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Center for Brooklyn History Finding Aids
Guide to the Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection ARC.202

Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection

Call Number

ARC.202

Date

circa 1850 to 2010, inclusive

Creator

Extent

9.6 Linear Feet
in 21 manuscript boxes, six oversize boxes, and one flat file folder.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection contains approximately 7000 items dating from the mid 19th century to the beginning of the 21st.

Arrangement

The collection is divided into two groups. "Images with object IDS" consists of photographs that are numbered by accession number. Accession V1973.005 accounts for the majority of this group, along with V1973.006. The second group, "Images by subject," is unnumbered and is arranged alphabetically by subject. Item-level description for the images with object IDS is available in the library's image database, PastPerfect.

Scope and Contents

The Brooklyn photograph and illustration collection contains approximately 7000 items dating from the mid 19th century to the beginning of the 21st. The collection provides comprehensive visual documentation of the borough of Brooklyn, N.Y., with images of neighborhoods, homes, buildings, businesses, parks, the waterfront, and infrastructure. Subjects of interest include aerial views of Brooklyn, major local banks, armories, bridges, churches, civic groups, libraries, museums, schools, parks, railroads, subway stations, and city and government agencies such as prisons, fire and police departments, and post offices. Over 30 Brooklyn neighborhoods are documented, including Brownstone Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Crown Heights, Brownsville, Canarsie, Flatlands, Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Coney Island, Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Borough Park, and Flatbush. In addition to images of the Brooklyn Navy Yard (formally known as the New York Naval Shipyard), the collection also contains photographs of Brooklyn docks, harbors, and ferries.

Subjects

Genres

Topics

Aerial photographs; Business enterprises -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Dwellings -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Waterfronts -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Banks and banking -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Armories -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Civic improvement -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Libraries -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Bridges -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Church buildings -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Parks -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Railroads -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Museums -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Schools -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Prisons -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Subway stations -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Fire departments -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Police -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Post office buildings -- New York (State) -- Kings County; Cemeteries -- United States; Fire fighters -- New York (State) -- New York

Places

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.); Williamsburg (New York, N.Y.); Sunset Park (New York, N.Y.); Sea Gate (New York, N.Y.); Red Hook (New York, N.Y.); Prospect Park South (New York, N.Y.); Prospect Heights (New York, N.Y.); Park Slope (New York, N.Y.); Gerritsen Beach (New York, N.Y.); Fort Greene (New York, N.Y.); Flatlands (New York, N.Y.); Flatbush (New York, N.Y.); Crown Heights (New York, N.Y.); Coney Island (New York, N.Y.); Cobble Hill (New York, N.Y.); Clinton Hill (New York, N.Y.); Bath Beach (New York, N.Y.); Dyker Heights (New York, N.Y.); Borough Park (New York, N.Y.); Manhattan Beach (New York, N.Y.); Downtown Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.); Boerum Hill (New York, N.Y.); Gowanus (New York, N.Y.); Brighton Beach (New York, N.Y.); Greenpoint (New York, N.Y.); Gravesend (New York, N.Y.); New Utrecht (New York, N.Y.); New Lots (New York, N.Y.); Canarsie (New York, N.Y.); Carroll Gardens (New York, N.Y.); Brownsville (New York, N.Y.); Bushwick (New York, N.Y.); Bay Ridge (New York, N.Y); Sheepshead Bay (New York, N.Y.); Bensonhurst (New York, N.Y.); Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.); Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Pictorial works; Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.); Brooklyn Bridge (New York, N.Y.) -- Pictorial works; Williamsburg (New York, N.Y.)

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); Brooklyn photographs and illustrations, ARC.202, Box number, Object ID number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The bulk of the collection was formalized into a collection in 1973, but material was collected throughout the 20th century and into the 21st from various news agencies, magazines, journals, and other print publications, as well as from other sources.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

If digital surrogates exist, they should be used in place of the originals whenever possible.

Other Finding Aids

Item-level description and digital versions of images with object IDs are available for searching via the image database in the library.

A full index of subjects in accessions V1973.005, V1973.006, and the "prints by subject" section is available in paper form in the library.

Collection processed by

Weatherly Stephan

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-11-05 18:04:15 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

This collection combines the accessions V1973.5, V1973.6, V1991.012, and V1991.032, among others.

Finding aid authored by Weatherly Stephan on April 27, 2011. Additional content contributed by Patricia Glowinski on November 4, 2011. Oversized items folded into prints by subject by Mary Mann on June 21, 2019. Immediate Source of Acquisition note and Conditions Governing Use note updated by John Zarrillo in February 2015. Collection reprocessed and finding aid revised by Diana Bowers in 2022 and 2023.

Repository

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