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The Lefferts family goes digital

Written by Julie Golia on December 7th, 2011

In 2010, the Lefferts historic house donated a rich collection of Lefferts family papers to Brooklyn Historical Society. Included were genealogies, bibles, recipe books, financial papers, personal recollections, and many other documents that offer an intimate glimpse into the lives and labors of one Brooklyn family over four centuries. Thanks to a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, BHS spent much of 2010 and 2011 conserving, organizing, and processing these materials. The goal: to make these unique artifacts available to researchers, students, and museumgoers, and to preserve their historical lessons for generations to come.

Gold framed rose-tinted photograph of back of Lefferts homestead in snow; Lefferts family papers, ARC.145, box 5, folder 9; Brooklyn Historical Society.

When I began my work as BHS’s public historian in early 2011, I could not wait to dive into the institution’s rich archival materials. Very quickly, the Lefferts family papers became one of my favorite collections. Because it spans almost four centuries – from the arrival of the first Leffertses in 1660 through the present – the Lefferts family papers illustrate some of the most important themes of Brooklyn’s history: slavery and freedom, the development of Flatbush from farmland to suburb, the experiences of women in colonial Brooklyn, and many more.  We at BHS wanted to make these evocative materials available to as many eyes as possible.

That’s why BHS is proud to launch “An American Family Grows in Brooklyn: The Lefferts Family Papers at Brooklyn Historical Society.” This new digital exhibit examines Brooklyn’s complex history through the eyes of one family.  The site also includes an image gallery showcasing high-resolution reproductions of seventy-seven items from the Lefferts family papers.

Mrs. Lefferts' recipe book, circa 1800s; Lefferts family papers, ARC.145, box 6, folder 6; Brooklyn Historical Society.

“An American Family Grows in Brooklyn” chronicles the family’s arrival in frontier Flatbush, their role in building Kings County’s booming agricultural economy, their use of enslaved laborers up until New York’s Emancipation Day in 1827, and their relationships with other Dutch families in the region.  Items like a nineteenth century cookbook or a list of expenses from a 1791 funeral reveal the material conditions that shaped the everyday lives of members of the Lefferts clan.  Other documents, like the dozens of slave indentures held in the collection, offer glimpses into the experiences of a less-chronicled but equally important group of Brooklynites: enslaved African Americans.

We hope that researchers, history buffs, students, and other Brooklyn enthusiasts around the globe take advantage of the rich resources available in “An American Family Grows in Brooklyn.“

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The Frank J. Trezza Brooklyn Navy Yard Collection

Written by Kenyetta Dean on August 5th, 2011

A SIGN PAINTED ON A WALL AT THE BROOKLYN NAVY YARD, CA. 1978, V1988.21.293; FRANK J.TREZZA BROOKLYN NAVY YARD COLLECTION, ARMS 1988.016; BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

The origins of the Brooklyn Navy Yard (officially known as the New York Naval Shipyard) date back to1801, when the United States Navy acquired what had previously been a small, privately owned shipyard in order to construct naval vessels. By the time the Defense Department ceased shipbuilding activities at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1966, 88 vessels had been manufactured at the facility. In 1967, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was acquired by the City of New York and was converted for private commercial use.

Seatrain Shipbuilding commenced shipbuilding activities at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1969, and during its tenure at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Seatrain built four VLCC (Very Large Carrying Capacity) oil tankers, eight barges, and one ice breaker barge. The company employed approximately 3,100  union workers through the mid-1970’s. However, economic troubles developed throughout its existence and by the time the company declared bankruptcy its once large workforce had shrunk to 550.

AN AERIAL VIEW OF A SHIP AT THE BROOKLYN NAVY YARD, CA. 1978, V1988.21.79; FRANK J. TREZZA BROOKLYN NAVY YARD COLLECTION, ARMS 1988.016; BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

The Frank J. Trezza Brooklyn Navy Yard collection is particularly interesting because it contains several hundred color photographs, black & white photographs, color negatives, and black & white negatives, all photographed by Frank J. Trezza during his tenure at the Seatrain Shipbuilding. Though the dates of the collection span from 1861 to 1988, the bulk of the records are from the period 1973-1978, when Mr. Trezza was an employee of Seatrain Shipbuilding. The images offer an inside view of the Navy Yard during the final years of shipbuilding there. Included are landscapes of the Navy Yard and its surrounding area, portraits of fellow Seatrain employees on the job, and images of the ships that were built or repaired at the Navy Yard during this time. There are also a few copy prints obtained from the National Archives that depict ships built at the Navy Yard from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century.

Currently, the Brooklyn Historical Society has an active partnership with the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  During the planning process of the BNYC 92 Interpretive Center’s exhibition, the Brooklyn Historical Society staff served as museum advisers.  Our education department is developing the Center’s inaugural education program, Ingenious Inventions, a tour where students will explore innovation and technology in the Yard, from dry docks and advancements in shipbuilding technology to the Yard’s reinvention as a site for green technology and sustainable production.   You can go to their website for more information on the BNYC 92 Interpretive Center to learn more about the Brooklyn Navy Yard and experience the Yard’s shipbuilding  history first hand.

 

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“We Live in Brooklyn, Baby”

Written by Patricia Glowinski on July 29th, 2011

Several weeks ago I attended the Roy Ayers concert at SummerStage (here’s the live performance) in Central Park. It was a gorgeous evening, with a crowd that probably represented six of the seven continents. When Ayers played Harry Whitaker‘s song, We Live in Brooklyn, Baby (originally recorded on Ayers’ 1971 album, He’s Coming), everyone knew it. The entire audience sang in unison “We live in Brooklyn, baby. We’re trying to make it, baby. We wanna make it, baby. We’re gonna make it, baby.” (link to the 1971 version)

It was an amazing feeling when we–people from Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island…people from what looked to be everywhere and beyond–shared with each other our vision of Brooklyn. You could feel it too. Everyone who sang that song knew Brooklyn–had a connection to it in their own way. It started me thinking about the idea of Brooklyn. How has people’s ideas of what Brooklyn is and what it represents changed over the years? Who influenced/is influencing the idea of what Brooklyn is? Who is defining it?

So far, while working on the CLIR project here at BHS, I’ve come across many different ideas of what Brooklyn is and how it should be remembered. Our archival, photography, oral history, and map collections are filled with people’s ideas of Brooklyn. Further, I’m not the only one thinking about what and who makes Brooklyn, Brooklyn. Currently at BHS, we have an excellent exhibit that explores the idea of Brooklyn–Inventing Brooklyn: People, Places, Progress. The March/April 2011 issue of City Limits Magazine also explored the idea of Brooklyn, or rather how we define Brooklyn. And last night, at the Skylight Gallery located within Restoration Plaza, a new exhibit opened, Crown Heights Gold: Examining Race Relations and Healing in Crown Heights, that explores various views of one neighborhood in Brooklyn and one event that took place there, the Crown Height Riots of 1991. (Note: BHS is also hosting an event with the curator of Crown Heights Gold, Dexter Wimberly, and two of the artists from the exhibit on August 11, 2011; for more on Crown Heights, see BHS’s oral history collection: Crown Heights Oral History-Listen To This)

If you too are interested in exploring, examining, and defining the past, present, and future of Brooklyn, you can do your own research at BHS in the Othmer Library (Wed. through Fri. 1-5pm or by appointment). In the meantime, here are some examples of how Brooklyn is represented in our collections.

In the late 1960s/early 1970s Newsweek photojournalist/photographer Bernard Gotfryd shot these photographs of East New York, Crown Heights, and Fort Greene.

Kids in window, East New York. Photograph by Bernard Gotfryd, circa 1965. From the Bernard Gotfryd color slides and photographs, V1987.003 (Object ID # V1987.3.6)

 

Clean laundry, Crown Heights. Photograph by Bernard Gotfryd, circa 1965. From the Bernard Gotfryd color slides and photographs (V1987.003; Object ID #1987.3.17)

 

Street scene, Fort Greene. Photograph by Bernard Gotfryd, circa 1965. From the Bernard Gotfryd color slides and photographs (V1987.003; Object ID #1987.3.14)

Baseball seems to be in the blood of Brooklynites. Our collections definitely support this.

Actor, professional athlete, and Brooklyn son Chuck Connors (1921-1991) played baseball for the Bay Ridge Celtics before he went on to play for the Montreal Royals (the Dodgers minor league affiliate team at the time), the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Los Angeles Angels (then still a farm team), and the Chicago Cubs. (Oh yeah, he also played professional basketball for the Boston Celtics the first year the team was established in 1946…all before he went on to have a 40 year career as an actor).

Chuck Connors in his Bay Ridge Celtics uniform at Ebbets Field, 1938. From the Chuck Connors photographs (V1987.012; Object ID #V1987.12.9)

Ralph Irving Lloyd (1865-1969) was a Brooklyn ophthalmologist (actually, quite renowned in the field) and, lucky for us, a really good amateur photographer who took this early photograph of Brooklyn baseball.

Chicago v. Brooklyn. Albert Peter "Lefty" Leifield pitching, ball in air, circa 1912. From the Ralph Irving Lloyd lantern slides (V1981.015; Object ID #V1981.15.204)

The BHS archival collections contain many great family collections that tell of Brooklyn from each family’s individual and unique perspective. The Mulford family lived in the Prospect-Lefferts Gardens neighborhood at 240 Hawthorne Street (the house is still there). Their family photograph collection dates from circa 1880 to 1930 and, of course, includes a baseball photo or two or three.

Oldest Mulford son (?) in his Kensington AC baseball uniform, circa 1900. From the Mulford family photograph collection (V1974.010; Object ID #V1974.10.68)

You can view these photographs and many others via our image database in the library. Some photographs are available online (with more to come), and there is the rest of our approximately 2000 linear feet of archival collections to research. Come, explore, research, examine, define…”cause we live in Brooklyn, baby.”

Posted in Brooklyn Past & Present, Events, Exhibitions, Hidden Collections, Library & Archives, Oral History | 2 Responses »
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Introducing College Students to the Joys of Archival Research

Written by Julie Golia on June 29th, 2011

Faculty learning about library policies. Photo taken by SAFA Intern Alison Bunis

This past week, Brooklyn Historical Society hosted a week-long institute for eighteen college professors participating in the Students and Faculty in the Archives project (SAFA).

As regular readers may remember, this spring BHS commenced the SAFA project, thanks to funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). For the next five semesters, SAFA partner faculty from St. Francis College, Long Island University Brooklyn Campus, and New York City College of Technology will bring their first year students to BHS’s Othmer Library to immerse them in our rich historical collections. This upcoming year alone, over 800 students will hone their research and critical thinking skills by working with newspapers, broadsides, slave indentures, maps, atlases, pamphlets, correspondence, diaries, and many other archival materials housed here at BHS.

At the end of the three-year project, BHS will have created a replicable pedagogical model for collaboration between archives and institutions of higher learning. We’ll also have exposed thousands of first-year college students to the joys of archival research.

Before these students descend upon BHS, the SAFA staff (Outreach and Public Services Archivist Robin M. Katz and me, BHS Public Historian Julie Golia) wanted to give partner faculty some time to design their classes and to get to know our collections.  During the Summer Institute, we gave faculty ample research time in Othmer Library.  There they pored over hundreds of different documents.  We were blown away by their ideas, and by the creative ways they are using our collections.

Archivist Matthew Gorham teaches SAFA faculty about searching our catalogs. Photo taken by Robin Katz.

St. Francis College professor Athena Devlin, for example, is using the decade of the 1860s as a lens to introduce her American Studies students to a myriad of materials: diaries, personal correspondence, political broadsides, and much more. Professor Devlin found our recently published Civil War Subject Guide a great help.  In particular, the correspondences between Brooklyn soldiers and their families in collections like the Cranston Papers will allow students a personal glimpse into life in camp and on the home front.

City Tech professor Peter Catapano, teaching American History since 1877, has a long list of subjects that he needs to address in his survey course. He decided to focus on the history of theater in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Brooklyn. During their visit, Professor Catapano and his students will examine issues of the turn-of-the-century theater periodical The Opera Glass and contextualize the locations of theaters with our rich map collection.

Leah Dilworth, professor of English at LIU Brooklyn, is teaching Rubbish!, a course that will chronicle the cultural and material history of garbage. One of the collections that Professor Dilworth and her students will use this fall is the Arnie Goldwag Brooklyn Congress of Racial Equality Collection. When we think of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, our minds go to segregation and sit-ins before they go to garbage. But the inequitable collection of waste in neighborhoods with large non-white populations was a key issue championed by Brooklyn CORE.

These are just three of the inventive courses that our faculty began designing during our SAFA Summer Institute. As the students visit our archive in the fall, we’ll report back about their experiences. In the meantime, we hope you’ll be inspired by the SAFA experience and visit Othmer Library to do some archival research of your own.

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Worth 1,000 words and sometimes a smile

Written by Weatherly on March 18th, 2011
I always enjoy working with the photography collection, and finding an unusual or unexpected image tends to make my day. The sentiment of the majority of portraits from the late 19th and early 20th centuries could lead you to believe that very few people had fun in those days. With scant smiles and rigid posture, how could they? So, here are some examples from the BHS photo collection to prove that notion wrong.
Take this portrait of an alumni association known as the Old First Class of Wilson Street School (now P.S. 16 in Williamsburg). At quick glance, it’s just a group of middle-aged men wearing three piece suits.
Old First Class of Wilson Street School Group Photograph

Group Photograph, 1902; Old First Class of Wilson Street School records, ARC.107, Box 6; Brooklyn Historical Society.

But look closer on the left side of the photo, and you’ll see two students sneaking in on the action. The posts of the fence frame them like prisoners behind bars, and adds a probably unintentional but humorous touch.

Old First Class of Wilson Street School Group Photograph (crop)

Group Photograph, 1902; Old First Class of Wilson Street School records, ARC.107, Box 6; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Many studio portraits show an individual or families posing seriously and keeping still for the camera. Perhaps Ernestine Aschner, a young resident of Brooklyn Heights, considered Toby the Dog just another member of her family. Or perhaps she saw the strange and funny potential of Toby in the arms of an ambivalent doll.

Cabinet card of Ernestine Aschner's pug dog "Toby", circa 1890; Fred Hoyt family research collection, ARC.043; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Cabinet card of Ernestine Aschner's pug dog "Toby", circa late 19th century; Fred Hoyt family research collection, ARC.043; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Despite their historical importance, photographs are not always treated as revered artifacts. The members of the Parkside Pals Club look quite dapper in this group portrait, but did they know an enemy, armed with an ink pen and a variety of mustache styles, lay in wait?

Group portrait of the Parkside Pals Club, circa 1915; Parkside Pals Club photographs, V1991.068; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Group portrait of the Parkside Pals Club, circa 1915; Parkside Pals Club photographs, V1991.068; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Harry Kalmus, a Brooklyn photographer in the 1940s and 1950s, took a few refreshing candids between weddings and bar mitzvahs, like this off-center self portrait.

Harry Kalmus self-portrait, circa 1940s; Harry Kalmus papers and photographs, ARC.046; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Harry Kalmus self-portrait, circa 1940s; Harry Kalmus papers and photographs, ARC.046; Brooklyn Historical Society.

And this last photo of Mr. Kalmus puts a new twist on the old meme: pictures of people (or dogs) taking pictures.

Harry Kalmus and dog, circa 1950s; Harry Kalmus papers and photographs, ARC.046; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Harry Kalmus and dog, circa 1950s; Harry Kalmus papers and photographs, ARC.046; Brooklyn Historical Society.

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