Skip to main content Skip to main navigation

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences records

Call Number

ARC.011

Date

1843-1979, inclusive

Creator

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences
Brooklyn Children's Museum
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Academy of Music

Extent

10 Cubic Feet in thirteen manuscript boxes

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Abstract

The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences evolved from the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library Association formed in 1823, largely through the efforts of Augustus Graham. In 1825 the Marquis de Lafayette laid the cornerstone of a new building on Washington Street -- a memorable occasion for a young witness named Walt Whitman. The Library was renamed the Brooklyn Institute in 1843 and remained essentially the same until about 1888 when a greatly expanded program into many branches of science and art was initiated. Approximately 85% of the collection consists of publications, hard and softbound (including programs and exhibition catalogs), and the remainder correspondence and financial records. Very few of the materials pre-date the 1890 fire and consolidation; a few of the items surviving include an 1843 exhibition catalog and the 1857 Apprentice's Library catalog, as well as several music programs.

Historical note

The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences evolved from the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library Association formed in 1823, largely through the efforts of Augustus Graham. In 1825 the Marquis de Lafayette laid the cornerstone of a new building on Washington Street -- a memorable occasion for a young witness named Walt Whitman. The Library was renamed the Brooklyn Institute in 1843 and remained essentially the same until about 1888 when a greatly expanded program into many branches of science and art was initiated. Among the new division and departments added between 1890 and 1911 were (with year of opening):

The Brooklyn Museum (1897) The Brooklyn Children's Museum (1899) The Brooklyn Academy of Music (absorbed in 1907) Biological Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor (1907) The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (1911)

A destructive fire at the Washington Street building in 1890 marred the accomplishments of a merger with the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (BIA&S) and reincorporation. An ambitious plan for a new building near Prospect Park was conceived in the 1890's. It was to house the Institute's library and a large museum complex. A new building to replace the original Brooklyn Academy of Music edifice which was destroyed by fire in 1903 was begun in 1907.

The parent BIA&S transferred the Biological Laboratory to the Long Island Biological Association in the early 1920's now called Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory. In the face of financial restraints brought on by the Depression, the Institute began narrowing its focus. The Museum began concentrating on the collection of art objects, and beginning about that time, the different branches became more and more independent, such as the Academy of Music, which is now independently operated.

Sources Lopate, Carol. Education and Culture in Brooklyn: a History of Ten Institutions. [Brooklyn, N.Y.]: Brooklyn Educational and Cultural Alliance, 1979. 63 p.

Arrangement note

Preliminary arrangement and description of Accession Number 1985.073 was completed by Manning Field, with additional arrangement and description by D.S. Moore in October of 1985. The original finding aid noted that bound volumes of Yearbook (1890-1917); bound bulletins, guides, and reviews (1898-1933); and a series of Brooklyn Museum Quarterly v. 1-26 (1914-1958) were removed from this collection and placed in the Library. In December, 2005, one record carton of related administrative files and three record cartons of programs (Acc. No. 2005.054) were added to this collection and a folder list was created by Flora A. Rodriguez. In addition to a large quantity of programs and other publications, records documenting the Brooklyn Children's Museum's fundraising activities for its 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner and its 1949 Special Gifts Campaign; activities of the Women's Committee for the Academy Orchestra Series and the Women's Committee for the Boston Symphony Orchestra Concerts in Brooklyn; the Brooklyn Ballet Association Inc.; and an adolescent ballet club called the "Brooklyn Ballet Club" were added to the collection.

Scope and Contents note

Approximately 85% of the collection consists of publications, hard and softbound (including programs and exhibition catalogs), and the remainder correspondence and financial records. Very few of the materials pre-date the 1890 fire and consolidation; a few of the items surviving include an 1843 exhibition catalog and the 1857 Apprentice's Library catalog, as well as several music programs.

The collection was arranged into series according to the four divisions of BIA&S as described in the 1915-1916 BIA&S Yearbook:

Missing Title

  1. BIA&S General Administration, 1857-1973
  2. Education, 1860-1979
  3. Museums, 1843-1976
  4. Botanic Garden, 1912-1921

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Collection Title, Call or Accession number, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Related Archival Materials note

Additional Brooklyn Academy of Music programs are located in the Brooklyn Historical Society's Theatre Collection, ArMs 1977.041.

Collection processed by

Flora A. Rodriguez

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 11:19:02 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

Processed by Flora A. Rodriguez in December 2005. The finding aid was revised and entered into Archivists' Toolkit by Matthew Gorham in June 2010. Additional content contributed by Emily Reynolds on January 13, 2011. Box-level description added to the finding aid by John Zarrillo, December 2015. Duplicates were removed from the collection and transferred to the Brooklyn Academy of Music Archives in June 2018 by Maggie Schreiner.

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society
Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201