1. The New-York Historical Society’s Relation to the Brooklyn Historical Society

While the historical society on Central Park West is about New York the city and state, then what is its relation to the Brooklyn Historical Society? When the New-York Historical Society had formed, it was mainly concerning the history of the island of Manhattan since that’s where most of the city’s earliest history happened. It soon moved on to have collections that would develop more discourse on state wide history and national history.

The Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) was founded as the Long Island Historical Society in 1863 when civic pride in Brooklyn was starting to kick into gear. In an effort to retain some of the rural history of Brooklyn, BHS was created. The N-YHS takes in very broad history and as an organization trying to create a comprehensive history of the city, information can get lost when too much is being collected. So the BHS was created to tackle more specific local histories that doesn’t necessarily have to be a part of the national dialogue as intensely as the N-YHS.

Next, check out Vintage Photos of the 12 Oldest Museums in NYC and take a look Inside the Hispanic Society of America in NYC.