The Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) is a museum, library and educational center dedicated to encouraging the exploration and appreciation of Brooklyn's rich heritage. BHS fulfills this mission by collecting, preserving and making available important materials representative of Brooklyn's diverse peoples and cultures both past and present. The Brooklyn Historical Society places the materials it collects in a meaningful context by presenting innovative exhibitions and public programs.
Founded in 1863, the Brooklyn Historical Society is a nationally renowned urban history center dedicated to the exploration and preservation of documents, artwork and artifacts representative of Brooklyn's diverse cultures past and present. BHS provides access to its unparalleled collection through extensive educational programs, exhibits, neighborhood history guides, community outreach and its distinctive Brooklyn Walks and Talks series. Brooklyn's young and old develop pride in their own cultural traditions while fostering an appreciation for their neighbors' differences and similarities.
Throughout the year a full calendar of special events, presentations, workshops and programs offers families wonderful opportunities for learning and getting involved. The Society is also an important research tool, and features the Donald F. and Mildred Topp Othmer Library, which features the largest collection of Brooklyn-related books, graphic images, and newspaper clippings in existence.

The Brooklyn Historical Society presents the following exhibitions:

Brooklyn Works: 400 Years of Making a Living in Brooklyn is New York City's first major exhibition spanning the metropolitan area's history from its beginnings to the present day. Brooklyn Works is about the working people of Brooklyn - the industries in which they worked, the many challenges they faced, and how this work shaped their daily lives over Brooklyn's 400-year history. The exhibition takes you on a journey from Brooklyn's rural beginnings - where its earliest workers, the Lenape Indians, farmed and hunted - to its metropolis of today, where most people work in offices, schools, and hospitals. It uses re-created theatrical environments to transport you back in time. Enter environments of tenement buildings and sugar refineries, see original advertisements and artifacts from products manufactured in Brooklyn, and hear the stories of workers from enslaved Africans to modern restaurant owners. In these immersive environments that represent the changing economic landscape of Brooklyn, encounter real individuals from the past and present who together tell the story of working in Brooklyn.

Visit our website www.brooklynhistory.org to learn about the additional changing exhibits that are on view.

BHS was founded in 1863 as the Long Island Historical Society, when the city of Brooklyn was the commercial and cultural center of Long Island. The Brooklyn Historical Society's four-story Queen Anne style building was completed in 1881 and was designed by architect George B. Post. Post's bold use of extensive terra cotta ornamentation on the façade, and innovative truss system to support the ceiling of the central library, has long been revered by architectural historians. In July, 1991, the building was recognized as a National Historic Landmark and included on the National Register of Historic Places. Portions of the interior, including the Othmer library, were designated as an Interior Landmark by the City of New York, one of the few interior landmarked buildings in Brooklyn. During World War I, BHS contributed to the war effort by transforming its 600-seat auditorium into a Red Cross Headquarters by building a flat floor over the original sloping floor. For a long period afterword, BHS operated only as a library, although it continued to add to its collections. In the 1980's, new leadership reestablished the organization as a museum and education center, which continues to serve and reach out to the community today.