Archives & Library Special Collections
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Call Number: 1987.007
Extent: 0.1 Linear feet, in one oversize manuscript box
The Coney Island Jockey Club was founded during the late 19th century by Leonard Jerome and William Kissam Vanderbilt. During its early existence the club held horse races at the Propect Park fairgrounds, and in 1880 the club built the Sheepshead Bay Race Track, where its races were held thereafter. The collection spans the period 1889 to 1899 and contains the club’s founding resolution; programs broadsides; and ephemera, such as passes, badges, and tickets from races organized by the club.
Names:
Places:
- Coney Island (New York, N.Y.)
- Sheepshead Bay (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Clubs — New York (State) — Kings County
- Horse racing — New York (State) — Kings County
- Sports — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Articles of incorporation.
- Programs (documents)
- Tickets
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Call Number: 2005.021
Extent: 1.0 Linear feet, in one record carton
The Conklin and Bedell families papers (1839-1917) contain financial records and some personal correspondence generated by Ebenezer Conklin of Brooklyn, New York, and his descendants. The bulk of the records were generated by Ebenezer Conklin, and mostly concern household expenses, repairs and improvements made on Conklin’s several properties. The records of Nathaniel Augustus Conklin and Sarah Bedell, two of Ebenezer’s children, continue the history of Ebenezer’s properties. The small amount of correspondence contains Civil War letters, and a copy of the General Orders of the 19th Army Corps Headquarters at Camp Russell, Virginia. The collection also holds a cash accounts book and a pew ledger of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Bushwick for the years 1876-1884.
Names:
- Bedell family
- Conklin family
- Old Bushwick Reformed Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Bushwick (New York, N.Y.)
- United States — History — Civil War, 1861-1865
- Williamsburg (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Real property — New York (State) — Kings County
- Retail trade — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Account books
- Church records
- Correspondence
- Financial records
- Invoices
- Land titles
- Receipts (financial records)
- Tax records
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Call Number: ARC.287
Extent: 0.13 Linear feet, in two folders
The Reverend William I. Chalmers served as pastor of the Congregational church in Riverhead, New York, during the late 19th century. The collection includes two manuscripts written and presented by Chalmers in the 1890s concerning the history of Congregationalism in Suffolk County, N.Y.
Names:
Places:
- Long Island (N.Y.) — History
- Suffolk County (N.Y.) — History
Subjects:
- Congregational churches — New York (State) — Long Island
Types of material:
- Lecture notes
- Manuscripts (document genre)
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Call Number: ARC.284
Extent: 0.25 Linear feet, in seven folders in one manuscript box
The collection includes documents principally related to members of the Conkling family of Southold, Suffolk County, Long Island (N.Y.). Among these are three day books of merchant David Conkling (1784-1785); a ledger of an unknown person for transactions in farm labor and goods (1791-1798); a journal of Jacob Conkling for a journey through northern New Jersey and into the forests beyond the Delaware Water Gap; correspondence to David from Jacob and from David to Capt. David Landon (both Jacob and Landon at Guilford, Connecticut) concerning health, business matters, and damages incurred during the British occupation of Long Island during the American Revolution (circa 1782-1784); and a Brooklyn to New York ferry pass (1782).
Names:
- Conkling, David, d. 1787?
- Conklin family
- Conkling family
- Conkling, Jacob
Places:
- Connecticut — History — Revolution, 1775-1783
- Long Island (N.Y.)
- Southold (N.Y.)
- Suffolk County (N.Y.)
- Suffolk County (N.Y.) — History — American Revolution 1775-1783
Subjects:
- Merchants — New York (State) — Suffolk County
Types of material:
- Correspondence
- Daybooks
- Ledgers (account books)
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Call Number: ARC.283
Extent: 0.33 Linear feet, in three folders in one manuscript box
Nicholas Covenhoven (circa 1744-1793) of New Utrecht was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Kings County (N.Y.) militia in 1776. During the occupation of Brooklyn he worked with the British commissary and assisted American prisoners. After the war, Covenhoven served as the Chief Judge of the Kings County Court of Common Pleas. The collection includes an account book used by both Nicholas Covenhoven and his son, John N. Covenhoven. Nicholas recorded amounts advanced to American prisoners during the American Revolution and other loans and bonds he transacted (circa 1775-circa 1790). John N. kept account of his personal transactions, including fishing income (circa 1790-circa 1805). The collection also includes a small number of other papers, among them a petition to Sir William Howe for payment for horses and wagons seized by the British army (1777); copies of letters to and from Abraham Skinner, the Commissary-General of Prisoners, concerning prisoner compensation (1782); a pardon from Governor George Clinton (1786), and a receipt of payment for an enslaved African-American (1792).
Names:
- Covenhoven, John N.
- Covenhoven, Nicholas
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Kings County (N.Y.)
- Kings County (N.Y.) — History — Revolution, 1775-1783
- New Utrecht (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Account books — New York (State) — Kings County
- Judges — New York (State) — Kings County
- Military occupation damages — New York (State) — Kings County
- Prisoners of war — United States — History — Revolution, 1775-1783
Types of material:
- Financial records
- Ledgers (account books)
- Petitions
- Slave bills of sale
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Call Number: ARC.281
Extent: 2.4 Linear feet, in one manuscript box and one flat box
The Anita Lott Cruikshank collection (circa 1677-1892) consists of documents concerning various families, principally from Kings County (N.Y.) and principally concerning land and estate transactions. It is surmised that the materials were accumulated by various members of the Lott family, especially Jeremiah (1776-1861) and John A. Lott (1806-1878), of Flatbush (now part of Brooklyn, a borough of New York City) in the course of various private, public and professional activities. Many documents either concern a Lott as a party to the transaction or indicate a Lott performing an official responsibility or acting as estate executor, attorney, or in some other role as advocate. Accordingly, though many of the papers concern the Lott family, most of the collection concerns other families as well. The most important example of this is a set of papers concerning the Ludlow-Willink family of New York and Flatbush. These papers include documents regarding the commercial interests of Dutch merchant John Abraham Willink (died 1852) and his estate. Willink was married to Cornelia Ann Ludlow (1788-1865); documents from her family include estate, property, and professional papers for various Ludlows and related family ancestors, among these Charles Crooke and Anthony Rutgers of New York City. In addition to the towns of Kings County, documents in the collection refer to matters in New York City, Dutchess County (N.Y.), and Middlesex County (N.J.), among other places. Among the other surnames represented in the collection are Brownejohn, Cortelyou, Couwenhoven, Lefferts, Lloyd, Stryker, Van Brunt, Van der Bilt, and Vanderveer.
Names:
- Cruikshank, Anita Lott
- Cortelyou family
- Couwenhoven family
- Lefferts family
- Lott family
- Lott, Jeremiah, 1776-1861
- Lott, John A., 1806-1878
- Ludlow family
- Van Brunt family
- Vanderbilt family
- Vanderveer family
- Willink family
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Flatbush (New York, N.Y.)
- Gravesend (New York, N.Y.)
- Kings County (N.Y.)
- New York (N.Y.)
Subjects:
- County courts — New York (State) — Kings County
- Decedents’ estates — New York (State)
- Decedents’ estates — New York (State) — Kings County
- Families — New York (State) — Dutchess County
- Genealogy
- Lawyers — New York (State) — Kings County
- Real property — New York (State) — Dutchess County
- Real property — New York (State) — Kings County
- Real property — New York (State) — New York
Types of material:
- Bonds (legal records)
- Cadastral maps
- Correspondence
- Deeds
- Estate inventories.
- Family papers
- Indentures
- Leases
- Manuscript maps
- Receipts (financial records)
- Slave bills of sale
- Wills
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Call Number: 1977.313
Extent: 0.2 Linear feet, in 8 folders in one manuscript box and one flat box
The collection primarily includes records concerning the determination of eligibility for claim payments. Records include lists of survivors and seamen lost from the Cumberland and Congress; certifications of claimants regarding their identity and service on the frigates; acknowledgements of funds received (often called “ovation funds”); and correspondence regarding the relief funds. Much of the correspondence comes from Stillman B. Allen, a lawyer from Boston, Mass. The collection also includes donor lists and bills related to the fundraising effort.
Names:
- Committee of Reception to the Crews of the Frigates Cumberland and Congress
- Allen, Stillman B.
- Congress (Frigate : 1841-1862)
- Cumberland (Frigate)
Places:
- New York (State) — History — Civil War, 1861-1865
Subjects:
- Charitable giving
- Charities — New York (State) — New York
- Hampton Roads, Battle of, Va., 1862
- United States — History — Civil War, 1861-1865 — Civilian relief
- War — Relief of sick and wounded
Types of material:
- certification
- Correspondence
- Donor lists
- Receipts (financial records)
- Rosters
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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.
Call Number: ARC.002
Extent: 13.75 Linear feet, in 13 manuscript boxes, 5 record cartons, and 2 artifact boxes
The Arnie Goldwag Brooklyn Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) collection consists principally of the subject files concerning 1960s civil rights activism maintained by Arnie Goldwag, an officer of Brooklyn CORE during the first half of the 1960s. These files include correspondence, newsletters, event announcements (e.g., fliers), directions for demonstrators, photographs, press releases, clippings, and other documents related to many of the actions conducted by Brooklyn CORE, particularly for the period 1961-1965. Actions represented in the collection include those protesting discrimination in employment, housing, schools, and the like, including the controversial initiative to block traffic in connection with the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. The collection also includes reminiscences by Goldwag and other CORE members looking back from the 1990s and 2000s. In addition to Brooklyn CORE-related material, the collection includes material related to other 1960s activist groups, including those involved with civil rights, Vietnam War opposition, and draft resistance, among others.
Names:
- Committee for Peace Organization
- Goldwag, Arnold
- Lynn, Conrad J.
- Mitchell, David Henry
- Owens, Major R.
- Alliance for Jobs or Income Now (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn Civil Rights Defense Committee (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Congress of Racial Equality. Brooklyn Chapter
- Congress of Racial Equality
- Freedom & Peace Party of New York State
- Harlem Parents Committee
- Metropolitan Council on Housing (New York, N.Y.)
- New York World’s Fair (1964-1965)
- Peace and Freedom Party (U.S.)
- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.)
- Youth Against War & Fascism
- End the Draft Committee
Places:
- Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — History — Archival resources.
- Harlem (New York, N.Y.)
- New York (N.Y.)
- New York (N.Y.) — History — Archival resources
Subjects:
- Children’s rights report
- Downdraft
- Ergo (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- African Americans — Civil rights — New York (State) — New York
- African Americans — Education — New York (State) — New York
- African Americans — Employment — New York (State) — New York
- African Americans — New York (State) — New York
- Civil disobedience — New York (State) — New York
- Civil rights demonstrations — New York (State) — New York
- Civil rights movements — New York (State) — New York
- Civil rights workers — New York (State) — New York
- De facto school segregation — New York (State) — New York
- Discrimination in employment — New York (State) — New York
- Discrimination in housing — New York (State) — New York
- Discrimination in public accommodations — Maryland — Cambridge
- Government, Resistance to — New York (State) — New York
- March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington, D.C., 1963
- Minorities — Civil rights — New York (State) — New York
- Police patrol — Surveillance operations
- Race discrimination — New York (State) — New York
- Rent strikes — New York (State) — New York
- Reunions
- Tenants’ associations — New York (State) — New York
Types of material:
- Books
- buttons (information artifacts)
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Fliers (printed matter)
- lapel pins
- Leaflets (printed works)
- Pamphlets
- Photocopies
- Photographs
- Press releases
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View PDF Finding Aid
Crown Heights Oral History – Listen To This, 2010. Sound recordings: 22 CDs (80 minutes each)
2010.020
This collection of 43 oral history interviews with Crown Heights residents was donated to the Brooklyn Historical Society by project director Alex Kelly. The interviews were conducted in 2010 with the help of the Crow Hill Community Association and five students from Paul Robeson High School who came to the project through the Brooklyn College Community Partnership (BCCP).
Recordings of these interviews and an accompanying guide are available in the library.
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