Patterson family papers and photographs, circa 1847-1956.
Call number: ARC.078
4.43 linear feet, in two manuscript boxes, one oversize box, and four custom boxes.
Link to the finding aid.
This collection contains materials about the Patterson family that lived in Brooklyn Heights. May Patterson (1879-1925) was active in the Democratic Party and a devout suffragist. She is notable for being the first female Assistant District Attorney to argue a case in a United States court. Of particular interest is box 3, which contains May’s scrapbook of newspaper clippings about incidents and issues concerning women and women’s rights.
Seidl Society Records, 1889-1899
Call number: 1977.175
1.75 linear feet, in four document boxes.
Link to the finding aid.
Laura C. Holloway was a suffragist who founded the Seidl Society in 1889. Devoted to music and charity work, the society of over 300 women brought music to underprivileged women and children in Brooklyn through free outdoor concerts at Brighton Beach and Coney Island. These concerts were all day events including meals and time to enjoy the beaches. The society also presented lectures by prominent feminists, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Of note in the collection are the scrap books in box 3, which contain clippings documenting the women’s rights concerns of the Society and details about the concerts and lectures.
National Council of Women of the United States leaflet, 1895
Call number: 1977.156
0.01 linear feet, in one folder.
Link to the finding aid.
The leaflet announces the holding of an event called “Reunion of Friends and Pioneers of Woman’s Progress” at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, held in honor of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s 80th birthday.
John Howard Melish, William Howard Melish and Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity collection, 1904-1985
Call number: ARC.050
8.0 linear feet, in 16 manuscript boxes.
Link to the finding aid.
The Melishes served Holy Trinity in total for over 50 years, but their removal from the church was sought due to William Howard Melish’s association with Communist organizations. The collection principally includes material related to the “Melish Controversy”: newspaper clippings maintained by William Howard Melish focusing on Communism, United States-Soviet Union relations, and court cases related to the controversy. Of note in regard to civil rights are reel-to-reel audio tapes of a memorial service held in Ghana in 1963 for W. E. B. Du Bois at which William Howard Melish spoke (Series 3) and Melish’s 1960 remarks concerning civil rights activism in the South (Series 8). A digital version of the tapes can be listened to in the library.
Brooklyn Armstrong Association and Brooklyn Hampton Association records, 1906-1943
Call number: 1981.001
0.33 linear feet, in five folders.
Link to the finding aid.
The Brooklyn Armstrong Association was formed in 1906, renamed the Brooklyn Hampton Association in 1920, and disbanded in 1943. The Association was formed principally as a vehicle for Brooklynites to support the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute and to engage with matters of African-American “uplift.” The collection includes material from throughout the life of the organization, including: a scrapbook of clippings about events and meetings, solicitations, meeting invitations, announcements, reports, membership lists, Hampton Institute publications, and the like; some annual reports; minute books for the Executive Committee and Annual meetings; and correspondence, mostly from 1943 concerning the final days of the organization.
Richetta Randolph Wallace papers, 1906-1971
Call number: 1978.137
3.0 linear feet, in five manuscript boxes and one flat box.
Link to the finding aid.
The collection consists of the personal and business papers of Richetta Randolph Wallace, an African-American woman who had a longstanding engagement with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in Harlem (New York City), African-American literary and arts culture, and matters of race relations, racial justice and civil rights. Documents include correspondence, pamphlets and other published print matter, event programs and other ephemera, photographs, receipts, manuscripts, and newspaper clippings.
Gates Avenue Association records, 1922-1944
Call number: 1977.177
0.05 linear feet, in two folders and one bound volume.
Link to the finding aid.
This collection includes a minute book, correspondence, a list of residents and property owners for 1936, and various announcements and notes of the Association. The materials illuminate the Association’s regular activities and operations, as well as its opposition to the arrival of African Americans in the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill.
Women’s Alliance of the First Unitarian Church of Brooklyn records, 1922-2004 (bulk 1980-2003)
Call number: 2005.031
3.5 linear feet, in three record cartons and one oversize flat box.
Link to the finding aid.
The Women’s Alliance began as the Female Samaritan Society in 1838, several years after the Church’s founding. Members of the group took responsibility for all the physical housekeeping of the church, ran the church’s annual fundraising fair, and helped with parish duties such as visiting the sick and cooking for the congregation. After periods of inactivity in the twentieth century, the group was resurrected in 1973 as the Women’s Alliance, a primarily issue-oriented group concerned with social action and women’s rights matters. Series 5 contains materials related to the group’s abortion rights (folder 3) and social justice (folder 11) work; also of note are the issues of Women’s Work, the group’s newsletter, in Series 6. Other materials in the collection include administrative and financial records, meeting minutes, correspondence, and photographs.
Arnold Goldwag / Brooklyn Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) collection, 1943-2007
Call number: ARC.002
13.75 linear feet, in 13 manuscript boxes, five record cartons, and two artifact boxes.
Link to the finding aid.
The collection consists principally of the subject files concerning 1960s civil rights activism maintained by Arnie Goldwag, an officer of Brooklyn CORE during the first half of the 1960s. These files include correspondence, newsletters, event announcements (e.g., fliers), directions for demonstrators, photographs, press releases, clippings, and other documents related to many of the actions conducted by Brooklyn CORE, particularly for the period 1961-1965. Actions represented in the collection include those protesting discrimination in employment, housing, schools, and the like, including the controversial initiative to block traffic in connection with the opening of the 1964 World’s Fair. The collection also includes reminiscences by Goldwag and other CORE members looking back from the 1990s and 2000s.
Amote Sias papers, 1945-1993
Call number: 2008.017
3.0 linear feet, in one manuscript box, one record carton and two oversize flat boxes.
Link to the finding aid.
Sias, currently the principal at Brooklyn Collegiate High School, was involved in activist movements and ran for city office in the 1970s and 1980s. The collection consists of materials documenting her participation in groups such as the Committee to Elect Jesse Jackson for President and her campaign for City Council in 1989. Materials include financial and administrative documents, programs, notes, and clippings that highlight local and national efforts for social justice and equality.
Mary DeSaussure Sobers collection, 1945-2002
Call number: 2005.053
0.42 linear feet, in one manuscript box.
Link to the finding aid.
Bedford-Stuyvesant native Sobers became the first African-American woman to participate in a sanctioned track meet, sponsored by the New York City Parks Department in 1945. The collection contains materials concerning Sobers’s track career including correspondence, programs, publications, newspaper clippings, photographs, and medals.
Antonia Denis collection, 1948-1983
Call number: 1992.021
1.0 linear feet, in one oversize box.
Link to the finding aid.
Antonia Denis, a social and political activist, arrived in Brooklyn, N.Y. from Baja Vega, Puerto Rico during World War I. She soon became a major figure in several Brooklyn-based organizations, including La Casa de Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rican Pioneers Parade, and the Betances Democratic Club. These organizations advocated for political and social equality, celebrated Puerto Rican history and culture, and administered anti-poverty, cultural, and educational programs for Brooklyn’s Puerto Rican community. The collection consists of correspondence, administrative documents, financial records, photocopied newspaper articles, calling cards, certificates, newsletters, pamphlets, and other ephemera relating to Denis’s work; over half of the materials are in Spanish and are not translated.
Robert Vadheim Brooklyn neighborhood renewal and development collection, 1962-1987
Call number: 1987.002
2.33 linear feet (in one manuscript box, one record carton, and one oversize box.)
Link to the finding aid.
The collection consists of records compiled by Robert Vadheim during his involvement with the Brooklyn Heights Association. The Brooklyn Heights Association was formed in 1910, and remains the oldest neighborhood association in New York City. The records include bulletins, reports, announcements and notices to membership. Of note is Series 2, which contains materials about redlining.
Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation publication and photograph collection, 1968-2007 (bulk 1970-1980)
Call number: ARC.124
0.1 linear feet, in one manuscript box.
Link to the finding aid.
Founded in 1967, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation provides services to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in four major areas: affordable housing; employment; business and economic development; and arts & culture. This collection focuses on the activities of the organization in its efforts to improve the social and economic situation of Bedford-Stuyvesant’s residents. Materials primarily consist of newsletters documenting the organization’s work.
