On October 2,2013 my class and I went to the Ursula Schwerin Library with our English and Effective speaking professors. We were guided by a librarian that showed us around the library and the different sections in the library. Then we went up to the a room with computers where we used the computers to complete our assignments that were given to us by our professors. First Professor Davis gave us two sources and we had to find out if they were credible or not. They gave us time to work in our groups to figure out which one was more credible. I think that activity helped us a lot to read a source and to know what to look for so we can know if it is credible or not. After that we were given a topic which was the Brooklyn movie theater fire that happened in 1876. We had to use the library data page to look for books that were on that topic but that didn’t go so well because we couldn’t find any books on the fire. But I still think that the data page is very useful to find information if you had to write a paper. We then went on the internet to find credible sources that we can use if we had to write a paper on the fire. Last we used the library data base to look for articles on the fire and that was very useful because a lot of information came up. The library visit helped me a lot because I  now know I can use the database and it will hep me find credible sources,

On September 30,2013 my class took a field trip to the Brooklyn Historical Society. We went with our English and Effective speaking professors and we stopped at various locations before we got there. First we stopped off at the Post office on Johnson street. I learned a lot of information about the history behind the post office. In 1876 there was a movie theater there that burned down and the tragedy was Brooklyn’s worst one as yet. Also I learned that the post office is the biggest one in Brooklyn. Second we went across the street to Columbus Circle which is a famous park in Brooklyn because back in the 1800’s that’s where Henry Ward Beecher who was an abolitionist and a famous speaker. People would travel there to hear him speak. Then on the other side of the park is a statue of Christopher Columbus and his statue is facing Borough Hall. After that we went to a famous church in Brooklyn and then headed Brooklyn Bridge park. At the park you can see the entire Manhattan and I really enjoyed the view because it looked so beautiful. I was so amazed because I never saw a more better view of the city from such a close distance. Finally we went to the Brooklyn Historical Society where I learned some more new facts. The first thing I learned was that the faces of the Philosophers,writers,actors,etc that were outside are called “busts”. Then we went inside to the library which was very big and antique looking. Last we went into the basement in a room and learned about the rules and necessitates.

TUG OF WAR, WHO KNOWS BROOKLYN? BY BEN MCGRATH is a very comical argument of whom is a better historian, John Manbeck or Brian Merlis. Neither are not trained in the field nor are seen as official historian by the government or people. However, this does not prevent them from acting as such or fighting about who is superior. Both man show little credentials other then living in the area of Brooklyn and having family ties to it. Both choose to write about objects in Brooklyn that they find interesting in their own opinions  and I quote “I do neighborhoods that aren’t  like, all gentrified, I could come out tomorrow with a ‘Park Slope, Then and Now’ book and make twenty thousand dollars. But no: I did East Flatbush. I’m doing Canarsie.”. History is a very delicate subject, most would say that it is written in stone and therefore is not delicate. However, the flaw in this is erosion, that stone will at one time become sand and anything that was craved on it will do so too. The Great library of Alexandria held the greatest amount of knowledge in the ancient world and in the fire much was lost – important events, locations, technology, documents, manuscripts, logs, maps – all that were taken for granted was gone in an instant. It took years to collate and copy all the work that were in there, some from the last remains of even older texts that were preserved. Only what survives is history that we know of, there will always be the history that was lost or seen as unnecessary. Then there is the history written by the victor, a bias history that shows only one side view of events.

So, here we have two people, who are driven to write about a subject that they have very personalized views on.  Reader may mistake it for real history, however as previously stated, the writers show only what they want. Some readers, who has not read the newspaper article about them, will think about Brooklyn in a every different way than what it is or was.

It is the same as showing only the tops of buildings that are clean and unaffected by people vs showing the sidewalk and the bottom of the building that may be covered in graffiti and garbage. Two sides of the same coin, but one is light and the other is bleak.

On Monday the class went on a walk from City Tech to the Federal building and post office which was across the street. It was at a time the Brooklyn Theater until it burned down in December 5, 1876. 287 to 300 people lost there lives that evening, following the phrase the show must go now. Other then ignoring an major threat to their welling being many on the 4th and 3rd tiers of the Theater were unable to get out due to the lack of exits and cramped stairwells. This led to a reform in the fire code of the city and remapping of potential fire starting building.

Then in Columbus we look at the statue of preacher Henry Ward Beecher, who was for the abolishment of slavery. However from his statue it would not be clear that he was so,due to his position above those who he was trying to free. A similar statue can be found at Plymouth Church several blocks away. From there we moved to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade that has an amazing view of Manhattan and the river. from there we could see Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges along with the new parks under construction below.

The last stop was the Brooklyn Historical Society which was made out of terracotta which is a red material somewhere between stone and brick. The outside had five faces, sculpted into it: and they are of Michelangelo, Beethoven, Gutenberg, Shakespeare, Columbus, and Benjamin Franklin. The entrance itself has a Norseman and Native American.  And inside on the staircase there was sculpt of Pinky, who was a slave that Henry Ward Beecher helped set free. We then went to the library, which had a very high ceiling and also has a gallery which is used as an archive. As soon as I saw wooden pillars, the tall book shelves, the contemporary look like oil base lighting, I immediately thought of the library of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series.

At the end of the day I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of walking in a part of Brooklyn  that  I never been in directly or passing by.