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Center for Brooklyn History Finding Aids
Guide to the John D. Morrell Photograph Collection ARC.005

John D. Morrell photographs

Call Number

ARC.005

Dates

1957-1974, inclusive
; 1958-1963, bulk

Creator

Morrell, John D. (Role: Creator)
Morrell, John D. (Role: Donor)

Extent

15 Linear Feet
in one filing cabinet

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

John D. Morrell, assistant librarian at the Long Island Historical Society (now called the Brooklyn Historical Society) donated over 2,000 black and white and color negatives and prints to the Photography Collection. The images are indexed at the item level by address, street names, and/or neighborhood sometimes including proper names of businesses or institutions.

Biographical Note

John Morrell was a graduate of Pratt Institute and the assistant librarian at the Long Island Historical Society (now the Brooklyn Historical Society) under Head Librarian, Edna Huntington for many years.

System of Arrangement

The film and prints were numbered by a volunteer who indexed the collection by address and/or street coordinates and neighborhood. All prints and negatives are separate and stored numerically; negatives are described with an N following the unique object identification number. Black and white photographs use the object id prefix v1974.4; color photographs use the object id prefix v1974.9. There is no apparent subject or date order to the collection, although blocks and neighborhoods are sometimes grouped together.

Item-level description is available through the image database.

Scope and Content

The photographs in this collection are documentary in subject matter of almost every Brooklyn neighborhood from 1957-1974 in color and black and white. The areas highly represented include Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.), Bath Beach (New York, N.Y.), Flatbush (New York, N.Y.), Carroll Gardens (New York, N.Y.), and Downtown Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.). Though the subject focuses primarily on the buildings and street scenes of Brooklyn, some people are also photographed. The predominant years include 1958-1963 and are mostly black and white and were photographed using 120mm film and printed on 3.5" photographic paper by a processing lab.

Subjects

Genres

People

Morrell, John D. (Role: Donor)

Topics

Places

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright held by the Brooklyn Historical Society. All uses beyond fair use requires a licensing agreement as per Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Please consult library staff for more information.

Photograph Records

Item-level description and digital versions of images from the collection are available for searching via the online image database.

Immediate Source of Acquisition.

Gift of John D. Morrell.

Other Finding Aids

Item-level records for the collection are available for searching via the Image Database in the library and the online image database.

Collection processed by

Julie I. May.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 11:18:23 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English.

Processing Information

Collection indexed by A.C. Stillwell at the time of donation. In 2008, a grant allowed for the digitization of the entire collection, at which time the records were standardized at the item level with contemporary neighborhood names and street names and proper names of businesses and institutions. Collection information entered into Archivists' Toolkit by Julie I. May in 2009.

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society

Container

Box: 9 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 10 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 11 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 12 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 13 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: Prints by Accession 36 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: 1 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 2 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 3 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 4 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 5 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 6 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 7 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Box: 8 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Series 1 - Black and white photographs, 1957-1963, inclusive

Language of Materials

English.

Scope and Contents

The black and white photographs series includes 2,170 photographs taken between 1958 and 1963. The format is 2 1/4" square and the photographs are documentary in style rather than artistic. The photographs are individually cataloged with the address, when known, and/or the cross streets, the date, and the neighborhood. Searching at this level is possible in the online image database.

Series 2 - Color photographs, 1958-1974, inclusive; 1958-1964, bulk

Language of Materials

English.

Scope and Contents

The color photographs series includes 503 photographs taken between 1956 and 1974. The format is 2 1/4" square and the photographs are documentary in style rather than artistic. The photographs are individually cataloged with the address, when known, and/or the cross streets, the date, and the neighborhood. Searching at this level is possible in the online image database.

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