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Brooklyn Historical Society ephemera collection

Call Number

ARC.272

Date

1814-2001, inclusive

Creator

Extent

19.85 Linear Feet
in 9 filing cabinet drawers and 2 oversize flat boxes.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The Brooklyn Historical Society ephemera collection is an artificial collection compiled by Brooklyn Historical Society staff, that continues to be updated to the present day. The collection contains pamphlets, cards, advertisements, newspaper articles, magazines, and more, dating from 1770 to the present documenting Brooklyn, New York City, and Long Island.

Biographical / Historical

The Brooklyn ephemera collection contains materials of mixed provenance accumulated over decades by the Brooklyn Historical Society(now the Center for Brooklyn History).

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically by subject.

Scope and Contents

The Brooklyn Historical Society ephemera collection is an artificial collection compiled by Brooklyn Historical Society staff, that continues to be updated to the present day. The collection contains pamphlets, cards, advertisements, newspaper articles, magazines, and more, dating from 1770 to the present documenting Brooklyn, New York City, and Long Island.

Business related materials in this collection include items such as checks, receipts, business and trade cards, bank notes, bank statements of condition, and promotional announcements and brochures. Religious materials include issues of the periodical The Parish News, dating between 1905 and 1906, as well as items pertaining to various Brooklyn churches that existed during the early 19th century, such as the Brooklyn Tabernacle, First Presbyterian Church, Saint Barnabas Church, and Saint Michael's Church of Bay Ridge. Tickets, pamphlets, service programs, announcements, miscellaneous flyers, newspaper clippings, and obituaries can be found here

A variety of materials documents civil organizations, including newsletters, special announcements, and invitations. Invitations to Fire Department balls and galas can be found, some dating to the 1840s. The Parks folder contains materials relating to Prospect Park, ceremonial dedications, annual reports, tour programs, and invitations. Also included are materials related to specific celebrations such as the Hudson-Fulton celebration of 1909, the Williamsburg Bridge opening of 1903, the Long Island Tercentenary Banquet of 1936, the George Washington Centennial celebration of 1889, and the Bicentennial of 1975 to 1977. Brooklyn clubs materials include theater programs, event, menu, and announcement information. Pamphlets, seating lists, donor lists, bulletins, handbooks, and correspondence, all relating to theater programs.

The majority of materials pertaining to entertainment is theater programs, as well as event programs and announcement materials. Theaters are listed alphabetically, and include The Athenaeum, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Majestic, Montauk Theater, New Brighton Theater, and Payton's Theater, as well as various theaters not documented extensively enough to occupy individual folders, such as the Germania Theater, Brooklyn College Theater, Prospect Hall, and the Carnegie Theater. Each folder contains items such as programs, booklets, and tickets. The collection also includes musical compositions, Coney Island memorabilia, opera programs, and playbills. Materials include event calendars, promotions, programs, annual schedules, newspaper clippings, posters, flyers, brochures, and sales guides. Sports events are documented through miscellaneous tickets and newspaper clippings. It also contains programs and schedules from the Crescent Football Club (1891-1892), the Brooklyn Prep Midgets' football team (1922), the Brooklyn-Queens Marathon and Indoor Games (1926), the Brooklyn Dodgers Football team (1940), and the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team (2001).

Materials related to the military pertains to the 23rd Regiment, the Navy and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, memorial services, Memorial Day celebrations, Ulysses S. Grant, and miscellaneous notices, a 1918 World War I Christmas postcard, invitations, and announcements. Included are identification cards, like Frances Haber's Brooklyn Navy Yard I.D. dating from 1943. Other items of interest include tickets and invitations for veterans' events and celebrations.

Transportation is represented through identification cards, tickets, booklets and more, pertaining to trains, underground and elevated subways, highways, ferries and bridges.

Subjects

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

This is an assembled collection, and Brooklyn Historical Society does not hold the rights to any of the materials in this collection. All materials published prior to 1924 are in the public domain. The copyright status for the majority of other materials has not been evaluated. Please consult library staff for more information.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Brooklyn Historical Society ephemera collection, ARC.272, Drawer and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Brooklyn ephemera collection is continually growing and is comprised of a variety of materials donated over the years. Much of its provenance is unknown due to it being a collection of various donations from benefactors both inside and outside Brooklyn Historical Society. Dedication package for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is the gift of David E. Simon.

Separated Materials

Ephemera related to the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball club has been removed to form the Brooklyn Dodgers collection (ARC.297).

Collection processed by

Collection processed by Joan Michaela A. Jocson

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 11:19:00 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information

Finding aid scanned by Sarah O'Holla, Fall 2006. Revised by Joan Michaela A. Jocson, with additions by Sang Ae Park and Qing Shen, 2007. Further revised and entered into Archivists' Toolkit by Nicholas Pavlik, 2011. Brooklyn Dodgers ephemera removed to form the Brooklyn Dodgers collection (ARC.297) by John Zarrillo, 2014. Additional items added to the collection by John Zarrillo, 2014-2016.

In January 2020, the collection was reprocessed by Ruby Lowery and Maggie Schreiner to reflect the arrangement of the Brooklyn Historical Soceity vertical files collection (ARC 315). All materials were rehoused into filing cabinets in the Othmer Library. Ephemera material from ARC 315 was integrated into the Brooklyn Historical Society ephemera collection (ARC 272).

Revisions to this Guide

March 2017: Last updated by John Zarrillo
August 2019: Additional material added to collection by Maggie Schreiner
February 2020: Revised by Maggie Schreiner to reflect reprocessing of the collection
November 2022 and January 2023: Revised by Diana Bowers

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society
Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201