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Was it standard to have gun racks in libraries in 1959?

Written by Todd on August 16th, 2010

Ever since Chela mentioned offhand at lunch the other day that the BHS library had once had gun racks, my imagination was captured. I once helped move insanely heavy boxes of muskets in our storage and wondered where and when they’d been on exhibit.

Well, thanks to the “Random Images” button in our online photo search of the John D. Morrell collection, an image popped up which quelled my curiosity.

BHS (f.k.a. Long Island Historical Society) Library

Gun Rack in the BHS (f.k.a. Long Island Historical Society) Library

I highly recommend searching around in those photos. There are some real gems! Here are a couple more photos apparently taken on the same day in November, 1959:

Guy’s Painting of Brooklyn at Long Island Historical Society.

Francis Guy’s Painting of Brooklyn at Long Island Historical Society."

Old director’s room, Long Island Historical Society.

Old director’s room, Long Island Historical Society.

Posted in Brooklyn Past & Present, Library & Archives | 1 Response »

New Luna Park opening in Coney Island on May 29th

Written by Elizabeth Call on May 28th, 2010

With the grand opening of the new Luna Park in Coney Island this Saturday, May 29th, we thought it would be cool to post of some of the great photographs of the original Luna Park from our collections.

The original Luna Park opened up in Coney Island on May 16, 1903 (and closed in 1944).  A New York Times article that covered the opening stated that 45,000 individuals showed up to the park’s first day:

New York Times, May 17, 1903
New York Times, May 17, 1903

Luna Park’s  main entrance circa 1903:

Luna Park, main entrance, ca. 1903. Eugene L. Armbruster Photograph & Scrapbook Collection. V1974.22.5.2. Photography Colleciton of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Luna Park, main entrance, ca. 1903. Eugene L. Armbruster Photograph & Scrapbook Collection. V1974.22.5.2. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Here is an image of the main entrance in the 1920s:

Luna Park, main entrance, 1924. V1974.1.835. Eugene L. Armbruster Photograph & Scrapbook Collection, Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Luna Park, main entrance, 1924. V1974.1.835. Eugene L. Armbruster Photograph & Scrapbook Collection, Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Many of the park’s attractions seemed to have surrounded around performance.  For a mere 5 cents visitors could witness something titled “The Fatal Wedding”:

Luna Park attraction 1904.  Eugene L. Armbruster Photograph & Scrapbook Collection.

V1974.22.5.23.  Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

There was also a daily fire, which visitors could gawk at:

“Fighting the Flames,” 1904. Eugene L. Armbruster Scrapbook & Photograph Collection. V1974.22.5.40. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

There were also rides at the old Luna:

Circle Swing, Luna Park 1904. Eugene L. Armbruster Photography & Scrapbook Collection. V1974.22.5.26. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Circle Swing, Luna Park 1904. Eugene L. Armbruster Photography & Scrapbook Collection. V1974.22.5.26. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.”

"Shooting the Chutes at Luna Park," 1904. Eugene L. Armbruster Photography & Scrapbook Collection. V1974.22.5.36. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.
“Shooting the Chutes at Luna Park,” 1904. Eugene L. Armbruster Photography & Scrapbook Collection. V1974.22.5.36. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Posted in Brooklyn Past & Present, Library & Archives | 1 Response »
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Horsecars and trolleys and plank roads, oh my

Written by Chela on April 28th, 2010

One of my favorite things about being an archivist at BHS is all the different people I get to meet in the library. Researchers and their work are fascinating, and with each new person I work with, I get to learn something new. When I first started working as an archivist, I was amused to make the connection that libraries and archives have regulars– folks that come in often enough that you know their names (and sometimes their stories and their quirks)– just like the bars and coffee shops and restaurants I’d worked at in the past. At BHS we have some great regulars, either because they live in the neighborhood and love working in our amazingly beautiful library, they are researchers for hire who return often with new research for new clients, or because their research requires them to delve deeply in to the collections here at BHS.

One of our favorite regulars falls in to this last category: Darryl Heller is an American History PhD candidate at University of Chicago, whose work around 19th Century Brooklyn has brought him back to our archives on repeated trips. This week brings him back to Brooklyn again for more research and a presentation at Proteus Gowanus. Proteus Gowanus is a gallery, press, and reading room, and each year they chose a theme around which they build projects, exhibits, and events. This years theme is Transport, “an exploration through art, artifacts, books and events of How We Get There in the never-ending journey toward our destinations.” As a part of this exploration, they asked Darryl to talk about the history of early transportation in Brooklyn. For those of you unfamiliar with pre-HopStop public transport in Brooklyn, it was made up of a complicated and confusing assemblage of competing routes, technologies, companies, visions, and legislation. Following is a preview from Darryl of some of what he will be talking about:

Brooklyn is known for many things, among which is as the home to famous Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The Dodgers, of course, was a shortened name for the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers, a moniker that came to represent the baseball team after 1911. This title was appropriate given that Brooklyn had one of the most extensive street railway systems in the nation. Crossing the streets of the borough was, to some extent, a hair-raising if not life threatening endeavor. However, the trolley era, and its ubiquitous overhead wires, was preceded by the horsecar railway, a lower tech, but critical mode of transportation that occupied the streets of the city for almost half a century.

darrylblogphoto

This early form of urban transportation was constructed by laying smooth rails along city streets and using horses or mules as the motive power. Between 1853 and 1898 over twenty different companies provided transportation around the city of Brooklyn with lines radiating like the spokes of a wheel from downtown to all parts of Kings County. At its height, some companies stabled more than 3000 horses to pull cars and move residents between home, work, and pleasure destinations such as Coney Island. Lines stretched from Fulton Street to East New York, Atlantic Avenue to Jamaica, Main Street to Williamsburgh, and Hamilton Ferry to New Utrecht and Gravesend.

One of the reasons that the horse was so important is that steam locomotives were banned from operating within city limits because of their noise, smoke, ashes, and sparks. Although the Long Island Railroad was provisionally allowed to run steam trains along Atlantic Avenue, most other steam roads operated in the rural towns and villages beyond the city line. Some companies used both forms of power, that is, travelers would board a horsecar at an East River ferry and ride it to the border of the city. They would then disembark and transfer to a steam train in order to continue on to Bath Beach, Coney Island, or other shore locations.

By the late 1880’s electricity was developed to the extent that it provided a viable solution to the horse. Out of this was born the horseless trolley, with its power station that replaced the stable. For many, this was a welcome advance and by the turn of the century the role of the horse was fading from memory. Nevertheless, its contribution to the development of the modern city is unquestioned.

Join Darryl Heller, Proteus Gowanus, and quite likely a few BHS staff, this Friday at 7PM at Proteus Gowanus, 543 Union Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215.

Posted in Brooklyn Past & Present, Library & Archives | 1 Response »
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Stories from Puerto Rico

Written by Sady on April 19th, 2010

Writing in 1975, Angelo Falcón, founder of the National Institute for Latino Policy and currently a professor at Columbia University, said:

The more than century-old presence of a politically active Puerto Rican community in New York City has been curiously obscured, afflicted by what Russell Jacoby calls ’social amnesia’ and with serious consequences.  (Puerto Rican Politics in Urban America, 1984)

35 years later, last Friday, BHS celebrated the newly accessible Puerto Rican Oral History, 1973-1975.  This oral history project, initiated in 1973 by John D. Vasquez, then Director of Puerto Rican Studies at New York City Community College, was the first oral history project undertaken by BHS.  As coordinator of the BHS Oral History Program, I am proud that BHS answered the call coming from Falcón, Vasquez and others at that time to document the important contributions and experiences of the Puerto Rican community in Brooklyn.

The oral history interviews in this collection are newly accessible even though they were conducted between 1973-1975 because until now, only transcripts were available – you couldn’t listen to the actual interviews which were recorded on cassette tape.  BHS is a leader among archives who give researchers access to the actual audio/video of interviews rather than just transcripts.  BHS gives primacy to the audio document because as Alessandro Portelli says, “The tone and volume range and the rhythm of popular speech carry implicit meaning and social connotations which are not reproducible in writing.” (The Death of Luigi Trastulli and Other Stories, 1991).  This is one of the ways BHS furthers our mission to make the vibrant history of Brooklyn tangible, relevant, and meaningful today.

Everyone is welcome to come to BHS to listen to the voices collected in this oral history, which is also made accessible at Centro.  Centro gives online access to some of their collections including this excellent bilingual educational resource: The Electronic Schoolhouse/La Escuela Electrónica.

Listen to Amna Ahmad, BHS Oral History Intern and Columbia student, discuss her experience digitizing this collection from cassette tape and the stories she heard listening to ALL 75 HOURS of interviews!

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Amna Ahmad & Pedro Juan Hernandez

Amna Ahmad & Pedro Juan Hernandez

Pedro Juan Hernández, Senior Archivist at Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños/Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, CUNY; Chela Scott Weber, Archivist & Director of the Othmer Library at BHS;  and I also spoke on Friday about the importance of this collection.  Among those joining the discussion were El Diario’s Erica González; folklorist Elena Martinez, creator of the Steamship Migration tour of New York on the City of Memory; and Stephanie Alvarez, mother of Cassie Alvarez, BHS Visitor Services Assistant who we were surprised to discover is a descendant of Luis Felipe Weber, an important leader of the Puerto Rican community in the 1920s who is often discussed by narrators in this collection.

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Stephanie Alvarez and her daughter Cassie Alvarez

Here are some samples from the Puerto Rican Oral History collection.  These interviews were recorded between 1973-1975:

Listen to Celia Vicé (b 1920), civic leader, former Commissioner of NYC Commission on Human Rights, and at the time of the interview president of Puerto Rican Heritage publications:

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Listen to Honorina Weber Irizarry (b ca. 1905) talk about how being bilingual helped her in the workplace and the generosity of her brother Luis Felipe Weber:

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Listen to Luis Hernandez (b ca. 1923), then NYC Commissioner on Human Rights talk about leaders in the Puerto Rican community in Brooklyn:

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Listen to Sister Carmelita (b. 1907) talk about the Spanish-speaking community in Brooklyn and changes in religious practice:

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To hear more, including interviews in Spanish, please visit BHS and listen in the Library.

To read more, here’s a Select Bibliography about Puerto Rican community in New York City.



Posted in Brooklyn Past & Present, Library & Archives, Oral History, Public Programs | 2 Responses »
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Hancock Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant

Written by Julie on April 9th, 2010

There are certainly some architectural gems in Bedford-Stuyvesant.  A researcher in the library today researching her block for the purpose of landmarking it and The Brownstoner making 247 Hancock Street the Building of the Day drew me into another section of our Photography Collection.  In the early 70s, BHS president James Hurley, with others, photographed this beautiful block of Hancock Street.

Hancock Street between Marcy & Thompkins taken by William Cox, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.2.

Hancock Street between Marcy & Thompkins taken by William Cox, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.2.

Hancock Street between Marcy & Thompkins taken by William Cox, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.4.

Hancock Street between Marcy & Thompkins taken by William Cox, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.4.

Hancock Street between Marcy & Thompkins taken by William Cox, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.9.

Hancock Street between Marcy & Thompkins taken by William Cox, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.9.

Kelly Mansion 249 Hancock Street between Marcy & Thompkins built by Montrose Morris taken by William Cox, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.9.

Kelly Mansion at 249 Hancock Street between Marcy & Thompkins built by Montrose Morris taken by William Cox, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.9.

239 Hancock Street between Marcy & Tompkins taken by James Hurley, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.16.

239 Hancock Street between Marcy & Tompkins taken by James Hurley, 1972. Brooklyn Historical Society Hargrave Collection of Bedford-Stuyvesant Photographs, v1974.5.16.

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Postcard craze

Written by Julie on March 25th, 2010

The recent New Yorker blog post “Off the shelf: Folk Photography” by Rollo Romig about the popularity of postcards renewed my enthusiasm for our collection at the Brooklyn Historical Society.  Widely printed, mailed, and collected, we have thousands of postcards depicting a long ago Brooklyn and from one Brooklynite to another.  Not only are the images great to see, they show a Brooklyn from years ago that may or may not still exist and the correspondence is fascinating to read.  They are somewhat like the tweets, text messages, and emails we send today.  At only a penny to send, why not, right?  Here is a small selection of our postcards.

November 29, 1891. No chance to write, calls all morning . . . v1973.4.761. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

November 29, 1891. No chance to write, calls all morning . . . v1973.4.761. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

November 20, 1906. Dear Laura, Another for your collection . . .

November 20, 1906. Dear Laura, Another for your collection . . . v1973.4.296. Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

I am trying to get you a soldier. Estelle.

I am trying to get you a soldier. Estelle. v1988.20.68. The Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

1890. The view from our garden. 1 Grace Court. Brooklyn Heights.

1890. The view from our garden. 1 Grace Court. Brooklyn Heights. v1973.4.953. The Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

No Date. When you are big enough you must go to Luna Park to see the circus.

No Date. When you are big enough you must go to Luna Park to see the circus. v1973.4.712. The Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

This view was taken just south of Cortelyou Road, and is looking north. The avenue was still a dirt road with wooden planks. Note the Jeremiah Lott homestead.

Flatbush Avenue, ca. 1880. This view was taken just south of Cortelyou Road, and is looking north. The avenue was still a dirt road with wooden planks. Note the Jeremiah Lott homestead. v1973.4.641. The Photography Collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society.

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