Archive | History RSS feed for this section

Battle of Brooklyn Events: August 17 – August 27

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle features the full line-up and schedule for this year’s Battle of Brooklyn events. The festivities start this weekend and will continue until August 27th, which is the 243rd anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, “the first major engagement of the Revolutionary War to take place after the U.S. declared its independence in 1776.” […]

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Did Robert Moses “Head Fake” Brooklyn Heights?

The received wisdom is that Robert Moses was determined to route the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway through Brooklyn Heights, following the route of Hicks Street, staying roughly on the course it had taken through Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill, but that heroic resistance by Heights residents convinced him to try the innovative plan (where have we heard […]

Read full story · Comments { 4 }

Landmarks Approves Plan for Hotel at 186 Remsen

Lore Croghan reports in the Eagle that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has approved the design for the Remsen Manor Hotel, which will use as its base the historic Franklin Building at 186 Remsen Street (between Clinton and Court), including restoration of its top two stories, which were destroyed in a fire. There will be a […]

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

It’s Pride Month: Here’s What’s Happening

June is Pride Month. The Brooklyn Historical Society has an ongoing exhibition at their 128 Pierrepont Street (corner of Clinton) headquarters, On the Queer Waterfront: The Factories, Freaks, Sailors & Sex Workers of Brooklyn which will be on display through Sunday, August 4. Other events in the Borough are listed on the Brooklyn Pride website. […]

Read full story · Comments { 7 }

Brooklyn Historical Society Celebrates Black History Month

February is Black History Month, and the Brooklyn Historical Society will celebrate with a series of events illuminating aspects of Black history, both local and national. The series will begin early, this Wednesday evening, January 30 from 6:30 to 8:00, with a discussion of a vicious crime in 1946 against a Black decorated war veteran […]

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Senator Gillibrand at St. Ann’s Church Saturday to Promote New Book

New York’s junior U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, prominently mentioned as a possible Democratic candidate for President in 2020, will be at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, Clinton and Montague streets, at 1:00 PM this Saturday, December 15. She will read from and discuss her new book for children, Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes […]

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

Coming This Week at Brooklyn Historical Society

This coming Tuessday evening, October 16, from 6:30 to 8:00 the Brooklyn Historical Society will present social historian and York University (U.K.) professor emeritus James Walvin, author of Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity. in which he uncovers the fraught history of one of our most prevalent ingredients: sugar. From its role in […]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

Coming This Week at Brooklyn Historical Society

This coming Wednesday evening, October 10, from 6:30 to 8:00 the Brooklyn Historical Society will present “Immigrant Women, Labor, and the Quest for Gender Justice,” in which award winning journalist and author Bernice Yeung will discuss her writings and work concerning the protection of immigrant women in the work force from violence, sexual harassment, and […]

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

In “BJs and Bullet Holes” Ron Maldonado Shows Us the Old, Sleazy Side of Brooklyn Heights

Video producer, writer, and erstwhile BHB contributor Heather Quinlan has shared with us her latest production, “BJs and Bullet Holes” (video after the jump), in which Ron Maldonado takes us on a tour of the Heights as it was as recently as the mid 1980s. His tour hits on some places I knew shortly after […]

Read full story · Comments { 23 }

Credit Where Credit is Due-Emily Warren Roebling Recognized With Street Naming

The clouds parted and the sun shone brightly on Tuesday afternoon as if to say “FINALLY” as the stretch of Columbia Heights near Orange Street was proudly dedicated to Emily Warren Roebling, the woman credited-only in modern history-with the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge. According to the New York Times’ Overlooked Obituary, Emily was born in 1843 in Cold Spring, NY the second […]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }