Brooklyn Historical Society

From ArchivesWiki

Brief Description of Holdings

The Brooklyn Historical Society Library was one of only a handful of cultural organizations in the fast-growing City of Brooklyn in the mid-nineteenth century. Founded in 1863, the library has a premier collection of research materials on the history of Brooklyn, that today includes over 100,000 bound volumes, 60,000 graphic images, 2,000 linear feet of manuscripts, and over 2,000 maps and atlases. The library also holds family histories and genealogies, rare books, periodicals, serials, journals, personal papers, institutional records, and oral histories that document Brooklyn's many different ethnic groups and neighborhoods. The collection was designated a major resource library by the U.S. Department of Education and has been used by countless students, teachers, genealogists, researchers and scholars.

Collection highlights include: historic maps and atlases of Brooklyn and New York City, numerous individual family histories in the genealogy collection, a microfilm collection of Brooklyn and Long Island newspapers from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, an important collection of microfiche pamphlets on slavery and abolition, the papers of abolitionist clergyman Henry Ward Beecher, the Pierrepont Papers, the Brooklyn Firefighting Collection, and the Brooklyn Council of Churches.

Address:

Brooklyn Historical Society 128 Pierrepont Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 [1] library@brooklynhistory.org (718) 222-4111

General Information:

To use the archives & manuscript collections an appointment is needed. However to use the general library collections, which include the reference books, vertical files, and maps, or the image database an appointment is not necessary.

Please note that photocopying of materials is done on a case-by-case basis and is dependent upon an item's condition. Digital photography of materials is prohibited at this time.

Library Hours:

The library is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 1 to 5 pm; and the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 10 to 2 pm.

Directions:

Centrally located in the Brooklyn Heights section of Brooklyn, individuals can take the 4,5,2, or 3 train to the Borough Hall stop or the R or M train to the Court Street stop.