Working with the Brooklyn Historical Society was an excellent experience. I had never had the chance to work with a Historical Society until this year. My class and I got to see many special things. We started out our semester with the BHS by taking a walking tour around Brooklyn Heights. We then got to visit the BHS’s library, where we got to learn about historical Brooklyn maps. Later on we got the chance to revisit the BHS’s library, where we then learned about historical documents.
The walking tour around Brooklyn Heights was a great experience for me. Before the walking tour I had no idea what Brooklyn Heights was. When we started walking through Brooklyn Heights while our tour guide, Julie Golia told us interesting facts and story’s about the neighborhood it made me appreciate Brooklyn more. It was interesting for me to learn that Brooklyn Heights had historical landmark districts. I would have never got to learn about how Brooklyn Heights was once farmland with chickens roaming around. My class and I also got to see many other areas during this tour. We learned about the Plymouth Church, we got to see the promenade, and we learned about important houses that are now being sold.
The first time my class and I visited the BHS, I was amazed to see how old fashioned the library looked. My class and I then found out that altering the library in any way was not permitted. During this library session I learned about different maps such as subway maps. It was interesting to learn that maps use to be hand written and the only way to color them was by using water colors, since printers didn’t exist at the time. Our last visit to the library was also interesting because I had never viewed historical documents in person.
In conclusion, working with the BHS was an excellent experience for me. Not only did I learn what Brooklyn Heights was, but I also got to learn about Brooklyn’s history.
