Calendar of Events

We are pleased to host a twice-monthly Oral History Open House where interviewers will be ready to collect your memories of the Vietnam Era. All of the interviews will be archived in the BHS collection.  Please Email us to schedule an interview.

MAY

May 7 Wednesday 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Vietnam: Lessons Learned and Forgotten
Panel in conjunction with the BHS oral history exhibit: In Our Own Words
Hosted by Marilyn Young
A panel discussion hosted by historian Marilyn Young, author of The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990 and editor (with Lloyd Gardner) of Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam: Or, How Not to Learn From the Past. Vietnam was America's longest war, but it is possible that the U.S. involvement in Iraq will challenge that record.  What are the similarities and differences between the two conflicts? What lessons did the U.S. government learn from Vietnam?  What lessons have the people of the U.S. learned about our government?  Can history really teach?
Free and open to the Public.

May 8 Thursday 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Public Perspectives: Gowanus Transformations
Exhibit Opening
Gowanus Transformations illustrates the face of contemporary manufacturing in the region by looking at the process, from raw materials to finished product. See Exhibits page for more info Curators: Christine Mackellar, Margaret Maugenest, Friends and Residents of the Greater Gowanus (FROGG) and Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corp., and South Brooklyn Local Development Corp.
Exhibit dates: May 8 - August 24, 2008.
Opening is free and open to the Public.

May 10 Saturday 2:00pm
Walking our Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant Architecture Walking Tour
Led by author Wilhemena Kelly and historian Francis Morrone
Colonized in 1667, and originally centered at Bedford Avenue and Fulton Street, the original village of 'Bedford Corners' grew to become the Bedford Stuyvesant of today.  Learn of its Revolutionary War history and its evolution from town to urban metropolis.  See historic landmarks, beautiful brownstones, fabulous architecture, magnificent churches, and more.  Rain or shine. Meet in the lobby of Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street.
Admission: $10 members, $15 non-members, $5 children.

May 14 Wednesday 6:30 pm
Leonard S. Marcus: Minders of Make-Believe
Book Talk
Brooklyn Heights resident Leonard S. Marcus is one of the world’s leading authorities of children’s books and the people who create them. Mr. Marcus will read from and sign his book Minders of Make-Believe:  Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children's Literature. Minders of Make-Believe is an animated first-time history of the many gatekeepers—publishers, critics, librarians, moralists, and others—whose concern for the books children read has transformed American childhood and American culture.
Free and open to the Public

May 15 Thursday 6:30-8:30
Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But The Truth – Book Launch
Akashic Books and the Brooklyn Historical Society present a book launch event for Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But The Truth. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will open the launch of this latest installment in the award-winning Akashic Noir Series, which features original true-crime stories and personal essays from Errol Louis, Robert Leuci, Dennis R. Hawkins, Denise Buffa, Patricia Mulcahy, Reed Farrel Coleman, Constance Casey, and others. Akashic Books launched the series in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir, which was quickly recognized as the best collection of Brooklyn fiction ever published. In Brooklyn Noir 3, the borough's criminal legacy is explored through the lense of nonfiction—and once again, truth proves stranger than fiction. Join editors Tim McLoughlin and Thomas Adcock, along with many of the book's contributors, for short readings from the volume, followed by a wine and cheese reception.
Free and open to the Public.
 
May 21 Wednesday 5:30 – 7:30
Brooklyn Bridge 125th Anniversary Celebration
Exhibit Opening
Exhibition Laboratory: Teen Organized Exhibit
Please join BHS and the student curators for the opening of their exhibit! Students from Brooklyn Technical High School, Cobble Hill High School of American Studies, The Packer Collegiate Institute and Saint Ann’s School learned about the process of curating an exhibit from start to finish. With the help of Brooklyn Historical Society staff, consultants and scholars, students mined the collection for art and artifacts pertaining to the Brooklyn Bridge. Through extensive background research and collaboration the students curated, co-designed and wrote the text for this exhibit, which illuminates the Bridge's history. Exhibit dates: May – Fall 2008

May 24 Saturday
Brooklyn Bridge 125th Anniversary Lectures and Readings
BHS, in partnership with the Brooklyn Borough President's Office, the New York City Mayor's Office, and NYC & Company, New York City’s official tourism, partnership and marketing organization will host a series of lively events to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge and celebrate the Brooklyn Bridge as an enduring city landmark and a feat of modern architecture.Visit http://nycvisit.com/bb125 for complete information on the celebrations.

1:00 p.m. Dave Frieder aka "Dave the Bridge Man"
Lecture: The Great East River Suspension Bridge
Presented by Brooklyn Borough Hall
2:00 p.m. Lynn Curlee, author of Brooklyn Bridge
Children’s Reading: Brooklyn Bridge
Presented by the Brooklyn Book Festival
3p.m. Phil Bildner, author of Twenty-One Elephants
Children’s Reading: Twenty-One Elephants
Presented by the Brooklyn Book Festival
4:00 p.m. John Stern and Carrie Wilson
Lecture: the Beauty of the Brooklyn Bridge
Presented by the Aesthetic Realism Foundation

May 25 Sunday
Brooklyn Bridge 125th Anniversary Lectures and Readings
1:00 p.m. Raymond “Paul” Giroux
Lecture: Building the Bridge
Presented by American Society of Civil Engineers
2:00 p.m. Clifford Zink
Lecture: The Roebling Legacy
Presented by the Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology
3:00 p.m. Richard Haw, author of Art of the Brooklyn Bridge: A Visual History
Lecture: Art of the Brooklyn Bridge
Presented by Brooklyn Borough Hall

June

June 5 Thursday 12:00 – 4:00 pm
KidsDay
Free admission to BHS
Held on the public school holiday for the traditional “Brooklyn-Queens Day,” KidsDay is co-presented by the Rotunda Gallery, the Brooklyn Heights Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, the New York Transit Museum, and the Brooklyn Historical Society.  The afternoon festivities include a variety of programs at the Brooklyn Historical Society and other free family events around Brooklyn Heights. For more information please call 718-222-4111 ext. 222.

June 7 Saturday 12:00 – 5:00 pm
Folk Feet Dance Workshops
In collaboration with the Brooklyn Arts Council, BHS is offering an afternoon of dancing with ” Folk Feet Dance Workshops." Connect to Brooklyn’s traditional dance with local experts in a variety of dance cultures. Experts will be on hand to teach 40 minute dance workshops. Learn dances such as: Greek Syrtos, Panamanian Punto, Irish Jigs and reels, Trinidadian Limbo and Calypso and Haitian Kompas.
Free with BHS admission.
This event is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency.

June 11 Wednesday 6:30 – 9:00 pm
The Impact of Listening and Being Heard
Hosted by Phil Napoli
Panel Discussion
A discussion hosted by oral historian Philip Napoli, a curator of In Our Own Words: Portraits of Brooklyn Vietnam Veterans, and Vietnam veterans Tony Wallace and Neil Kenny, whose stories are featured in the exhibit. For some veterans it takes years before they choose to speak about their war experiences.  And some veterans never do.  Why are so many veterans, particularly of the Vietnam War, reluctant to speak?  What happens when veterans finally share their stories?  How does it feel to really be heard?  And how are we, as listeners, affected?
Free and open to the Public.

June 14 Saturday 1:00 pm
Walkabout Weeksville: Guided Walking Tour of the Weeksville Neighborhood
Conducted by Society for the Preservation of Weeksville
The Hunterfly Road Houses, located on a Native American path which later became a Dutch colonial road, are examples of the homes of 19th century free African Americans in the urban North. These historic houses were continuously inhabited from their construction until their acquisition by the Weeksville Society in 1968. Named for James Weeks, who purchased the land in 1838, Weeksville was originally settled by African Americans from all over the east coast following slavery’s end in New York State in 1827. It was to become an economic, political and cultural center during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Weeksville Heritage Center offers a variety of thematic house tours year round to both school groups, and the general public. Please check the website at www.weeksvillesociety.org for information on our public programs.
Meet at Weeksville Hunterfly Houses, on Bergen Street between Buffalo and Rochester Avenues.
Admission: $10 members, $15 non-members, $5 children.

June 21 Saturday 2:00 - 4:00 pm
Gowanus Transformations - Walking Tour
Led by curators: Christine Mackellar and Margaret Maugenest
Join BHS and the curators of Gowanus Transformations for a walking tour of workplaces featured in the exhibit, including Claireware pottery, Ernest Porcelli stained glass, and J & M special effects studios. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the working practices of contemporary manufacturing happening right in our own backyard.
Meet promptly at 2 p.m. at Claireware, 543 Union St at the corner of Nevins. Rain or shine.
Free and open to the public.

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