At The Disability Guys, we think it’s important to know your history. One of the many perks of life in Brooklyn is the availability of museums covering a wide range of subjects. The museum at the Brooklyn Historical Society is one of our Brooklyn workers’ comp lawyers’ favorite places to visit when we’re in the mood to learn about local history. We made a visit here on a recent weekend, and thought we’d share some of the highlights from their current exhibitions:
The Means of a Ready Escape: Brooklyn’s Prospect Park
Prospect Park has always been one of Brooklyn’s crown jewels. This green oasis in the middle of one of the world’s most bustling cities has a rich 150-year history, which is profiled in this exhibition. You can view over 100 artifacts and documents from throughout the park’s history.
Prospect Park covers 585 acres of forests, fields, and swamps. We recommend taking a trip here as well the next time you’re in Brooklyn on a nice day.
Until Everyone Has It Made: Jackie Robinson’s Legacy
Jackie Robinson professional baseball’s color barrier in 1947 when he became the first African-American player to join a major league team – the Brooklyn Dodgers. This exhibition opened just before the 70th anniversary of this historical day and is currently running through June 2018. Learn about all of the details of this civil rights triumph by viewing a wide range of archival materials, photographs, programs, and other memorabilia.
Truman Capote’s Brooklyn: The Lost Photographs of David Attie
This exhibition features rare photographs from a photographer named David Attie, who in 1958 was guided through the streets of Brooklyn Heights and to the waterfront by 33-year-old Truman Capote. These photographs were for illustrations for Capote’s essay for Holiday magazine about life in Brooklyn. These photographs have rarely been seen, and offer a unique perspective of what life in Brooklyn was like 60 years ago.
Wise Eyes: Still Woke
This exhibition was inspired by Women’s Marches and the importance of education and created by the 2017 Brooklyn Historical Teen Council. It takes you on a journey through Brooklyn’s past and the way the women of Brooklyn have fought for education and equal rights. None of the women profiled in this exhibition knew each other or lived in the same period of history. The exhibition shows how ideas of feminist thought have progressed through the decades, including suffrage, black civil rights, equality in education and the workplace, and how certain women were persecuted for their ideas.
Brooklyn Abolitionists/In Pursuit of Freedom
In Pursuit of Freedom examines the history of Brooklyn’s anti-slavery movement; beginning at the end of the American Revolution and progressing into the beginning of Reconstruction following the Civil War. The exhibit tells this story through photographs, census records, maps, anti-slavery and local newspapers, and more. A must-see for any history buffs who live in or are visiting Brooklyn.
