Archives & Library Special Collections
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Call Number: V1974.040
Extent: 0.2 Linear feet, in one manuscript box.
The Brooklyn Academy of Photography Blizzard of 1888 photograph album dates from 1888 and contains 168 photographs. The album documents the effects of the blizzard in Brooklyn and Manhattan, showing street scenes, snow removal efforts, and different modes of transit hampered by the snowfall. Brooklyn neighborhoods represented in the collection include Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Park Slope, Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Williamsburg. The collection also contains images of Prospect Park, Fort Greene Park, the East River, and the Brooklyn terminal of the Wall Street ferry; Manhattan locations include Wall Street and Lower Manhattan. In addition to images of row houses, churches, and businesses buried in the snow, photographs in the collection also depict groups of laborers working to remove snowbanks, as well as horse-drawn streetcars and sleighs on Brooklyn streets.
All photographs in the album were taken by members of the Brooklyn Academy of Photography, though no individual photographers are identified. Some photographs in this collection are possibly the work of academy member Adrian Vanderveer Martense, as similar or identical images of the blizzard are also found in the Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection (ARC.191).
Names:
- Brooklyn Academy of Photography
Places:
- Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
- Boerum Hill (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.)
- Downtown Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- East River (N.Y.)
- Fort Greene (New York, N.Y.)
- Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)
- Park Slope (New York, N.Y.)
- Prospect Park (New York, N.Y.)
- Wall Street (New York, N.Y.)
- Williamsburg (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Blizzards — Atlantic States
- Church buildings — New York (State) — Kings County
- Local transit — New York (State) — Kings County
- Row houses — New York (State) — Kings County
- Snow removal — New York (State) — Kings County
- Street photography — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Photograph albums
- Photographs
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Call Number: V1986.009
Extent: 0.1 Linear feet, in one folder.
One volume, circa 1893, containing 68 prints and illustrations of houses constructed by Harvey Murdock. Images in the collection show exterior and interior views of homes, as well as illustrations of homes under construction. Houses shown in this collection are located in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, and Bedford-Stuyvesant, as well as Manhattan. An index at the beginning of the volume identifies architects, homeowners, and the width of the home’s entrance. Each house is identified by street name, and the images are arranged by neighborhood.
Harvey Murdock was a New York City-based builder and contractor who worked during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to residences, Murdock supervised construction of hotels, apartment houses, business buildings, club houses, and country homes. He worked at 140 Nassau Street in Manhattan and lived on Montgomery Place in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Names:
Places:
- Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.)
- Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)
- Park Slope (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Architecture, Domestic — New York (State) — New York
- Dwellings — New York (State) — New York
Types of material:
- Black-and-white prints (prints on paper)
- Illustrations (layout features)
- Interior views
- Volumes (documents by form)
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Call Number: V1991.136
Extent: 0.03 Linear feet, 2 contact sheets and film negatives housed in one folder.
The Roger Imperial photograph collection of buildings on or near Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Heights and Park Slope consists of two contact sheets of modern copies of photographs that belonged to Roger Imperial, as well as modern black-and-white film negatives of the same images that are on the contact sheets. The original photographs were taken by B. Hellmich from July 1914 to November 1915 for the Cranford Construction Company. The images show exterior and interior views of buildings on or or near Flatbush Avenue where it runs through the neighborhoods of Prospect Heights and Park Slope. The modern copies were made by Everett Ortner. An index identifying the location and date of each image on the contact sheets is also included.
B. Hellmich was a photographer whose studio was located at 176 Park Row in Manhattan.
Names:
- Hellmich, B.
- Imperial, Roger
- Ortner, Everett
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Buildings, structures, etc. — Pictorial works
- Flatbush Avenue (New York, N.Y.)
- Park Slope (New York, N.Y.)
- Prospect Heights (New York, N.Y.)
Types of material:
- Contact sheets
- Exterior views
- Interior views
- Negatives (photographic)
- Photographs
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Call Number: 1991.041
Extent: 0.08 Linear feet, in one folder
The Park Slope Civic Council records span the period 1938 to 1965 and measure 0.08 linear feet. The records consist of newsletters, correspondence, pamphlets, and event invitations. Also included are some records pertaining to the South Brooklyn Board of Trade. The Park Slope Civic Council was established in the 1950s to address residents’ concerns over urban renewal and advocate for development and improvement in the neighborhood.
Names:
- Park Slope Civic Council
- South Brooklyn Board of Trade
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Park Slope (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Civic improvement — New York (State) — Kings County
- Neighborhoods — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Pamphlets
- Programs (documents)
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Call Number: ARC.068
Extent: 1.0 Linear feet, in two manuscript boxes.
The collection includes reports of the Prospect Club corresponding secretary, 1911-1935; a scrapbook of news clippings, 1939-1941; the treasurer’s account book, 1922-1960; lists of members present at meetings, 1920-1925; minute books, 1897-1942; programs; and correspondence. These materials chronicle the activities of the Prospect Club, with detailed descriptions of study meetings and documentation of the club’s contributions to larger womens’ organizations and charitable funds.
Formed in 1897, the Prospect Club was a social organization for women–primarily well-to-do, married women–in Brooklyn. According to a Brooklyn Eagle announcement for the club’s first meeting, its mission was the “intellectual and social development of its members by the presentation and discussion of topics of universal interest.” These subjects ranged from historical and cultural perspectives on foreign cities to advice for running a modern household and concerns on urban living.
In addition to regular study meetings, the club also made monetary donations to social causes relevant to women, such as scholarship funds for college-aged women and advocacy groups for the placement of women in employment positions.
In 1958, the board of the Prospect Club voted to disband; while members planned to continue holding study meetings, the group ceased collecting dues and closed its bank account.
Names:
- Prospect Club (Park Slope, New York, N.Y.)
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Social life and customs — 20th century
- Park Slope (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Clubs — New York (State) — Kings County
- Women — Societies and clubs
Types of material:
- Correspondence
- Membership lists
- Minutes
- Programs (documents)
- Reports
- Scrapbooks
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Call Number: 1973.129
Extent: 0.08 Linear feet, in one folder
The Jennie Child manuscript consists of several handwritten pages that were used as notes for a talk given by Ms. Child at the Old First Reformed Church in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1958. The manuscript describes Ms. Child’s recollections of growing up and living in Park Slope during the 1890s and early 1900s. In it, Ms. Child provides a detailed sketch of life in Park Slope during this period, including descriptions of the locations of churches in the neighborhood; the types of public transportation that served its residents; descriptions of its public schools; and recollections of various businesses that operated there. The manuscript also relates some of Ms. Child’s personal anecdotes, including rides to Coney Island on the elevated steam train, and days spent sledding in Prospect Park in the winter.
Names:
- Child, Jennie
- Old First Reformed Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Coney Island (New York, N.Y.)
- Park Slope (New York, N.Y.)
- Prospect Park (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Public schools — New York (State) — Kings County
- Transportation — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Manuscripts (document genre)
- Memoirs
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Congregation Beth Elohim Oral History, 2010. Sound recordings: 6 digital audio WAV files (7hr, 14min)
2011.004
In 2010, the Brooklyn Historical Society partnered with Congregation Beth Elohim, a Reform synagogue founded in Park Slope, Brooklyn in 1861, to conduct an oral history with longtime member George Harris on the occasion of the Synagogue’s upcoming 150th anniversary (2011). The synagogue on 8th Avenue and Garfield Place was completed in 1910 and the Temple House across Garfield Place was completed in 1929.
In these interviews, George Harris talks about his childhood in Queens, lifelong friendships, his grandparents immigration experiences, education, religious education, his wife Katherine Harris’ conversion to Judaism, changes in Park Slope 1962-2010, and the community of Congregation Beth Elohim including influential rabbis and changes in ritual practice 1962-2010.
Recordings of these interviews and accompanying transcripts are available in the Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library and at Congregation Beth Elohim.
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