Center for Brooklyn History

06/05/2026

The Schermerhorn house, located at 3rd Avenue and 28th Street, was a wood-frame and stone building located on the former Schermerhorn farm property. At the time of this 1883 photograph, Gowanus Bay nearly touched 3rd Avenue, today the house would be in the shadow of the BQE.
[Schermerhorn house], 1883, AUST_0591; Daniel Berry Austin photograph collection, Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History
Atlas of the Entire City of Brooklyn 1880 SHEET: 17L

06/05/2026

As Puerto Rico confronts mounting economic pressures, climate vulnerability, migration, questions about the island’s political future have taken on new urgency 🇵🇷 🏝️

Join us as renowned scholar of Puerto Rican social and political movements José A. Laguarta Ramírez moderates a conversation with Ed Morales and Natalia Viera Salgado
📆 Thursday, June 11, 2026
🕐 6:30- 8 PM
📍 Center for Brooklyn History

Learn more
🔗 https://bklynlib.org/4a434F8

06/04/2026

What's the best way to kick off Pride Month? With our LGBTQ+ History research guide, of course! Browse oral history interviews with members of Brooklyn’s LGBTQ+ community, newspaper clippings, local newsletters, books, and more. Click here to get started: https://bklynlib.org/3ctDfk3
[Rainbow art], 2020, 2020.003.192, Brooklyn Historical Society COVID-19 collection, Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. Donated by the photographer, Livia Thompson.

06/04/2026

Interested in discovering more on this topic? ✊ ♿
Check out our upcoming program — Building Access: The History and Future of Disability Rights 👈
📆 Thursday, July 9, 2026
🕙 6:30–8 pm
📌 Center for Brooklyn History
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Learn More Today! 🗳️ 🎟️
🔗 https://bklynlib.org/4eabaNY
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Want to see the briefcase in person?
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Check out the exhibition 'People Making Power: Politics in Brooklyn.' 🪧 🗣️
October 31, 2025 to August 30, 2026
Center for Brooklyn History, Lobby Gallery
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Learn about the exhibition
🔗 https://bklynlib.org/3JFP62l

06/04/2026

Join us for a powerful discussion on community control and the ongoing fight against displacement in Brooklyn’s historic Black neighborhoods. 🪧 📘

Inspired by Abigail Savitch-Lew’s novel Livonia Chow Mein, we’re spotlighting the strength and agency of local residents who continue to shape their communities.

Don’t miss this impactful event, presented in connection with CBH’s “People Making Power: Politics in Brooklyn” 👈
📆 Thursday, June 18, 2026
🕕 6:30 pm – 8 pm
📍 Center for Brooklyn History

Learn More
🔗 https://bklynlib.org/4eXbRfu

06/03/2026

The Sunset Park Chinese community oral history and exhibition materials are open for research! This collection explores how the community of Chinese immigrants centered on Brooklyn's 8th Avenue took root and blossomed during the 1980s. In addition to hundreds of photographs of daily life and community events in Sunset Park, the collection includes oral histories from neighborhood residents, flyers and brochures for cultural and professional organizations, religious literature, posters, and Chinese-language newspapers and magazines. Click here for the full collection guide: https://bklynlib.org/3QbDffD
[Lunar New Year celebration], January 24 1993 by Nina Kuo; Sunset Park Chinese community oral histories and exhibition materials, ARC.325, Box 9, Folder 2; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History

06/03/2026

Celebrate Pride Month by exploring the inspiring story of Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap—pioneers who redefined modern literature and championed q***r voices from the margins. Join us for a special program honoring their legacy. 🌈✍️

📆 Tuesday, June 16 2026,
🕒 6:30 pm – 8 pm
📍 Center for Brooklyn History

Learn More
🔗 https://bklynlib.org/4tGGgCf

This Pride Month, the Center for Brooklyn History turns to the story of Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, the visionary editors behind "The Little Review," whose partnership, both personal and professional, helped shape the course of modern literature. At a time when both q***rness and artistic exper...

06/02/2026

Here at CBH, we are the first to admit that while we have several collections relating to gay history, our digital collections sorely lack in q***r visual representation. Instead, we must horseshoehorn in this photograph of a crab and his tormentor. In addition to Pride Month, June is horseshoe crab mating season in Brooklyn. Click here for more: https://bklynlib.org/3RYLs7o
Boy with horseshoe crab, 1990, COHEN_0180; George Cohen photograph collection; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.

06/02/2026

🚨 Next Week🚨 Confronting Climate Change is back with Part 3! 🌱 🌎 — focusing on solutions and the collective work needed to build a more sustainable future.

What tools do we already have to address the climate crisis? What innovations are emerging? And what will it take not just to imagine change, but to implement it at scale?

Join Michael Burger, Jesse M. Keenan, Nadia Seeteram and Rebecca Hersher as they tackle these questions!
📆 Monday, June 8, 2026
🕐 6:30-8 pm
📍 Center for Brooklyn History

Learn More
🔗 https://bklynlib.org/4u4pZHx

This series is presented in generous support from Con Edison 🩵

06/02/2026

As Puerto Rico confronts mounting economic pressures, climate vulnerability, migration, questions about the island’s political future have taken on new urgency 🇵🇷 🏝️

Join us as renowned scholar of Puerto Rican social and political movements José A. Laguarta Ramírez moderates a conversation with Ed Morales and Natalia Viera Salgado
📆 Thursday, June 11, 2026
🕐 6:30- 8 PM
📍 Center for Brooklyn History

Learn more
🔗

As Puerto Rico confronts mounting economic pressures, climate vulnerability, migration, and renewed debates over sovereignty and self-determination, questions about the island’s political future have taken on new urgency. In the wake of the most recent election cycle, what paths lie ahead for Puer...