Historic Brooklyn Photographs

Historic Brooklyn Photographs

Brooklyn Public Library's online catalog contains a selection of more than ten thousand historic photographs from the Brooklyn Collection.

Searching and Viewing

Every word in the catalog record is fully searchable, including the photographer's name, the call number (for example, NEIG 0829), and any caption information. The search results appear as a list of catalog records. To view the actual photograph, first click on the underlined title, and then click on the thumbnail (small picture) to see a larger version of the photograph.

Ordering

Find out about ordering a print of any photo from the Brooklyn Collection.

Photograph Collections

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Photograph Collection (c. 1900-1955) provides many of the images, documenting change and development in the urban environment throughout the first half of the twentieth century. The major categories of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle photographs in the catalog include Bridges, Churches, Coney Island, Neighborhoods, Parks, Schools and the Eagle itself.

Other collections created by amateur and professional photographers concentrate on particular areas, ethnic groups or activities. The following collections by individual photographers have 50 or more images:

*Daniel Berry Austin. Daniel Berry Austin. 1899-1909. Brooklyn, Manhattan. Farms; houses; neighborhoods; landscapes. Many stereoviews. Amateur photographer.
Search for Daniel Berry Austin photographs

*George Bradford Brainerd. 1845-1887. Brooklyn, Manhattan, Long Island, Connecticut. Street scenes; houses; landscapes; waterfront; parks. Many stereoviews. Amateur photographer.
Search for George Bradford Brainerd photographs

*Raoul Froger-Doudemont. 1898-1901. Manhattan and Brooklyn. Street scenes, waterfront, parades. Amateur photographer.
Search for Raoul Froger-Doudemont photographs

Irving I. Herzberg. 1950-1990; Coney island; Hasidic Williamsburg; Ocean Parkway; people on the subway; Brooklyn institutions; plane crash in Park Slope; character studies/portraits. Amateur photographer.
Search for Irving I. Herzberg photographs

Edgar E. Rutter. 1912-1954. Brooklyn streets, subway, road-building, sewers. Official photographer for the Borough of Brooklyn.
Search for Edgar E. Rutter photographs

*Edgar S. Thomson. 1893-1900. Manhattan and Brooklyn; military; Navy Yard; waterfront; circus. Amateur photographer.
Search for Edgar S. Thomson photographs

*Irving I. Underhill. 1900-1949. Brooklyn municipal and commercial buildings, monuments, waterfront. Commercial photographer.
Search for Irving I. Underhill photographs

* indicates collections owned jointly with the Brooklyn Museum

Contact the Brooklyn Collection

• To share information or ask a question about photographs in the catalog, please contact the Brooklyn Collection.
• To submit a reference question to the Brooklyn Collection, please use the Library's Ask A Librarian form.

Funding for the digitization of the Brooklyn Collection images was provided by a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, while BPL continues to support the on-going cataloguing work.