Brooklyn Historical Society Calendar

Calendar of Events

All events are held at BHS and are free with museum admission ($6 adults, $4 students/teachers/seniors, free for children under 12) unless otherwise noted. Admission is always free for BHS members.

Summer 2012 Program Series

Click here for past BHS events

May

Thursday, May 3

BHS Building Tour

7:00 p.m.

Come explore our beautiful landmark building. Designed by architect George Post and built in 1881, Brooklyn Historical Society’s building was ahead of its time. Using the latest technology, Post created a magnificent structure with amazing craftsmanship. On this guided tour you’ll learn not only about the building as an architectural gem, but you’ll also find out the “more than meets the eye” history of one of Brooklyn’s premier cultural institutions. This tour is free with museum admission and open to the public. Admission is always free for BHS members. This tour is part of BHS's Brooklyn Walks and Talks program series.

Saturday, May 5

Film Screening: The Loving Story with filmmaker Nancy Buirski

3:00 p.m.

This event will take place at the Museum of the Moving Image

As part of the Crossing Borders summer film series join BHS and filmmaker Nancy Buirski for this free screening of The Loving Story. This documentary film tells the dramatic story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple living in Virginia in the 1960s, and their landmark Supreme Court Case, Loving v. Virginia, which changed history. The screening will be followed by a discussion led by Buirski. This event is free with museum admission.

This event is part of Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations, an oral history project and public programming series, examines the history and experiences of mixed-heritage people and families, cultural hybridity, race, ethnicity, and identity. This project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Humanities, New York Council for the Humanities, Two Trees Management, Brooklyn Brewery, Sweet ’N Low Division of Cumberland Packing, Con Edison, and FHL Bank San Francisco.

Saturdays and Sundays, May 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, and 27

Brooklyn Navy Yard Tours

1:00 and 2:30 p.m.

As part of BHS's Brooklyn Walks and Talks, join Urban Oyster, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, for public bus tours of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Urban Oyster offers two Navy Yard Tour options: a two-hour comprehensive tour for $30 and a one-hour highlights tour for $18. These tours explore the Yard's transition from one of the nation's foremost naval shipbuilding facilities to a national leader in sustainable urban industrial parks. Tours will begin and end at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92. BHS members receive 10% off all tours. For dates, tickets, and more information, please visit www.urbanoyster.com or call Urban Oyster at 347.618.8687.

Sunday, May 6

Historic Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour with Big Onion

11:00 a.m.

Explore New York City’s first Landmark District on this special tour co-sponsored by Big Onion and BHS. Explore the neighborhood’s agricultural roots, its emergence as the country’s first suburb, and its twentieth century decline and dramatic regeneration. Stops could include: The Hotel St. George, Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, and sites associated with Seth Low, George Washington, Arthur Miller, WEB DuBois, and Gypsy Rose Lee. This tour ends at BHS with a behind-the-scenes tour of the building and free admission to the museum. Adults $18/students, military, seniors $15. BHS members receive $3 off all Big Onion tours. Visit http://bigonion.com/schedule/ for a complete schedule. This tour partnership is offered as part of BHS's Brooklyn Walks and Talks program series.

Sunday, May 6

Discover Williamsburg: Walking Tour with St. Nicks Alliance

1:00-3:30pm
Tour led by John Dereszewski

Discover Williamsburg with St. Nicks Alliance, a 36-year-old community development organization founded after a row of arson fires and high crime left Williamsburg near the brink of abandonment in the 1970’s. Learn about the history of Williamsburg and a part of Greenpoint while seeing the impact St. Nicks Alliance has made on the neighborhood. Explore the former Greenpoint Hospital Site, Old Bushwick Green, St. Nicholas Church, Jennings Hall, Huber and Hittleman’s Brewery, and other historic landmarks. You'll get an insider's view of the old and new- as we track the growth and development of Williamsburg and what makes North Brooklyn tick!

Tickets: $20/person. BHS members get a 10% discount.Limited capacity. Buy tickets in advance at http://discoverwilliamsburg.eventbrite.com/

Refreshments at the start/end of tour!

Thursday, May 10

Brooklyn Culture: Uncle Ralph McDaniels, Video Music Box, and MoCADA

7:00pm

Brooklyn Bodega and the Bodega Education Initiative honor Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival host Ralph McDaniels, 30 years of Video Music Box, and the minds behind Brooklyn's own MoCADA, the first museum of its kind, dedicated to rediscovering valuable African cultural traditions that were lost through colonization and the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Brooklyn Bodega President and Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival Executive Director Wes Jackson will moderate a panel featuring Video Music Box founder and media pioneer, Ralph McDaniels, and Laurie Cumbo, the Founder and Executive Director of MoCADA. Ralph and his work are currently featured at MoCADA's Box That Rocks exhibition. Tickets are $10/$8 for BHS members. Purchase your tickets here.

Wednesay, May 16
Sneak Preview: Art21 Season Six, History Episode and Discussion Lead by Cultural Historian Jennifer Morgan

7:00 p.m.

BHS, in partnership with Art21 as part of its Access '12 initiative, presents a sneak preview of the sixth season of Art in the Twenty-First Century. We will preview an episode titled History, showing a segment on contemporary artist Glenn Ligon, who uses historical events to explore and expose commonly held assumptions about historic 'truth', and create narratives based on personal experiences. Jennifer L. Morgan, Professor of Social Analysis and History at New York University will lead a discussion following the screening. This event is free and open to the public.

This event is part of Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations, an oral history project and public programming series, which examines the history and experiences of mixed-heritage people and families, cultural hybridity, race, ethnicity, and identity.

Saturday, May 19

Hiding in Plain Sight: A Walk Down Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights
3:00 p.m.

This walking tour based on Claire Mirarchi's book Enjoying Brooklyn Heights: The Brooklyn Heights Association's Self-Guided Neighborhood Walking Tour will take participants through the small architectural details of Brooklyn Heights including gargoyles, boot scrapers, griffins, pineapples and more. Tickets: $8/$5 BHS members. Purchase your ticket here. The tour departs from BHS at 3:00 p.m. and will last approximately 45 minutes. This tour is part of BHS's Brooklyn Walks and Talks program series.

Wednesday, May 23

Sneak Preview: season two of acclaimed web series, Black Folk Don’t

PROGRAM MOVED TO MONDAY, JULY 9

Wednesday, May 30
Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative Website Launch Party

5:00pm

Join BHS at Brooklyn Borough Hall for the launch of an exciting new

project and website, Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative, which explores the rich and complex history of Jewish life in Brooklyn.

This program will take place at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Thursday, May 31
Brooklyn Brewery Beer Garden at BHS

6:00-8:00 p.m.
Enjoy a cold, refreshing Brooklyn Brewery beer on the patio of Brooklyn Historical Society’s beautiful landmark building. Our friends from Brooklyn Brewery will be on hand to pour and talk beer (if you like).

Pair up your beer with a delicious snack! An array of Sigmund Pretzels will be available for purchase.

As part of the evening’s entertainment, BHS is proud to present a musical performance by The Tres Amigos, one of Brooklyn hottest folk bands. Stubborn believers in the muddled and incestuous history of American music, The Tres Amigos embrace the spanglish of their name as artistic vision. Every Tres Amigos performance careens from bluegrass to blues, from wild-man jazz to honky-tonk, and mariachi-a testament to the rich and interconnected roots of American song. Admission is free and open to everyone. Drink tickets $5 each.

Throughout May

Big Onion Walking Tours of Brooklyn

Since 1991, Big Onion Walking Tours has led locals and visitors alike on innovative and exciting tours through New York's ethnic neighborhoods and historic districts. Big Onion’s tours of Brooklyn include the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights, Prospect Park, Historic Fort Greene, and DUMBO/Vinegar Hill. Big Onion’s walking tours explore the many layers of history that make up the fabric of our city. BHS members receive $3 off all tours. Visit http://bigonion.com/schedule/ for a complete schedule. This tour partnership is offered as part of BHS's Brooklyn Walks and Talks program series.

Throughout May

Urban Oyster Tours of Brooklyn

Urban Oyster leads a variety of tours of Brooklyn, including Brooklyn Navy Yard by Bus or by Bike; Brewed in Brooklyn: Fermented NY Craft Beer Crawl; Immigrant Foodways; and Neighborhood Eats. Advance ticket purchase is required. Go to www.urbanoyster.com or call 347.599.1842 for specific dates and ticket prices. BHS members receive a 10% discount on Navy Yard and Brewery Tours (contact BHS at 718.222.4111 for code). This tour partnership is offered as part of BHS's Brooklyn Walks and Talks program series.

June

Saturday, June 2

Hiding in Plain Sight: A Walk Down Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights
3:00 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays June 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30

Brooklyn Navy Yard Tours

1:00 and 2:30 p.m.

As part of BHS's Brooklyn Walks and Talks program series, join Urban Oyster, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, for public bus tours of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Urban Oyster offers two Navy Yard Tour options: a two-hour comprehensive tour for $30 and a one-hour highlights tour for $18. These tours explore the Yard's transition from one of the nation's foremost naval shipbuilding facilities to a national leader in sustainable urban industrial parks. Tours will begin and end at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92. BHS members receive 10% off all tours. For dates, tickets, and more information, please visit www.urbanoyster.com or call Urban Oyster at 347.618.8687.

Wednesday, June 6

Exhibition Opening: Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics

5:30-7:30 p.m.

See the exhibit and meet the student-curators of Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics at the exhibition opening. The exhibition is curated by students in Exhibition Laboratory, BHS's after-school museum studies program. Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics explores more than 150 years of family portraiture, from the earliest daguerreotypes to digital photography today. Drawing on BHS’s rich photography collections, the exhibit examines the ways in which changing technology has impacted the many ways people have documented their everyday moments, family milestones, and special events over time. Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics includes a wide range of photographic styles and mediums: processes such as ambrotypes and tintypes, prints from early twentieth-century Kodak cameras, and recently-acquired born-digital portraits.

Thursday, June 7

BHS Building Tour

7:00 p.m.

Saturday, June 9

Historic Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour with Big Onion

11:00 a.m.

Saturday, June 9

Flagship Loving Day Celebration

3:00-7:00 p.m.

BHS is proud to partner with Loving Day, a global movement for a new holiday to celebrate the anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage in the United States. This June 9, BHS will join in the ninth annual Flagship Loving Day Celebration, which marks the anniversary of the Loving Decision. The celebration will take place at Solar 1, on Manhattan's East River Waterfront at East 23rd St. Click here for more details.

Sunday, June 10

Nature Walk Tour at Newtown Creek with Environmental Sculpture Artist George Trakas

1:00 p.m.

Join BHS and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection for a tour of the Newtown Creek Nature Walk with designer and environmental sculpture artist George Trakas. The Nature Walk is a quarter–mile public walkway along Newtown Creek, in Greenpoint, that opened in 2007. The walk affords visitors a unique view of Newtown Creek’s settling tanks and digesters, and is a good place to explore and learn about wastewater treatment, harbor water quality, and the history of New York City. Trakas incorporated these themes into the design of the Nature Walk and will discuss them on this tour. This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are required. To reserve a spot please email events@dep.nyc.gov.

Saturday, June 16

Hiding in Plain Sight: A Walk Down Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights
3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, June 27

Brooklyn Bridge Tour with BHS Public Historian Julie Golia

6:30-8:30 p.m.

This tour begins at Fulton Ferry at 6:30 p.m.

The Brooklyn Bridge has symbolized so many aspects of Brooklyn's growth since its opening in 1883. BHS’s Public Historian Julia Golia, in conjunction with Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, will lead a tour exploring the story of the engineers and laborers who built the bridge; the political climate in which it was proposed and erected; the technological innovations that made it possible; and the cultural meanings of one of the country's most stunning structures. This tour begins at Fulton Ferry at 6:30 p.m. RSVP required. Please RSVP to rsvp@bbpc.net.

Thursday, June 28
Brooklyn Brewery Beer Garden at BHS

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Enjoy a cold, refreshing Brooklyn Brewery beer on the patio of Brooklyn Historical Society’s beautiful landmark building. Our friends from Brooklyn Brewery will be on hand to pour and talk beer (if you like).Pair up your beer with a delicious snack! An array of Sigmund Pretzels will be available for purchase. As part of the evening’s entertainment, BHS is proud to present one of Brooklyn’s greatest country bands Alex Battles and The Whisky Rebellion. Alex Battles is a songwriter whose compositions range from country weepers to folk ballads and rock stompers. He sings and plays the songs with his band The Whiskey Rebellion. The Whiskey Rebellion contains six members, including Battles, dedicated to making a roof-shaking joyful hodgepodge of honky-tonk, jump blues, and rock 'n' roll. Battles is also the founder and host of such events as the Brooklyn Country Music Festival, CashHank Hootenanny Jamboree, and Johnny Cash Birthday Bash. Time Out NY has described Alex's music as "a sly, catchy mix of old-fashioned country songs." Don’t miss out on this performance! Admission is free and open to all ages. Drink tickets $5 each.

Saturday, June 30

BHS Building Tour

3:00 p.m.

Throughout June

Big Onion Walking Tours of Brooklyn

Throughout June

Urban Oyster Tours of Brooklyn

Urban Oyster leads a variety of tours of Brooklyn, including: Brooklyn Navy Yard by Bus or by Bike; Brewed in Brooklyn: Fermented NY Craft Beer Crawl; Immigrant Foodways; and Neighborhood Eats. Advance ticket purchase is required. Go to www.urbanoyster.com or call 347.599.1842 for specific dates and ticket prices. BHS members receive a 10% discount on Navy Yard and Brewery Tours (contact BHS at 718.222.4111 for code). This tour partnership is offered as part of BHS's Brooklyn Walks and Talks program series.

July

Thursday, July 5

BHS Building Tour

7:00 p.m.

Saturday, July 7

Hiding in Plain Sight: A Walk Down Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights
3:00 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays July 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29

Brooklyn Navy Yard Tours

1:00 and 2:30 p.m.

Monday, July 9

Sneak Preview: season two of acclaimed web series, Black Folk Don’t

7:00 p.m.

In some cases, “Black folk don’t” is a statistical fact. Black folk don’t go to the doctor in the numbers they should. In other cases, “Black folk don’t” is an anecdotal idea and concept that is based on a negative stereotype. Director Angela Tucker shows us that an irreverent discussion of stereotypes can be much more rewarding than cantankerous debate in her new web series Black Folk Don't, an exploration of those grey areas between stereotype and truth. Join us for a screening and provocative discussion with Director Angela Tucker and Imani Perry, Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. This event is free and open to the public. This event takes place at Long Island University’s Spike Lee Screening Room, 1 University Plaza (at Flatbush and Dekalb Avenues).

Thursday, July 19

Historic Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour with Big Onion

11:00 a.m.

Saturday, July 21

BHS Building Tour

3:00 p.m.

Thursday, July 26
Brooklyn Brewery Beer Garden at BHS

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Enjoy a cold, refreshing Brooklyn Brewery beer on the patio of Brooklyn Historical Society’s beautiful landmark building. Our friends from Brooklyn Brewery will be on hand to pour and talk beer (if you like). Pair up your beer with a delicious snack! An array of Sigmund Pretzels will be available for purchase. Don’t miss a live performance by funk band Kids on a Hill. Kids on a Hill is a ten-piece band that moves your feet and funks your mind with a wide range of originals and covers. Their rock-based sound is heavily influenced by funk, hip-hop, and soul to create a groove you can't help but dance to. Comprised of a dual-saxophone horn section, three-part vocals, and a rock-solid rhythm section, Kids on a Hill is not a band to be missed. Admission is free and open to all ages. Drink tickets $5 each.

Saturday, July 28

Historic Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour with Big Onion

1:00 p.m.

Throughout July

Big Onion Walking Tours of Brooklyn

Throughout July

Urban Oyster Tours of Brooklyn

August

Thursday, August 2

BHS Building Tour

7:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 4

BHS Building Tour

3:00 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays August 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26

Brooklyn Navy Yard Tours

1:00 and 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, August 7

Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable

12:00-2:00 p.m.

Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable is a quarterly luncheon series dedicated to examining, analyzing, reviewing, and predicting the critical issues in Brooklyn real estate. It's the event where Brooklyn's real estate professionals gather to discuss timely and important issues affecting the industry. Attend the Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable and join participants from firms such as Muss Development, Toll Brothers, Thor Equities, Hudson Companies, Brody Group, Forest City Ratner, Two Trees Management, and Douglaston Development. All Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable proceeds benefit the Brooklyn Historical Society. Purchase your tickets today for the 2012 Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable series. To register by mail, please use our registration form.

Saturday, August 11

Historic Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour with Big Onion

2:00 p.m.

Saturday, August 18

Hiding in Plain Sight: A Walk Down Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights
3:00 p.m.

Thursday, August 30
Brooklyn Brewery Beer Garden at BHS

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Throughout August

Big Onion Walking Tours of Brooklyn

Throughout August

Urban Oyster Tours of Brooklyn


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