Series 10: Development

Scope and Contents

This series consists of materials documenting the activities of the Brooklyn Historical Society's development department. The department was responsible for raising funds to support the Society's mission, operations, and programs.

The bulk of this series documents the department's efforts to identify relevant grant-making agencies, grant applications, grant reports, and correspondence. Agencies include local, State, and Federal government; foundations, non-profits, and corporations. Grants both awarded and denied are documented, as well as efforts to reappropriate awarded funds. Gifts provided for general operations and program support are also included in these sub-series.

The earliest materials in this series are found in the memberships sub-series. Bound volumes with member names and addresses date to early in the Society's founding. Later membership reports, payment receipt books, member correspondence, and printed mailers are also included. Money raised for general operating costs outside of memberships and grants is documented in the fundraising sub-series. Also included in this sub-series are planning materials for annual fundraising dinners and donor events, as well as invitations, menus, photographs, and invite lists. The fundraising sub-series also includes paperwork regarding bequests.

Strategic planning materials include committee meeting notes, presentations, and trend forecasts concerning short-term and long-term fundraising planning, donor and membership cultivation, and updated mission planning for the development office and Brooklyn Historical Society as whole. The campaigns sub-series holds planning materials and final products created under the direction of the development department for various advertising campaigns. The press sub-series includes newspaper and magazine clippings with various announcements concerning the Brooklyn Historical Society and other organizations and individuals associated with the Society.

This series includes materials that were generated prior to the creation of the development department (i.e. materials that would retroactively be considered development, but created under the Long Island Historical Society).

Arrangement

This series is arranged in eight sub-series:

Sub-series 10.1: Grants and Gifts: Government is arranged alphabetically in loose chronological order

Sub-series 10.2: Grants and Gifts: Foundations and Non-Profits is arranged alphabetically in loose chronological order

Sub-series 10.3: Grants and Gifts: Businesses and Corporations is not arranged

Sub-series 10.4: Memberships is not arranged

Sub-series 10.5: Fundraising is not arranged

Sub-series 10.6: Strategic Planning is not arranged

Sub-series 10.7: Campaigns is not arranged

Sub-series 10.8: Press is not arranged

Historical Note

The development department was formally created in the late 1980s, although activities that would later fall under the purview of the department, such as memberships and grants, were actively managed by various staff members before the department's creation. Anne Rehkopf Townsend served as the first Director of Development from 1996-1998 and from 2002-2006. Townsend was followed by Fred Bush (1999-2001), Stephanie Kornfeld (2006-2008), Sally Marshall (2009-2012), Arlene Swartz (2012), Jennifer Beirne (2013-2016), and Heather Malin (2016-2020).

Conditions Governing Access

Materials in sub-series 10.1 and 10.2 are restricted until 2045. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the Center for Brooklyn History for more information.

Related Materials

Additional grant materials can be found in sub-series 7.15.

Processing Information

The bulk of records in the development series were identified during a 2025 inventory, unarranged. However, a small portion of the development department's files were originally arranged alphabetically under the following headings:

Grants: paperwork pertaining to various grants.

Partnerships: materials concerning institutions that had partnerships with the Brooklyn Historical Society at some point in their history, usually through grants and gifts.

Foundations: materials concerning foundations and non-profits that financially supported the Brooklyn Historical Society through grants and gifts.

Corporations: materials concerning corporations that financially supported the Brooklyn Historical Society through grants and gifts.

NYC Government Grants: grant materials from New York City government agencies.

Federal Grants: grant materials from United States government agencies.

State Grants: grant materials from New York State agencies.

To enhance discoverability the archivist interfiled records found during the inventory, imposed new headings (sub-series titles), updated folder titles and dates.

All original newspaper clippings and check copies were discarded after preservation photocopies were made.

Sub-series 10.1: Grants and Gifts: Government

Scope and Contents

This sub-series contains materials related to grants awarded by New York City, New York State, and Federal government agencies, dating from the early 1970s to 2020. Records include grant applications, correspondence with funding agencies, interim and final reports, payment documentation, and supporting materials. The grants supported a range of initiatives including public programs, exhibitions, building restoration, educational programs, digitization projects, and the acquisition of upgraded equipment and technology. Grants awarded for conservation and preservation projects often include collection inventories and treatment reports. Items in the Politicians: New York City folder include correspondence regarding money allocated to the Brooklyn Historical Society from the city's discretionary fund.

Materials also include applications and correspondence for grants that were not awarded.

Conditions Governing Access

This series is described to the sub-series level in the public finding aid; however, there is folder-level information on the back end. If researchers are in need of more detail, they should consult CBH staff.

Materials in this sub-series are restricted until 2045. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the Center for Brooklyn History for more information.

Processing Information

Additional paperwork concerning grants awarded by government agencies may be interfiled with unprocessed materials in this collection. Check copies found during processing have been shredded.

Sub-series 10.2: Grants and Gifts: Foundations and Non-Profits

Scope and Contents

This sub-series contains materials dating from the 1970s to 2020 related to grants awarded by various foundations and non-profits, including foundations created to manage corporate giving. See sub-series 10.3 for materials regarding funds provided directly by corporate bodies. Records include grant applications, correspondence, interim and final reports, payment documentation, and supporting materials. The grants supported a range of initiatives including public programs, exhibitions, building restoration, educational programs, publications, and oral history projects. This sub-series also includes records regarding gifts to fund general operations.

Materials also include applications and correspondence for grants that were not awarded.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials in this sub-series are restricted until 2045. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the Center for Brooklyn History for more information.

Processing Information

Additional paperwork concerning grants awarded by foundations and non-profits may be interfiled with unprocessed materials in this collection. Check copies found during processing have been shredded.

Sub-series 10.3: Grants and Gifts: Businesses and Corporations

Scope and Contents

This sub-series contains materials related to funds awarded to the Brooklyn Historical Society by various for-profit corporations and businesses as grants or gifts supporting general operations. See sub-series 10.2 for records regarding funds provided by foundations created to manage corporate giving.

Sub-series 10.4: Memberships

Scope and Contents

The items in this series include bound volumes with member names and addresses dating from early in the Long Island Historical Society's founding. Later membership reports, proxy ballots, payment receipt books, member correspondence, and requests for donations are also included.

Sub-series 10.5: Fundraising

Scope and Contents

This sub-series contains materials related to fundraising for general operating expenses, excluding memberships, grants, and foundation or corporate gifts. Records include planning documents for annual fundraising dinners, galas, and donor events, along with invitations, menus, guest lists, and photographs. Also included are materials related to annual appeals for individual gifts and information regarding space rentals. The fundraising sub-series also includes documentation concerning bequests.

Conditions Governing Access

The bequests in this sub-series are restricted due to sensitive personal information.

Sub-series 10.6: Strategic Planning

Scope and Contents

The items in this sub-series include committee meeting notes, presentations, and trend forecasts concerning short-term and long-term fundraising planning, donor and membership cultivation, and updated mission planning for the development office and Brooklyn Historical Society as whole.

Sub-series 10.7: Campaigns

Scope and Contents

The campaigns sub-series holds planning materials and final products created under the direction of the development department for various advertising campaigns including the Brooklyn Historical Society's 150th anniversary.

Sub-series 10.8: Press

Scope and Contents

This sub-series includes newspaper and magazine clippings with various announcements concerning the Brooklyn Historical Society and other organizations and individuals associated with the Society.