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Center for Brooklyn History Finding Aids
Guide to the Edna Huntington papers and photographs ARC.044

Edna Huntington papers and photographs

Call Number

ARC.044

Date

1905-1965, inclusive

Creator

Huntington, Edna
Kline, Stella O.

Extent

6.7 Linear Feet
in three manuscript boxes, 10 small photograph boxes, and one oversize folder.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The Edna Huntington papers and photographs, dated 1905 to 1965, document Huntington's work as a librarian as well as her education, her hobbies, and travels during her career. Huntington's photographs and travel journals document vacations with her travel companion, Stella Kline.

Biographical note

Edna Huntington (1895-1965) attended P.S. 131 in Brooklyn and later completed Columbia University's Home Study courses in Librarianship. She began working for the Long Island Historical Society (now Center for Brooklyn History) in 1926 and served as Head Librarian from 1936 to 1960. In addition to her work as a librarian, Huntington was an avid traveler. During the 1920s and 1930s, she planned a number of hiking and camping trips throughout the northeast United States and documented her excursions with photographs and detailed travel journals.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into three series by type.

Scope and Contents

The Edna Huntington papers and photographs, dated 1905 to 1965, are organized into three series: Brooklyn Research, Personal Papers, and Photographs. While Brooklyn Research gives a focused view of Huntington's work as a librarian, Personal Papers provides a broader perspective on her career and its impact, as well as her education, her hobbies, and travels during her career. Photographs complements travel journals in the Personal Papers series with black-and-white prints and negatives of Huntington's vacations with her travel companion, Stella Kline.

The Edna Huntington Photograph Collection (accession V1974.016) contains over 3,000 documentary photographs of Brooklyn taken by Huntington during the mid-1940s.

She photographed streets, buildings, and people in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens Cobble Hill, Brownsville, Midwood, Bay Ridge, Gowanus, Flatbush, Fort Hamilton, Windsor Terrace, Brighton Beach, Prospect Park, Prospect Heights, Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Bensonhurst, Flatlands, East Flatbush, Borough Park, Coney Island, Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, Cypress Hills, New Lots, Canarsie, New Lots, Bedford Stuyvesant, Mill Basin, Marine Park, Ridgewood, Park Slope, East New York, Clinton Hill, Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Manhattan Beach.

Subjects

Genres

Topics

Places

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Edna Huntington papers and photographs, ARC.044, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Edna Huntington, 1960.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

The collection's digital surrogates should be used in place of the originals whenever possible.

Existence and Location of Copies

Item-level description and digital versions of images from the collection are available for searching via the image database in the library under the object ID prefix V1974.16.

Collection processed by

Weatherly Stephan

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-04-01 15:30:05 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information

Minimally processed to the series level.

This collection is composed of four accessions: 1977.225, 1977.252, V1997.012, and V1974.016.

Oversize folder containing Manual Training High School diploma and other documents was added to the collection by John Zarrillo, March 2017.

Material found in repository added to collection by Lena Evers-Hillstrom in October 2018.

This collection was rehoused and the finding aid revised by Dee Bowers in 2024. At that time, the boxes comprising accession V1974.016 were linked to this record to enhance access and findability.

Revisions to this Guide

March 2017: Updated by John Zarrillo

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society

Container

Box: ARC.044 Box 4 of 4 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: ARC.044 Box 2 of 4 (Material Type: Text)
Box: ARC.044 Box 3 of 4 (Material Type: Text)
Box: ARC.044 Box 1 of 4 (Material Type: Text)
Box: OS-20 (Material Type: Text)

Series 1: Brooklyn Research, 1926-1960, inclusive

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet in two manuscript boxes.

Scope and Contents

This series consists of research notes made by Huntington on various topics related to Brooklyn and Long Island history, including authors, mills, cemeteries, historic markers, and monuments. Also included is a copy of "Historical Markers and Monuments in Brooklyn" with marginal notes by Huntington.

Series 2: Personal Papers, 1887-1965, inclusive

Extent

1.95 Linear Feet in two manuscript boxes and one oversize folder

Scope and Contents

Personal Papers includes Huntington's early school records and Manual Training High School diploma; correspondence relating to her library education at Columbia University and obtaining her position as librarian at the Long Island Historical Society (LIHS); travel journals, 1920-1940; a ration book; certificates; newspaper clippings; a scrapbook compiled by LIHS staff as a retirement gift; genealogical papers; bookplates; and the printing block for her personal bookplate.

Series 3: Photographs, 1917-1941, inclusive

Box: Negatives by Subject 2 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: Prints 1 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: Prints 2 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: Prints 3 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: Prints 4 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: Negatives 1 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: Negatives 2 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: Negatives 3 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: Negatives by Subject 1 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Extent

0.9 Linear Feet in one manuscript box and one phase box.

Scope and Contents

Photographs contains negatives, black-and-white prints, and scrapbooks (titled "Travelogues") of Huntington's travels and outdoor activities, including hiking, camping, and canoeing. This series documents her almost yearly vacations from 1917 to 1941. Images show natural landscapes, camp grounds, and informal shots of Huntington and her travel companion, Stella Kline. Four scrapbooks written by Huntington and Kline combine dozens of photographs with a detailed narrative of each trip. Their destinations included the New England states, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada, the Smoky Mountain region, and Bermuda.

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