Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights collection
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Abstract
The Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights collection spans the period 1848 to 1970 and chiefly contains publications and ephemera documenting the regular activities of the Church, as well as deeds of pew and correspondence.
Historical Note
Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights was incorporated in 1847. Before the Church's founding, many Brooklyn Episcopalians crossed the East River into lower Manhattan every Sunday to attend services at Grace Church, New York. However, when this latter church moved further north to Broadway and 10th Street, Brooklyn parishioners found the weekly journey across the river to be too impractical, and consequently merged with the Episcopal congregation at Brooklyn's Emmanuel Church on Sidney Street, led by Reverend Francis Vinton. However, Emmanuel Church was not large enough to accommodate the sudden influx of new parishioners, and Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights was founded to house the newly-combined congregation, with Vinton being selected as the Church's first rector. In 1848 a new building, commissioned by Church wardens Henry E. Pierrepont and Colonel Tunis Craven and designed by architect Richard Upjohn (who had also designed Trinity Church in Manhattan), was completed at the corner of Hicks Street and Grace Court. As of 2010, Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights continues to serve Brooklyn's Episcopal community from its now-landmarked building on Hicks Street.
Sources:
- Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights. Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights, New York, 1847-1937: Ninetieth Anniversary, Book of Commemoration and Year Book. Brooklyn, N.Y.: the church, 1937.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by material type and each type is arranged chronologically.
Scope and Contents
The Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights collection spans the period 1848 to 1970 and chiefly contains publications and ephemera documenting the regular activities of the Church. Items include annual reports, yearbooks, monthly bulletins under the titles The Parish Chronicle and The Parish Messenger, service and event programs, and pamphlets regarding the commemoration of the parish school and the building of a new parish house. Additional items include two deeds of pew from the Church's early history issued to George H. Bell in 1848 and Charles Congdon in 1853, and a 1913 letter from building contractors John Thatcher & Son regarding the installation of window guards and stone mullions on the Church's stained glass windows, accompanied by sketches of the windows.
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Conditions Governing Access
Open to researchers without restriction. The collection may only be used in the library and is not available through interlibrary loan. Requests to view the collection must be made at least 48 hours in advance of visit.
Conditions Governing Use
While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights collection, ARC.127, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Portions of this collection were the gift of Herbert Wheaton Congdon, 1979. The 1899 choir festival booklet was found in collection at the Brooklyn Collection at Central Library. Sources and dates of acquisition for the remaining items in the collection are unknown.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
If digital surrogates exist, they should be used in place of the originals whenever possible.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Originally minimally processed to the collection level. The finding aid was updated to the file level in 2022.
The collection combines the accessions 1974.194, 1978.106, and 1986.024.
In 2022 an 1899 booklet for the Ninth Annual Choir festival was added to the collection.
