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Long Island Historical Society Quarterly, 1939-1942; The Journal of Long Island History, 1961-1969 and 1973-1982
From 1939-1942, 1961-1969, and 1973-1982, the Brooklyn Historical Society (known then as the Long Island Historical Society) published a periodic journal, called the Long Island Historical Society Quarterly in 1939-42 and, in the later years, The Journal of Long Island History. The journals include articles on historical topics concerning Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties. Many of the articles, especially in the 1939-1942 volumes, include full or partial transcriptions of account books, correspondence, deeds, tombstone inscriptions, and other manuscripts from the BHS collection and elsewhere. While there is a wide range of subject matter, perhaps best-represented in the journal are articles concerning the colonial period through the 19th century, American Revolution, Civil War, and African-American history. No appointment is necessary to use the journals in the BHS library.
Walter O’Malley Brooklyn Dodgers Papers, 1946-1957. 1 cubic foot in 1 record carton.
Accessions 2004.003 and 1997.471
This collection of documents and news clippings is a selected portion of the papers of former Brooklyn National League Baseball Club (Brooklyn Dodgers) president Walter O’Malley. The bulk of the collection comprises correspondence and memoranda from 1946-57, covering the period of O’Malley’s roles as counsel to, and vice president of, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and afterward his ascension to the presidency of the organization in 1950.
The collection consists of correspondence, memoranda, and reports, chiefly typewritten, some original letters and many carbon copies as typed by office staff. Other items include stadium plans, city committee and consulting engineers’ reports, press releases, and clippings from New York City and Brooklyn newspapers that cover the 1946-57 period. The material chiefly relates to the Dodgers’ efforts to secure a site and build a new stadium in Brooklyn to replace Ebbets Field, and failing to do so, the team’s move to Los Angeles in 1957. Included in these records is correspondence with such notable figures as city construction coordinator Robert Moses, Mayor Robert F. Wagner, New York State Governor Averell Harriman, Brooklyn Borough President John Cashmore, and architect/engineer Buckminster Fuller.
A number of documents includedin the collection are available for viewing on the Walter O’Malley website.
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Theatre Collection, 1733-1939. 4 boxes (2 document boxes and 2 oversized flat boxes), 3.5 cubic feet.
ArMs1977.041
Brooklyn has had a lively history as an entertainment outlet, particularly through its active theatre scene during the gas-light days of the 18th and 19th century. Notable venues included the Manhattan Beach Amusement Park in Coney Island, which frequently staged musical comedies, to the infamous Conway’s Brooklyn Theater, which in December 5, 1876 went down in blazes, and event that later spurred local legislation to regulate theater design, incorporating them into city building codes in 1885.
The Theatre Collection is comprised of playscripts, playbills, programs, and other ephemera from various theatre venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan. In addition, the collection has some early rare examples of handwritten director’s promptbooks dating to 1733. Such well-known establishments as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Montauk Theatre, Orpheum Theatre, Payton’s Lee Avenue Theatre, and the Lyceum Hall in Brooklyn and the Astor Place Opera House, Barnum’s American Museum, Franklin Theatre, and Laura Keen’s Theatre are represented in this collection.
Access Points:
Topics
Drama–New York (State) –New York
Playbills
Theaters –New York (State) –Brooklyn
Theaters –New York (State) –New York
Theater programs
Geographic Locations
Brooklyn (New York, NY) –Social life and customs–19th century
Manhattan (New York, NY) –Social life and customs–19th century
Organizations
Brooklyn Academy of Music –New York (State) –Brooklyn
Conway’s Brooklyn Theatre –New York (State) –Brooklyn
Grand Opera House –New York (State) –Brooklyn
Manhattan Beach Amusement Park–New York (State) –Brooklyn
Montauk Theatre–New York (State) –Brooklyn
New Brighton Theatre–New York (State) –Brooklyn
Colonel Sinn’s New Park Theatre –New York (State) –Brooklyn
Orpheum Theatre–New York (State) -Brooklyn
Payton’s Theatre –New York (State) –Brooklyn
Teller’s Broadway Theatre– New York (State) –Brooklyn
Personal Names
Adams, Maude, 1872-1953
Irving, Henry, Sir, 1838-1905
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Brooklyn Ephemera Collection (1814-1998). 19 manuscript boxes and 2 oversize boxes (9.8 cubic feet).
The Brooklyn Ephemera Collection contains materials of mixed provenance accumulated over decades by the Long Island Historical Society (now the Brooklyn Historical Society). It is comprised of 12 series: Businesses, Churches, Civic Organizations and Celebrations, Clubs, Entertainment, Military, Schools, Sports, Transportation, Miscellaneous, Comic Books, and Calendars/Oversized Materials. The materials relate to a variety of Brooklyn-based institutions and events spanning a period of time from 1814 to 1998. Examples of the encompassed materials include correspondence, announcements, pamphlets, special events programs and notices, note papers, tickets, newspaper clippings, trade cards, ads, receipts, invoices, tour maps and information, postcards and certificates.
Access Points:
Personal and Corporate Names
Pierrepont, John Jay, 1849-1911
Grant, Ulysses S. [Ulysses Simpson], 1822-1885
Adelphi College
Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.). Commissioners of Prospect Park
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.). Park Commissioners
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Athenaeum
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Brooklyn Club (New York, N.Y.)
Brooklyn Dodgers (Baseball team)
Brooklyn Dodgers (Football team)
Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Company
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Tabernacle (New York, N.Y.)
Brooklyn Union Gas Company
Erasmus Hall High School
First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Historic Districts Council (New York, N.Y.)
National Railway Historical Society
New York City Transit Authority
New York Naval Ship Yard
New York Transit Museum
St. Francis College (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Subject Headings
African Americans
American Revolution Bicentennial, 1976
Baseball - New York (State) - New York
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) - religious life and customs
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) - social life and customs
Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N.Y.)
Brownstone - New York (State) - New York
Prospect Park (New York, N.Y.)
Brooklyn Trust Company Building (New York, N.Y.)
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) - Songs and music.
Armed Forces - New York (State) - New York
Clubs - New York (State) - New York
Entertainment events - New York (State) - New York
Racing - New York (State) - New York
Railroads - New York (State) - New York
Sports - New York (State) - New York
Theater - New York (State) - New York
Williamsburg Bridge (New York, N.Y.)
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Arthur I. Okanst Scrapbooks, 1928-1965. 2 record cartons and 1 manuscript box (2.5 cubic feet).
ArMs 2004.023
Arthur I. Okanst was a Jewish-American Brooklynite who documented his life and interests in numerous scrapbooks. Born on 22 March 1886, Okanst lived with his wife and daughter in Flatbush, Brooklyn. He was an active member of his Jewish community and followed news related to the world and national state of Jewish affairs. Okanst also enjoyed popular entertainment, followed celebrity news, and frequently attended the theater. Nothing is known of his professional life. Okanst died in September of 1965.
A total of seventeen scrapbooks, as well as an incomplete index, are included in this collection. They contain clippings and published obituaries; theater and event programs and playbills; souvenirs, menus, leaflets and other printed ephemera; greeting cards (especially Birthday and Anniversary cards), telegrams, and invitations to weddings and bar mitzvahs. Also included are newsletters from Okanst’s local Temple and clippings documenting the events leading up to and during World War II.
Access Points:
Personal Names
- Grossfield, Anne Faith, b. 1942
- Grossfield, Avery
- Grossfield, Harriet
- Grossfield, Rena
- Okanst, Arthur I., 1886-1965
- Okanst, Helen (nee Newman), d. 1970
Subjects
- Temple Ahavath Sholom (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Jews
- Jews-Charities-20th century
- Jews-United States-20th century
- Antisemitism in the press-20th century
- Zionism in the press-20th century
- World War, 1939-1945
- United States-Foreign relations-20th century
- United States presidents-20th century
- United States-Politics and government-20th century
- Celebrities-United States-20th century
- Theater-United States-20th century
- Television-United States-20th century
- Radio-United States-20th century
- Sports-United States-20th century
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y)-Social life and customs-20th century
- Flatbush (New York, N.Y.)-Social life and customs-20th century
- New York (N.Y) -Social life and customs-20th century
- United States-Social life and customs-20th century
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Independent Civic Association of Sheepshead Bay and Brooklyn (New York) Civic Council Records, 1922-1975 (bulk dates: 1922-1960). 9 manuscript boxes (4.25 linear feet).
ArMs 1978.125
The Independent Civic Association of Sheepshead Bay was founded in 1922, twenty-five years after Brooklyn’s consolidation into New York City. The association members were male, over the age of twenty-one, and residents or property owners in Sheepshead Bay, named in the colonial period for the abundance of the local fish. The association’s objectives focused on suggesting and securing community improvements and promoting community spirit. The Brooklyn Civic Council addressed civic issues for the whole of Brooklyn, and the Sheepshead Bay association was one of seventy civic groups in this period who participated in the larger council.
This collection includes records, clippings, reports, brochures and letters about the history of Sheepshead Bay and Marine Park, Brooklyn. The collection is made up of four series: Series I, “Independent Civic Association of Sheepshead Bay - Minutes and Records”; Series 2, “Independent Civic Association of Sheepshead Bay - Correspondence and Newspaper Clippings”; Series 3, “Scrapbooks”; and Series 4, “Brooklyn Civic Council Records.”
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New York World’s Fair Collection, 1939-1940, 1964-1965. 14 boxes (1 oversize box, 2 artifact boxes), 5.5+ linear feet.
AccNo. 1977.302 and 1977.276
The New York World’s Fair Collection includes materials from the 1939 and the 1964-65 World’s Fairs. Both took place in Queens at Flushing Meadows Park, a site that was extensively redesigned and landscaped in preparation for the 1939 Fair.
Two manuscript boxes contain material about the 1964 World’s Fair while the other nine relate to the 1939 Fair. The 1964 material includes preliminary reports and planning documents detailing the work to be done on the Fair site in Flushing Meadows Park; the maps and photographs in these reports provide valuable documentation of the extent of the planning and improvements made to the park.
Much of the 1939 material consists of travel brochures to individual American states and to countries around the world. Other material includes brochures from many of the Fair’s exhibitions. Memorabilia and artifacts in this collection are varied and range from restaurant menus to invitations to opening-day ceremonies to packets of souvenir Fair tickets.
Visual material exists for the 1964 World’s Fair, consisting of 92 color slides, ten color postcards, and two copies of a 35 mm. film reel entitled “Come to the Fair.” These materials are stored with the Image Collection.
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Records of the Morning Choral Society, 1919-1964. 2 record cartons, 1 manuscript box, 1 oversize box (3.1 linear feet).
ArMs 1977.201 and 1977.221
The Morning Choral Society was founded in 1919 by Herbert Stavely Sammond, (1871-1964) as a non-sectarian women’s amateur vocal group. The group’s regular activities included two major annual concerts in the spring and winter. The Society was also involved with social events and fund raisers such as annual spring luncheons and card parties. Howard Kasschan took over as conductor in 1949. The Society was voted disbanded at its annual meeting in 1962.
The collection contains records pertaining to the organizational activities and structure of the Society, including minutes, annual reports, budgets, and membership lists. It also includes material created for, or generated by, its member activities including programs, brochures, scrapbooks with newspaper clippings. There are two photographs and a small collection of sheet music. Little correspondence is included.
Access Points:
- Sammond, Herbert Stavely, 1871-1964.
- Morning Choral Society (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
- Choral societies - Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) - Social life and customs.
- Membership Lists
- Minutes
- Printed ephemera
- Reports
- Scrapbooks
- Sheet music
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Eckford Social Club Scrapbook, [1871]-1961, bulk 1899-1956. 1 Oversize Box (1.5 linear feet).
ArMs 1991.049
The Eckford Social Club was founded as the Eckford Baseball Club in 1855 by a group of shipwrights and dock laborers employed at Eckford and Webb’s shipyard. This bound scrapbook consists primarily of newspaper clippings relating to the club’s members and to club business. Also included are official and social documents, correspondence, and memorabilia.
Subjects
- Baseball
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)–Clubs
- Brooklyn Dodgers (Baseball team)
- Chas. Pfizer & Co.
- Drennan, Thomas J.
- Eckford and Webb’s Shipyard
- Kelly, Frank V.
- McGarey, Francis D.
- McGowan, Charles E.
- Moriarty, William V.
- O’Day, Joseph F.
- O’Reilly, Frank E.
- Penicillin
- Smith, John L.
- Velte, Henry P.
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