Brooklyn Academy of Photography Blizzard of 1888 photograph album
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
The album documents the effects of the blizzard in Brooklyn and Manhattan, showing street scenes, snow removal efforts, and different modes of transit hampered by the snowfall.
Historical note
On March 12 and 13, 1888, a major blizzard hit the Atlantic coastline, affecting the United States from Virginia to Maine. In New York City, the storm was the worst blizzard since 1857, with snow accumulation of 21 inches and 60 mile per hour winds. Due to sub-freezing temperatures and large snowdrifts throughout the city, the recovery and clean-up period lasted for almost two weeks.
The Brooklyn Academy of Photography was founded in 1887 and headquartered on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. In 1891, the academy merged with the Brooklyn Photographic Society, and the organization was re-named the Brooklyn Camera Club in 1896. The Brooklyn Camera Club is still active as of 2011.
Sources
- Brooklyn Camera Club. "Brooklyn Camera Club History." Accessed May 16, 2011.http://www.brooklyncameraclub.org/brooklyncameraclub/History.html
- Seyfried, Vincent. "Blizzard of 1888." In The Encyclopedia of New York City, ed. Kenneth T. Jackson, 118. New Haven: Yale University Press; New York: New-York Historical Society, 1995.
Scope and Contents
The Brooklyn Academy of Photography Blizzard of 1888 photograph album dates from 1888 and contains 168 photographs. The album documents the effects of the blizzard in Brooklyn and Manhattan, showing street scenes, snow removal efforts, and different modes of transit hampered by the snowfall. Brooklyn neighborhoods represented in the collection include Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill, Park Slope, Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Williamsburg. The collection also contains images of Prospect Park, Fort Greene Park, the East River, and the Brooklyn terminal of the Wall Street ferry; Manhattan locations include Wall Street and Lower Manhattan. In addition to images of row houses, churches, and businesses buried in the snow, photographs in the collection also depict groups of laborers working to remove snowbanks, as well as horse-drawn streetcars and sleighs on Brooklyn streets.
All photographs in the album were taken by members of the Brooklyn Academy of Photography, though no individual photographers are identified. Some photographs in this collection are possibly the work of academy member Adrian Vanderveer Martense, as similar or identical images of the blizzard are also found in the Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection (ARC.191).
Subjects
Genres
Topics
Places
Conditions Governing Access
Due to the album's fragile condition, users should consult digital versions of images in the collection through the library's image database.
Conditions Governing Use
All items in this collection entered the public domain in 2008. For information on securing rights to publish or reproduce, please see the Brooklyn Historical Society Reproduction Rights Policy.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Brooklyn Academy of Photography Blizzard of 1888 photograph album, V1974.040, Box number, Object ID number; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Source and date of acquisition for this collection are unknown.
Other Finding Aids
Item-level description and digital versions of images from the collection are available for searching via the image database in the library.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Fully processed to the item level.