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Center for Brooklyn History Finding Aids
Guide to the Henry R. Stiles collection of Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Memory oral histories 2015.030

Henry R. Stiles collection of Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Memory oral histories

Call Number

2015.030

Date

2015-2016, inclusive

Creator

Ali, Zaheer

Extent

.5 Gigabytes
in 3 files; Running time (of described records); 5 hours, 35 minutes, 29 seconds.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

This collection of three oral histories includes interviews that chronicle the history of Brooklyn Historical Society from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. The interviews were conducted with two former Executive Directors of Brooklyn Historical Society, one of who served as a President/Chair of the Board of Trustees.

Biographical / Historical

Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) was founded in 1863 as the Long Island Historical Society (LIHS). The founders of the Long Island Historical Society were among the city's most prominent citizens, whose families could trace their Brooklyn roots back to the 17th and 18th centuries. They established the Society as a library committed to preserving the history of America, New York State, and most especially, "the counties, towns and villages of Long Island."

Long Island Historical Society was initally located on Court Street in Brooklyn Heights, but relocated to 128 Pierrepont Street after the Society held a contest and selected renowned architect George Browne Post to design its headquarters. The magnificent landmark building designed by Post opened in 1881.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Society reestablished itself as a museum and education center. In 1985, it underwent a name to Brooklyn Historical Society. The Society also established a pioneering oral history program, reaching out to as-yet unchronicled Brooklyn communities and capturing their experiences. The Society also began featuring exhibits such as Black Churches in Brooklyn and AIDS/Brooklyn, the first exhibit to cover this topic at a history museum in the United States.

In October 1999, BHS undertook a full-scale restoration of its landmark building to create new exhibition space and climate-controlled storage for its valuable collections. In 2014, BHS completed a renovation of the first and lower levels.

Henry Reed Stiles (1832-1909) was a physician who authored a number of historical and genealogical works in the second half of the nineteenth and into the early twentieth centuries, including the 3 volume A History of the City of Brooklyn (1867-1870). Though his medical career took him to places as disparate as Dundee, Scotland and Woodbridge, New Jersey, Stiles lived most of his life in New York City and in Brooklyn. He was a founder of the Long Island Historical Society (now the Brooklyn Historical Society) in 1863 and served as the Society's first librarian. Further biographical information on Stiles can be found at his Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Reed_Stiles.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically by narrator's last name.

Scope and Contents

The Henry R. Stiles collection of Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Memory oral histories were conducted by the Brooklyn Historical Society from 2015 to 2016. The collection consists of three oral histories that chronicle the history of Brooklyn Historical Society from the early 1980s to early 2000s. The interviews attempt to record some of Brooklyn Historical Society's most transformative years organizationally and programmatically. The interviews were conducted with two former Executive Directors of Brooklyn Historical Society, one of whom served as a President/Chair of the Board of Trustees. During the interviews the former executive directors speak about their lives before during and after working at Brooklyn Historical Society.

Subjects

Genres

People

Topics

Places

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers with varied restrictions according to narrator agreement. The oral histories can be accessed onsite at Brooklyn Historical Society's Othmer Library and online at the Oral History Portal.

Conditions Governing Use

Use of these oral histories for purposes other than private study, scholarship, or research requires the permission of Brooklyn Historical Society. Please see the Oral History Note for guidelines on using Brooklyn Historyical Society's oral history collections. For assistance, please contact Brooklyn Historical Society at library@brooklynhistory.org.

Preferred Citation

[Narrator Last Name, Narrator First Name], Oral history interview conducted by [Interviewer First Name Last Name], [Month DD, YYYY], Henry R. Stiles collection of Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Memory oral histories, [Object ID]; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These oral histories were conducted by Brooklyn Historical Society from 2015 to 2016 with narrators at Brooklyn Historical Society.

Related Materials

In addition to this collection, the Center for Brooklyn History has another collection with materials related to Henry R. Stiles:

Henry Reed Stiles papers, circa 1855 to 1884, ARC.218

General

Oral history interviews are intimate conversations between two people, both of whom have generously agreed to share these recordings with the Brooklyn Historical Society archives and with researchers. Please listen in the spirit with which these were shared. Researchers will understand that:

1. The Brooklyn Historical Society abides by the General Principles & Best Practices for Oral History as agreed upon by the Oral History Association (2009) and expects that use of this material will be done with respect for these professional ethics.

2. Every oral history relies on the memories, views and opinions of the narrator. Because of the personal nature of oral history, listeners may find some viewpoints or language of the recorded participants to be objectionable. In keeping with its mission of preservation and unfettered access whenever possible, BHS presents these views as recorded.

3. Transcripts created prior to 2008 serve as a guide to the interview and are not considered verbatim. The audio recording should be considered the primary source for each interview. It may contain natural false starts, verbal stumbles, misspeaks, repetitions that are common in conversation, and other passages and phrases omitted from the transcript. This decision was made because BHS gives primacy to the audible voice and also because some researchers do find useful information in these verbal patterns.

4. Unless these verbal patterns are germane to your scholarly work, when quoting from this material researchers are encouraged to correct the grammar and make other modifications maintaining the flavor of the narrator's speech while editing the material for the standards of print.

Collection processed by

Amy Lau

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-11-07 16:43:14 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

The oral histories in this collection were processed by Leah Dilworth, Intern, in 2021. Interviews were processed to the item level and catalogued records were created by Amy Lau, Archivist, after processing. Due to privacy concerns, the specific birthdates and home addresses of all narrators or other named individuals were redacted from audio recordings. Interviews were cataloged using Library of Congress subject headings.

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society

Oral History Interview with David Kahn, October 14, 2015

Scope and Contents

As Director of the Brooklyn Historical Society from 1982 to 1997, David M. Kahn (1950- ) helped lead the institution through one of its most transformative periods. In this interview he describes the state of the Long Island Historical Society's collections and building when he arrived, the conflict among members of the Board of Trustees over the name change to Brooklyn Historical Society, and the fundraising necessary to develop programs and exhibitions that would revitalize the institution and its mission. He describes Don Othmer's involvement with the BHS and the large gift he left in his will. Kahn reflects on the leading role of BHS in documenting and preserving local urban history and recalls details of planning several exhibitions, including one about AIDS in Brooklyn (1992) and another about Crown Heights (1993). Early in the interview, he recalls his activism in the gay rights movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Interview conducted by Zaheer Ali.

Biographical / Historical

David M. Kahn (1950- ) was born in Rockville Center, Long Island, and grew up in Manhattan, where his father worked in advertising. Kahn attended high school at Blair Academy in New Jersey and then earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in Art History at Columbia University. He began a Ph.D. program in Art History at Harvard University but left and began working for the National Parks Service in New York City, as curator of historic sites. He was Executive Director of the Brooklyn Historical Society from 1982 to 1997. After that he was director at several historical museums, including the San Diego History Center and the Adirondack Museum. He lives in Blue Mountain Lake, New York.

Conditions Governing Access

This interview can be accessed onsite at Brooklyn Historical Society's Othmer Library and online at the Oral History Portal.

Subjects

People

Topics

Places

Oral History Interview with Jessie Kelly, February 23, 2016

Scope and Contents

In this interview Jessie McClintock Kelly (1949- ) recalls how she became involved with the Brooklyn Historical Society in the late 1980s, first as a member of the Board of Trustees, then as President of the Board, and finally, as Executive Director during the BHS building renovation (1999-2003). Kelly recalls fundraising for educational programs and exhibitions throughout this period, in particular board members' efforts lobbying the NYC Board of Education and the City Council for support. She also describes Don Othmer's involvement with the BHS and the large gift he left in his will. She relates many details of the costs and delays involved in the renovation of the BHS's landmark building. Interview conducted by Zaheer Ali.

Biographical / Historical

Jessie McClintock Kelly (1949- ) was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the eldest of six children. Her father was a lawyer, and her mother was a homemaker. She attended a Catholic convent school in St. Paul and then Smith College, where she majored in Government and stayed to earn a Master of the Arts of Teaching. In the mid-1970s, she moved with her husband to Brooklyn Heights, where she raised her family, while teaching high school in Manhattan. In the mid-1980s she joined the board of directors of the Brooklyn Historical Society, eventually serving as board President and then Executive Director of the BHS. She lives in Brooklyn Heights.

Conditions Governing Access

This interview can be accessed onsite at Brooklyn Historical Society's Othmer Library and online at the Oral History Portal.

Subjects

People

Places

Oral History Interview with Susan Mullin, October 14, 2015

Scope and Contents

In this interview Mullins recalls how she became involved with the Long Island Historical Society in the early 1980s and helped to start its transformation into the Brooklyn Historical Society. She tells about the conflicts among the board of directors over the proposed name change in 1984-85, her involvement with early donors such as Don Othmer and the Shellens family, and life in Brooklyn Heights in 1970s and 1980s. She also shares anecdotes about visiting Eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R. as a student, around 1964.

When David Kahn and Deborah Schwartz join the interview after the first hour, Mullin and Kahn share stories relating to the institution's collections, the condition of the BHS building, members of the board of directors, and their adventures in fundraising. Interview conducted by Zaheer Ali.

Biographical / Historical

Susan Spaulding Mullin (1945- ) was born in Richmond, Virginia, and grew up in the small town of Chase City, in southern Virginia, where her father farmed and ran a lumber business. She attended Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia, where she studied Economics. After marrying John Mullin, the couple moved to Brooklyn Heights in the late 1960s, where she ran an antiques store and interior design firm during the 1970s. In 1981, she joined the board of directors of the Brooklyn Historical Society (which was then called the Long Island Historical Society) and served as the board's president from 1985 to 1990. She lives in Brookneal, Virginia.

Conditions Governing Access

This interview is not currently accessible.

Subjects

People

Places

Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
https://bklynlibrary.org/cbh