The Brooklyn Collection

We lost tremendous amount of talent in 2016. Let’s remember them young, vibrant and beautiful: Zsa Zsa Gabor (with sisters), Debbie Reynolds, George Gaynes, Steven Hill, Alan Young and Fyvush Finkel.

Almost all of them came to the Eagle from the International Photo News Agency. 

For Veteran’s Day - Joseph E. Darrow who lost his life at 16 at the Battle of Bull Run. He lived at 21 Johnson Street.

Happy retirement for Lucio Schiavone who operated the Prospect Park Carousel for the past 26 years.

For the 1944 election women formed the Brownsville Women’s Non-Partisan Committee For Registration

A Robert Wilson and Mikhail Baryshnikov’s production “Letter to a Man” portraying the great - and insane - Vaclav Nijinsky is generated a heated discussion. These two drawings by Nijinsky himself were published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on November 25, 1937 under an upbeat title, “Drawings Likely to Restore Sanity to the Great Nijinsky”. They didn’t, but they are pretty amazing. (Please pardon the quality.)

Bill Powers, the Bridge aficionado and photographer, just made a donation of his gorgeous Brooklyn Bridge photographs to the Brooklyn Collection.

This evening we’re honored to have author Michael Woodsworth in the Brooklyn Collection discussing his new book “Battle for Bed-Stuy” at 7:00 p.m. Wine and cheese at 6:30.

These images came to the library through a Culture-in-Transit project, “Our Streets, Our Stories”. If you are interested in developing a similar project, the toolkit offers wealth of resources and ideas.

If you are in Brooklyn tomorrow evening, please join us at the Brooklyn Collection for a book presentation. Michael Woodsworth introduces his book “Battle for Bed-Stuy”. The program will start at 7 pm in the Brooklyn Collection (2nd floor of the Central library), but we will start with our famous wine-and-cheese reception at 6:30 pm).

Brooklyn heartthrobs, funny men and tough guys. These images from the Brooklyn Collection vaults show film and stage actors who were born in Brooklyn.

One can bet that this year’s Halloween parade will be dominated by the likenesses of Trump, Hillary and Bernie. Before it is too late, here are some ideas from the Brooklyn Collection.

Desperadoes of yesteryear... Full gamut in age and in a crime of choice. From a 16-year-old recidivist burglar to 111-year-old practitioner-without-a-license... New York (and Brooklyn) indeed never sleep. (All images are from the Brooklyn Public Library photo collections.)

Life is always, always more absurd than fiction. The last thing that would come to one's mind would be "women's undies" when you look at these mug shots. And yet... apparently there was a rather big criminal case which involved FBI and in which these four gentlemen were implicated. According to a news piece in a morning edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on July 30, 1953, the members of the "Panty Ring" (yes, indeed!), stole and disposed of $500,000 worth of women's underwear. Half a mil in 1953 would be more than four million these days. Who knew that undergarments was such a hot commodity back then?