Series 9: Oral History, 1987-2019, inclusive; 2006-2017, bulk

The Voices of Brooklyn oral history collection includes interviews collected through several projects undertaken by the Brooklyn Historical Society beginning in 2006. The series started in 2008 as "Brooklyn History Makers" and was renamed in 2016. It features narrators such as civic leaders, artists, community activists, business owners, athletes, veterans, and other Brooklyn residents.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection is the result of two collecting projects. The first effort took place from 1986 to 1989. The second effort, spanning from 2006 to 2010, was a partnership between the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC). This latter project aimed to capture the voices of those who worked at the Navy Yard during World War II and document the evolution of women joining the labor force during the war.

In 2010, the Brooklyn Historical Society partnered with the Brooklyn School of Inquiry (PS/IS 686), a public citywide Gifted and Talented school founded in 2009, to document its growth through oral histories. The resulting collection consists of over 400 interviews with elementary school-age children who attended the school, including annual interviews with the first class as the students progressed through each grade.

Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations (2011-2015) was a multi-year oral history project and public programming series focused on the history and experiences of mixed-heritage individuals and families, cultural hybridity, race, ethnicity, and identity in Brooklyn. Directed by Sady Sullivan, Director of Oral History from 2006 to 2014, the project involved a team of 25 interviewers who conducted over 100 oral history interviews with individuals identifying as mixed heritage. In addition to the interviews, the project produced an interpretive website featuring these oral histories, essays, and educational resources. Funding for Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the New York Council for the Humanities (NYCH), and several other organizations.

Voices of Crown Heights was a multi-year oral history project focused on the transformation of Crown Heights. It engaged community members in discussions on education, police accountability, community safety, and civic responsibility. The project resulted in a collection of oral histories conducted by the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), Brooklyn Movement Center (BMC), and Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC) starting in 2016, which BHS collected and arranged in 2017.

In 2017, the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) launched Muslims in Brooklyn, a multi-year public arts and history project designed to amplify the stories of Brooklyn's Muslim communities. This multidisciplinary initiative included an educational curriculum, an art exhibition, and a series of public conversations and performances. Central to the project were over fifty oral history interviews with Muslim Brooklynites conducted by the society in 2018.