comfortable with elementary school students). Remembering myself in 9th grade, I was nervous about how to relate to students that age. To my pleasant surprise, I had no trouble relating to the Teen Innovators and immediately fell into conversation with them about my college application experience, how I made my career choice, and why I am interested in history.

In particular, I was impressed with the way the Teen Innovators consistently made connections to the “four themes” of their program – the concepts of economics and politics, sustainability, history, and demographics. These four themes were developed by the educators in conjunction with the Teen Innovators, based in part on the main ideas that came out of initial sessions with the Teen Innovators. The four themes, therefore, connect well to the Brooklyn Navy Yard curriculum but were also of some interest to the Teen Innovators before they began their lessons at BLDG 92.

Artist, welder, and Brooklyn Navy Yard tenant, Susan Woods, discusses her work with the Teen Innovators

On Tuesday, November 13, I went with the Teen Innovators to Aswoon Studio, artist and welder Susan Woods’ studio in Building 131 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Like so many of the businesses at the Navy Yard, Susan’s designs incorporate recycled materials and her entire business model is focused on sustainable, responsible design. The Teen Innovators were impressed by Susan’s studio and, after a short introduction to the space and to the company, immediately jumped in to ask Susan questions about her business. The Teen Innovators came to Aswoon equipped with a worksheet that encouraged them to connect the company’s work to the four themes of the program. The Teens’ questions were right on target. The students are particularly interested in sustainability, which was illustrated in the questions they asked Susan about where she sources her materials from, whether she re-uses materials from old projects, and whether her materials are local. The Teen Innovators were also interested to know whether Susan donates her art to good causes and gives back to the community. In addition, the Teen Innovators were quick to connect Susan’s company to the larger history of Brooklyn Navy Yard – they remembered the pictures they have seen of women during World War II coming to work at the Navy Yard wearing pants, some holding welding gear. As a successful female welder, Susan Woods is, in many ways, their modern-day counterpart in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

In addition to the four themes, the Teen Innovators are very interested in careers and the process through which people make career choices. The Teens asked Susan, just as they ask every professional they meet through the program, about how she made the choice to pursue a career as an artist/welder. In particular, they are interested in whether the career people thought they would have when they were in high school is the same as the career they ended up having. Like Susan and many other professionals at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, these kids are dreaming big from a young age. If they continue the curiosity and excitement about learning that they have demonstrated during their time at BLDG 92, it seems that there is no reason all of the Teen Innovators can’t also become the owners of successful companies in the Brooklyn Navy Yard one day.

BLDG 92′s Teen Innovators

 

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Brooklyn History Photo of the Week: Kodachrome

Written by Samantha Gibson on May 30th, 2012

Couple at military base, ca.1939-1961, v1991.11; Harry Kalmus papers and photographs, ARC.046; Brooklyn Historical Society.

From the desk of Tess Wagman, Exhibition Laboratory high school student: Kodachrome, the slide film immortalized by the lyrics of Paul Simon, began production in 1935. The vivid colors of the images are unique to the process. In 2009, Kodak announced it was discontinuing the product and processing of Kodachrome. Despite the seeming lack of interest in Kodachrome at the time of its discontinuation, Twitter began to trend #Kodachrome and many fans reminisced on their memories of the product and shared slides they took back in the day. These slides are from the personal collection of photographer Harry Kalmus who primarily depicted Jewish Holidays and Bar Mitzvahs. These stunning portraits demonstrate the amazing ability for Kodachrome to withstand the test of time.

This and other Kodachromes will be on display at Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics, BHS’s new exhibition which opens on June 6. Join us at the exhibition opening Wednesday, June 6, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Interested in seeing more photos 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’s Othmer Library Wed-Fri, 1:00-5:00 p.m.

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Ex Lab 2012: Get Ready to Say Cheese!

Written by Samantha Gibson on May 24th, 2012

I’m pleased to introduce a guest post by new-bloggers, David Estevez and Crystal Lau.  David and Crystal are both students at Brooklyn Technical High School and part of BHS’s Exhibition Laboratory (or “Ex Lab”) after-school museum studies program.  The Ex Lab students have been meeting twice a week since February to create the newest exhibit for Brooklyn Historical Society, Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics.  Here’s a sneak peek from David and Crystal about what they’ve been working on and what you can expect to see in the exhibit (opening June 6th)!  Connect to the Ex Lab-ers on twitter @brooklynhistory using hashtag #ExLab.

Brooklyn Tech Junior Crystal Lau

Brooklyn Tech Junior David Estevez

Starting off each class in the unfinished basement underneath the Brooklyn Historical Society, the Ex Lab-ers (or The X LAB-ers, as we’ve deemed our superhero alter-egos) worked together this spring to create a cool, fun, educational, entertaining, home-y exhibit for you! Comprised of fourteen extremely talented students (including us) the X LAB-ers worked together to create the newest exhibit at BHS, Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics. We worked our tailbones off, and despite occasionally butting heads together, we were able to complete our task. As the process continued, our friendships began to take form as we come from four different schools and many of us had never met before the program.

Along the way through this  journey we learned about the history of photography, and how it developed over the past 150 years. We had professional photographers Harvey Stein and Nora Herting to teach us about their work and the cameras they use.  We also had experts such as photography scholar Sarah Katie Gillespie, image conservator Amanda Maloney, and exhibit text specialist Paul Rosenthal who also shared their expertise.

Ex Lab-ers Massy Vainshtein and Will Warren try out the Optivisor, a tool used to assess photo conservation concerns.

The earliest types of photos we learned about were the daguerreotype and the ambrotype which were some of the mediums we have in our archives. Then we looked at tintypes, cabinet cards, carte de visites and lots of 20th century prints – by professionals and amateurs alike – to choose from for the exhibit.  We also visited the International Center of Photography where we looked at other photography exhibits and the curators’ design choices. Along the way, we did everything from overseeing the design of the exhibit to selecting the best images that we wanted to display to weighing in on the graphic design for the exhibit’s marketing material.  In fact, we’re just finishing writing the labels and starting to install the exhibit right now!

Janet Ortiz and Alexa Wheeler decide how to arrange our photos on the walls.

One of our favorite things about the Ex Lab experience was being able to work hands-on with actual artifacts.  It was always a race to find archival gloves that fit to be able to get our hands on the material! To be honest, we also enjoyed the after-school snacks and time spent with a new group of friends. All told, through countless hours of explosive innovation and mind busting, gut wrenching hard work we somehow managed to give birth to our brain child which we named Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics. Join us at the opening reception for Say Cheese! Wednesday, June 6th from 5:30 to 7:30pm.

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Research, Writing, and Art: P.S. 312′s Fourth Graders Curate a History of Bergen Beach

Written by Samantha Gibson on March 19th, 2012

Along with Educator Emily Gallagher, BHS Educator Alex Tronolone is working closely with a team of “young curators” at P.S. 312 to uncover the history of their Bergen Beach neighborhood this spring.  The work the students create will ultimately go into three professionally-designed museum panels to be displayed at the school.  BHS’s after-school program “Young Curators” is made possible by a Cultural After-School Adventures (CASA) grant from City Council Member Lewis Fidler.  I’m happy to introduce today’s guest blogger, Alex, and his insights on getting students engaged with history.

CASA Educator Alex Tronolone

Since the beginning of January I’ve been working with 16 incredible fourth graders in Bergen Beach to study their neighborhood and school. When we began the project I don’t think the students were quite clear about what we would be doing. They knew there was something with history, and that it was a “special” after-school program, but they couldn’t picture the end result – a museum exhibit in our school? However, the students’ visit to Brooklyn Historical Society helped bring their project to life since they got to see the actual archival materials firsthand.

On our first class meeting following the trip, we gathered in a circle on their library’s carpet to discuss our findings. We then split into groups of researchers, writers, and artists to begin making progress on the production of our panels. Beginning with this class session, the students took complete ownership of both their roles and their collective project. For example, the researchers transcribed a 17th century bill of sale for the land around Bergen Beach! The researchers also highlighted important information in historic newspaper articles we had looked at as a class and sent them over to the writers to craft the text for our exhibit panels. The writers recorded facts and ideas they had learned about and noted questions where more research had to be done and sent them over to the researchers to find answers. The artists went through our historic photos of Bergen Beach and looked through our research for descriptions to help them imagine the past. They also came up with two art project proposals that they presented to the entire class to debate and vote on.

Students from P.S. 312 examine documents on display at BHS.

The class now has its own momentum that comes from the genuine enthusiasm these young curators have for this project. My students are so engaged they’ve been spending their lunch periods going to the library to do additional research for the project and every week some students ask to take home work to do.

As a former classroom teacher, I am especially enjoying working with public school students in this student-driven learning environment.  When I taught special education in a NYC public middle school, my job as a teacher was really impacted by the external pressures of large class size and test prep.  We spent entire months preparing for test after test, data notebooks, and, if you were really unlucky, a ‘quality review’. Invariably these tests consisted primarily of multiple choice questions – the lowest common denominator of knowledge and assessment. Needless to say, discipline had to be iron. My students would refer to themselves as numbers; corresponding to their state test scores. I dare you not to feel ill when you hear an eleven-year old with special education services describe their academic achievement as, “I’m a one”, or, “I’m a two.”

In contrast, my work with the young curators gets to be participatory, grounded in real historical research, and driven by the students themselves. It’s exciting to think that my CASA students are legitimately enthusiastic about our project. The skills they learn working collaboratively to produce their exhibit will be skills they can use for the rest of their lives. They’re learning to run their groups democratically (you should see them organize themselves!) and to make decisions about what work needs to be done and who will do it. They will have ownership over the knowledge they gain through historical research that can’t be replicated by studying a textbook or preparing for a test. The excitement about historical and archival research…well, maybe that will wane, but for now, their energy and passion has a momentum that makes it easy and a joy to teach.

The P.S. 312 “Young Curators” team.

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“Young Curators” at P.S. 276 Dig Into Canarsie’s History

Written by Samantha Gibson on February 27th, 2012

This spring, students from P.S. 276 are working with Educator Emily Gallagher to uncover the history of their neighborhood, Canarsie, through BHS’s after-school program “Young Curators.” This program is made possible by a Cultural After-School Adventures (CASA) grant from City Council Member Lewis Fidler.  I’m very pleased to introduce our guest blogger, Emily, and her experience working with her great team of “young curators.” 

BHS Educator and today's guest blogger, Emily Gallagher

As a Brooklyn Historical Society educator, I’m honored to work with third and fifth graders at P.S. 276 in Canarsie as part of the “Young Curators” after-school program. Each week, we delve into a new aspect of Canarsie’s history and, eventually, we’ll tell the story of Canarsie’s past in our own voice as part of a museum quality installation at P.S. 276.  As a museum educator, I’ve often felt exhilarated after exposing young people to the multiple perspectives of history but, through ”Young Curators,” I’m getting an extra thrill — the thrill of watching very smart, capable children become even more emboldened and impassioned about where they live, who they are, and how they fit into the narrative of our community.

I applied for this position because I was especially inspired by on the program’s focus on local history.  So few of us, as children or adults, have a real connection to the amazing events and experiences that happened in our own buildings and on our own blocks.  I really feel that a more tangible connection to that specific past helps build a better neighbor and a better citizen.  Caring about our neighborhoods’ histories and how they fit into Brooklyn and even broader communities beyond Brooklyn is a direct pipeline to caring about our neighborhoods in the present and in the future.

P.S. 276 "Young Curators" check out a historic atlas of their neighborhood.

During our first “Young Curators” class, I asked the students what came to mind when they thought about their neighborhood of Canarsie in the past.  We quickly realized that even though they spend every day immersed in their community, they were much more familiar with New York City and United States history as a whole.  We had a difficult time pin-pointing the important spots in their neighborhood, or important people in their neighborhood’s past.  Using resources from  Brooklyn Historical Society’s library, we were able to dig in directly.  The students have already examined maps, photographs, and documents in order to uncover their neighborhood’s past.

Flash forward a month into our investigation, and my students are asking very pointed questions.  Instead of referring to “the Native Americans,” they speak with authority about the Canarsee Indians for whom the neighborhood is named. Instead of guessing that the Dutch lived here, they can tell you exactly what the Wyckoff family would be eating in Nieuw Amersfoort, and one student even tears up when thinking about what happened to the oyster beds that used to pepper Jamaica Bay along the waterfront of Canarsie.

The "Young Curators" team during their visit to BHS.

Walking down Flatlands Avenue no longer means dodging cars and looking for the bus stop, but it instead means imagining a different time and a different kind of Brooklyn– and hopefully helps these children, who no doubt have an important role to play in Brooklyn’s future, feel more excited about the role they’ll make for themselves in it.

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