Brooklyn History: Comes to Life

BKVOL. 4 | WINTER/SPRING 2013

BROOKLYN HISTORY Comes to Life

Collections Up Close

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Jo u r na l s o f G a b r i e l Fu r m a n

ZO O M D o c u m e n t i n g Sa n d y

My Brooklyn

Story

H i d d e n No Mo r e

James Rossman, Chairman

Martin Baumrind

Timothy Bradley

Robert E. Buckholz Jr.

Jacqueline Charity

William R. Coleman

Stephen Culhane

Lisa Detwiler

Steven Eisenstadt

Matthew Fishbein

Michael Fleisher

Lauren Glant

Mike Haddad

Wes Jackson

James Laughlin

Joel Leitner

Grace Lyu-Volckhausen

Marvin Markus

Alan Nisselson

Valerie Oliver-Durrah

Robin Ottaway

Nancy B. Pearsall

Robert Pees

Susan Rifkin

Martha A. Rubin

Timothy Simons

Gina Ingoglia Weiner

Norbert Weissberg

Victoria Westhead

Anne Clarke Wolff

DEAR FRIENDS,Happy New Year, from the staff and trustees of Brooklyn Historical Society. We hope that 2013 brings you and your loved ones health and happiness.

In the fall of 2012, Brooklyn Historical Society launched three new digital curriculum projects that we are very excited to share with you. These free, online resources provide teachers and their students with rich historical content, high quality images of primary source material and a new way to access the unique and fascinating collections of BHS. The breadth of themes and topics addressed in the curricula reflect the range of collections and content we work with everyday at BHS. Exploring Pre-Revolutionary New York: the Ratzer Map investigates the rare eighteenth-century map of New York City. In Pursuit of Freedom is a fresh approach to investigating anti-slavery activism in Brooklyn, and we are proud to have created these teaching tools in conjunction with our colleagues at Weeksville Heritage Center and the Irondale Ensemble Project. And finally, we are delighted to have produced, in conjunction with our friends at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Ingenious Inventions at BLDG 92, an exploration of innovation and innovators who have left their mark on Brooklyn Navy Yard, past and present. As with all BHS education programs and materials, our new digital curricula connect the stories told in our collections with broader themes in American history. Our materials also connect to city and state learning standards in Social Studies, including the new Common Core Standards. All of these materials are available on our website: brooklynhistory.org/education/museum.

This season’s newsletter is packed with fabulous reports from our creative and dedicated staff. Happy reading, and as always, thank you for your continued support of Brooklyn Historical Society.

Yours sincerely, Deborah Schwartz

Board of Trustees

COVER IMAGE

Kiamesha Smalls participating in the 2nd Annual What Are You?

discussion at BHS Photo by Willie Davis for BHS 2012

FROM THE PRESIDENT

2 | Winter/Spring 2013

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CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN JULY 2012 to renovate the first floor and lower level of BHS’s landmark building. Slated to open in fall 2013 in conjunction with the launch of BHS’s 150th anniversary celebrations, the newly configured spaces will include 2,200 square feet of galleries and a classroom for student and teacher programs. We are also restoring the historic entrance to the building with a new welcome desk and gift shop. These improvements will provide better ADA access and visitor flow through the building. Central to the project is enlivening our main event space for public programs and space rentals; restoring the space to the full breadth of the original auditorium to accommodate 200 people seated, lighting the detailed wood ceiling, and installing an updated audio-visual system. All of these changes to the building modernize the spaces for current and future use while respecting the magnificence of George B. Post’s landmark building. The new designs may be viewed on our website at: brooklynhistory.org/about/renovate2012. Additionally, we will be posting monthly blog entries at: brooklynhistory.org/blog/category/building with status updates highlighting the fascinating features of our landmark building and interviews with the restorers. It is exciting to see physical progress underway and we look forward to re-opening these spaces to our patrons.

NEWSFLASH • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

BHS trustees and staff view the restoration of the wood ceiling of the ground floor event space. Photo: Emma Mutino

This past summer, thirteen undergraduate students delved deep into the archives at Brooklyn Historical Society as our inaugural class of summer fellows. During a month in

residence at the Othmer Library, they conducted research in the journals of Gabriel Furman and contributed to a new exhibition, Exploring the Journals of Gabriel Furman. An avid scholar— the summer fellows described Furman as “quirky,” a “genius,” and

“tragic”—whose unusual life was cut short by an opium addiction. The exhibit, on the ground and 2nd floors of BHS, shows how Furman documented a rapidly urbanizing Brooklyn in the first half of the nineteenth century.

The fellows’ research efforts also produced individual scholarly or creative projects, based on original work in the Gabriel Furman papers (ARC.190) and related sources in the library and archives. Because Furman observed all aspects of Brooklyn history and culture, fellows were able to concentrate on subjects that align with their personal or professional interests. One student studied the fashion of the time and the physiology of addiction to create a charcoal drawing of Furman (no known portrait exists). Another re-created the nineteenth-century remedies transcribed by Furman and judged them by modern scientific standards. Yet another produced a video arguing that Furman changed his pro-slavery views at the end of his life. To view all of the fellows’ projects, please see safa.brooklynhistory.org/fellowship2012.

The fellowship program is a component of Students and Faculty in the Archives (SAFA), an innovative postsecondary education program which brings undergraduates into the BHS library and archives. Now in its second year, SAFA has welcomed over 800 students in 38 courses from our partner schools New York City College of Technology (CUNY), Long Island University Brooklyn Campus, and St. Francis College. Independent evaluators have found that students who participate in SAFA are more engaged and perform better than their peers. We look forward to welcoming our next group of fellows in Summer 2013.

SAFA is generously funded by the US Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE).

COLLECTIONS UP CLOSE

Winter/Spring 2013 | 3

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J O U R N A L S O F G A B R I E L F U R M A NB y B H S O u t r e a c h a n d P u b l i c S e r v i c e s A r c h i v i s t R o b i n M . K at z

Exhibit View Gabriel Furman Papers,

1725–1913. Brooklyn Historical Society. ARC.190

The inaugural SAFA summer fellows at the symposium and exhibit open-ing held on August 22, 2012. They are seen here with SAFA staff Julie Golia (left), Robin M. Katz and BHS President Deborah Schwartz (right).

SAFA summer fellow Samuel Garvett speaks about his charcoal drawing with SAFA Professor Robin Michals. Both are affiliated with the Advertising Design and Graphic Arts department at New York City College of Technology (CUNY).

PROGRAM CALENDARFor more information visit: brooklynhistory.org. See calendar.

11

11

BHS Building Tour Free with

Museum Admission

SATURDAY3:00 p.m.2

BHS Building Tour Free with

Museum Admission

SATURDAY3:00 p.m.16

Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable Series,

Part 1 of 4 Advance purchase

required (See website for details)

TUESDAY12:00 p.m.5

Historic Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour

with Big Onion $18/$15

bigonion.com

SATURDAY12:00 p.m.23



bigonion.com

SATURDAY1:00 p.m.23

Research your House Workshop

$50/$30 for BHS members

SATURDAY2:00 p.m.27

On and Off the Boardwalk: The Foods of Coney Island

(at Tenement Museum) $30

TUESDAY6:30: p.m.26

The Pearl Harbor Sandwich: Cuisine at the

Brooklyn Navy Yard with Sarah Lohman

$10/Free for BHS Members

THURSDAY7:00 p.m.28

Researching Your Roots with Genealogist Wilhelmina Kelly

$25/$15

SATURDAY1:00 p.m.30

Eat the City with Robin Shulman,

Robin Ottaway, and Jacob Ruppert

Free with Museum Admission

SATURDAY3:00 p.m.2

Spilt Milk: the Bloody Food Rackets of 20th

Century New York Andrew Coe

$10/Free for BHS Members

THURSDAY7:00 p.m.4

FEBRUARY MARCH

US Census: Rationalizing Race

Free Admission RSVP required

THURSDAY7:00 p.m.18



bigonion.com

SATURDAY1:00 p.m.

1413

APRIL


BROOKLYN FOOD STORIES Discover the role of food, past and present, in Brooklyn through tastings, lectures, tours, and more.

BROOKLYN WALKS AND TALKS Explore BHS’s building, exhibits, and surrounding neighborhoods through tours and talks by curators, artists, historians, and educators.

LIBRARY WORKSHOPSA program series that utilizes the collections at BHS to provide hands-on training and research opportunities to explore your family, neighborhood, and borough history.

CROSSING BORDERS, BRIDGING GENERATIONS Join in this 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.

BROOKLYN REAL ESTATE ROUNDTABLE SERIES A quarterly luncheon series dedicated to examining, analyzing, reviewing, and predicting the critical issues in Brooklyn real estate.

PROGRAM KEY

BROOKLYNHISTORICALSOCIETY

THANKS TO OUR FUNDERS FOUNDATIONS: Achelis & Bodman Foundations, The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Badgley Charitable Trust, Bay and Paul Foundations,

Bloomberg Philanthropies, Brooklyn Community Foundation, Constans-Culver Foundation, Council on Library Information and

Resources, Ferriday Fund, Gerry Charitable Trust, The Gilder Lehrman Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, The Hearst

Foundations, Helmsley Charitable Trust, Henry and Lucy Moses Fund, Herman Goldman Foundation, The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination

Fund, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, The New York Community Trust, New York Council

for the Humanities, New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation, The Nissan Foundation, Peck Stacpoole Foundation, The Pine Tree

Foundation of New York CORPORATE: Astoria Federal Savings Bank, Barclays Capital, Barclays/Nets Community Alliance, Brooklyn

Brewery, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable, Con Edison, Debevoise & Plimpton LLC, FHL

Bank San Francisco, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Linklaters LLP, National Grid, Cumberland Packing, Two Trees Management,

Verizon Foundation FEDERAL: Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Humanities, U.S. Department of

Education Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural Program, U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-

Secondary Education (FIPSE) STATE: Senator Kevin Parker, Senator Daniel Squadron, Assemblyman James Brennan, Assemblyman

Hakeem Jeffries, Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, Assemblyman Alan Maisel, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, New York State Council on

the Arts, New York State Education Department CITY: New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City Council Members:

Stephen Levin, Brad Lander, Vincent J. Gentile, Letitia James, Domenic Recchia, Albert Vann, Michael Nelson, Brooklyn Delegation of

the New York City Council, New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, New York City Department of Cultural

Affairs, New York City Economic Development Corporation, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz


EXHIBITIONSAn American Family Grows in Brooklyn: The Lefferts Family Papers (Online only exhibition)Spanning almost four centuries, the Lefferts Family Papers reveal Brooklyn’s remarkable transformation from an agricultural frontier to a diverse urban center. Thanks to a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, BHS has digitized the letters, journals, books, maps, photographs, legal records, and many other documents that chronicle one of Brooklyn’s first families. View the digital exhibit here: brooklynhistory.org/exhibitions/lefferts.

Exploring the Journals of Gabriel Furman (2nd floor)Students and Faculty in the Archives (SAFA) fellows helped curate this exhibit on one opinionated, passionate, and quirky Brooklynite. Furman (1800–1854) was one of nineteenth century Brooklyn’s most avid chroniclers. From 1815 until his death, he wrote regularly in his journals, offering colorful commentary on everything from life as a bachelor to yellow fever, from Brooklyn history to Jacksonian politics.

Say Cheese! Portraits to Pics (2nd floor)Explores more than 150 years of family portraiture, from the earliest daguerreotypes to digital photography today. It was curated by the high school students in Brooklyn Historical Society’s Exhibition Laboratory (Ex Lab) program. Ex Lab invites students from four local high schools to help curate and design a new BHS exhibit.

Inventing Brooklyn: People, Places, Progress (3rd floor)Traces the evolution of Brooklyn into the place we know today. From Native American roots and Dutch colonial influences to icons such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the Dodgers, Inventing Brooklyn examines how various people, places, and historical events have shaped the development of the borough. It was created by the high school students in Brooklyn Historical Society’s Ex Lab program.

T he history of Brooklyn contains many stories of resilience and reinvention. As Hurricane Sandy swept up the Atlantic seaboard and across our

borough, we are adding another chapter to that account. Brooklyn has come out in force to help this recovery, and Brooklyn Historical Society is committed to making sure there is a thorough and publicly available collection of material that will document the preparations, response, and recovery efforts. To that end, we have embarked on a number of documentation efforts.

Soon after Sandy made landfall, Brooklyn Historical Society began using email and social media to collect photographs. In the weeks that followed, BHS turned its efforts to more systematic documentation of the storm. Journalists sometimes refer to their work as the first rough draft of history. In our documentation projects, we are stepping back from the product of the news cycle and thinking about what writers and researchers will need for the second, third, and thirty-fourth drafts of our history. To that end, we have started up collecting efforts in several areas.

• Dozens of compelling photos are being collected and nearly a hundred reports, articles, maps, and other publications have been tagged for ingest into a digital archive.

• Conversations with grass-roots relief agencies have begun, with the goal of making the records of their work accessible through BHS. We are also indexing or seeking copies of records from government agencies and NGOs to facilitate future research.

• Meetings with professional associations of historians, writers, architects, and urban planners are taking place to develop projects that will document people’s individual experiences as well as the impact of Sandy on the built environment.

As this project develops, we see great potential for exhibits, research, and programming around this growing archive, which will be a natural complement to our research efforts on the waterfront, community building, urban planning, and public policy. We will bring you more news as our documentation effort goes forward.

Document ing SANDY


B y B H S D i r e c t o r o f L i b r a r y a n d A r c h i v e s J a c o b N a d a l

ZOOM

@ginjula: #BikeSandy and @NYCBikeTrain in full force on Bergen Street. #BrooklynPhotos #BoerumHill @BrooklynSpoke http://pic.twitter.com/KVRgaJYS

@leahloscut: RT @TheRealYLT:

At the Norton Records warehouse http://pic.twitter.com/SHYXFl7D

@BHS_Taina: Moving on to...everything else.

#sandy #BrooklynPhotos@brooklynhistory

http://pic.twitter.com/u8n6n0E5

@ginjula: This car in #fortgreene unfortunately did not survive #sandy so well.#BrooklynPhotos @brooklynhistory http://pic.twitter.com/PncjOPiQ

MYBROOKLYN STORYHidden No MoreB y B H S A d v i s i n g S c h o l a r R e n e e R o m a n o , H i s t o r i a n , O b e r l i n C o l l e g e


In his 1995 address to the Organization of American Historians, then-president Gary Nash challenged historians of the American past to stop ignoring America’s “mestizo history.” America, Nash insisted, had a long

record of racial border crossings that had been minimized in the historical record by racism and anti-mixing ideology. It was time, he argued, for historians to “break the silence in our history books on the topic of multiraciality.”

As someone who has tried to break that silence with my own research on black-white interracial marriage in the post-WWII period, I know how difficult it can be to do research on America’s multiracial history. But Brooklyn Historical Society’s Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations (CBBG) oral history project is going to make it much easier for future historians to do their own studies of America’s “mestizo history.” CBBG documents the history and experiences of mixed-heritage people and families in Brooklyn by gathering oral histories from people across the community. CBBG allows people of mixed heritage or in multiracial families to speak for themselves, to explain their experiences in their own words and using whatever categories are important to them. For a scholar, this is an incredibly useful kind of source and it is one that has been in short supply for historians. Many of the sources that historians have used to document racial border crossing has been mediated by others, and usually, colored by stigma.

CBBG allows those who have crossed racial and ethnic borders in their own lives to tell their own stories, on their terms, in their own voices. And the oral history project, open to any Brooklynite who feels they have crossed borders in their personal lives, could complicate the categories scholars have used in their studies of the mixed-race experience. It gives subjects the power to explain why they consider their experience or family to be mixed or multiracial.

As the number of interviews in the collection grows, scholars and interested community members will have access to an archive that documents the perspectives of a broad range of people of varied racial and ethnic backgrounds who are living America’s contemporary mestizo history. Thanks in part to BHS, that “hidden history” is coming out into the open.

To view all of CBBG’s latest initiatives, please visit: cbbg.brooklynhistory.org.

CBBG is generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS), the Nissan Foundation and New York Council for the Humanities.

Audience participating in the 2nd Annual What Are You? discussion at BHS on October 4, 2012Photo by Willie Davis for BHS 2012

Renee Romano speaking at CBBG screening of Jungle FeverPhoto by Willie Davis for BHS 2011

128 Pierrepont StreetBrooklyn, NY 11201-2711

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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Collections Up Close

Jo u r na l s o f G a b r i e l Fu r m a n

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Z O O MD o c u m e n t i n g

Sa n d y

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My Brooklyn Story

H i d d e n No Mo r e

PLEASE VISIT US. Brooklyn Historical Society 128 Pierrepont Street Brooklyn, New York 11201 www.brooklynhistory.org 718.222.4111 @brooklynhistory

Museum Hours Wednesday–Saturday, 12 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Library Hours Wednesday–Friday, 1:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

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BROOKLYNHISTORICALSOCIETY

Documents

Brooklyn History: Comes to Life