Henry R. Stiles collection of Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Memory oral histories
(2015.030)

ABOUT THIS COLLECTION

This small collection of oral histories includes interviews that chronicle the history of Brooklyn Historical Society from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. The interviews — conducted from 2015 to 2016 — attempted to document some of Brooklyn Historical Society’s most transformative years in terms of the physical structure of the building as well as organizationally and programmatically. The oral history interviews in this collection record the contentious struggle to change the historical society’s name, the organizations expansion to include exhibitions, programs, and documentary projects, and the decision to undergo a long building renovation.

The interviews were conducted with two former Executive Directors of Brooklyn Historical Society, one of whom served as a President/Chair of the Board of Trustees. During the interviews the former executive directors speak about their lives before, during, and after working at Brooklyn Historical Society.

Henry R. Stiles collection of Brooklyn Historical Society Institutional Memory oral histories