Long Island Historical Society

In 1896 several influential individuals in Brooklyn, New York, decided to collect authentic authoritative materials relating to the past and present history of Brooklyn and its inhabitants. Therefore, on June 28, 1897, The Hon. Frederick W. Wurster, mayor of the city (of Brooklyn, New York), authorized the Long Island Historical Society to compile information covering the Dutch and English records of the earliest settled towns in Brooklyn which included Midwout (later Flatbush), Brooklyn, Amersfoort (later called Flatlands), New Utrecht, Gravesend and Bushwick. In 1897, the State Legislature "...authorized the city of Brooklyn to...provide for collecting and preserving materials for the history of Brooklyn... ." But, before anything further was done, the form of government changed. Brooklyn was now incorporated into the city of New York. In 1903, work began and the Dutch and English records were compiled begining with the year 1523. Ships from several different port cities in France, searching for a navigable passage to India, discovered the site of the borough of Brooklyn.

Edgerton G. North (1900–1967) was a native of Brooklyn, where he worked as an appraiser. He was an active member in the community and assumed leadership roles in numerous civic groups and organizations, including the Long Island Historical Society, of which he was President from 1957 to 1965.

Abbot Augustus Low (1843-1912) was the son of prominent Brooklyn businessman Abiel Abbot Low (1811-1893) and the nephew of Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low (1850-1916).

The Hispanic Communities Documentation Project was an archival initiative based at the Brooklyn Historical Society in the late 1980s and directed by Morton Marks. The project sought to capture the cultural ethos of the Hispanic community in Brooklyn through printed ephemera (e.g. handouts, fliers, clippings, restaurant menus) and through the voices of community members themselves. At the heart of this collection stands a series of oral histories in which men and women of varying nationalities (Puerto Rican, Mexican, Ecuadorian, etc.) rendered the stories of their lives from birth to their experience as immigrants in the United States.

Though an official administrative history of the project does not exist, it seems to have been carried out as an expansion of the Puerto Rican Oral History Project, which the Society (then the Long Island Historical Society) initiated in 1973 and completed in the mid-1970s. Like the Puerto Rican project before it, the Hispanic Communities Documentation Project provides a substantial body of source material on the immigrant experience in late 20th century America.

The Long Island Historical Society (LIHS) was established in 1863 in the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. From 1863 to 1880, LIHS rented rooms on Hamilton Street until it was able to build its now landmarked building. The building, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991, was designed by architect George B. Post and completed in 1881. Portions of the interior of the building, including its library, were designated an Interior Landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. As of 2011, only 110 interiors have been granted this designation by the Commission.

The mission of LIHS was to preserve and encourage the study of Long Island and Brooklyn history via collecting and making available primary and secondary resources, as well as to hold exhibitions, tours, and events. Originally named the Long Island Historical Society due to its location on Long Island, which today is comprised of four counties--Kings County, Queens County, Nassau County, and Suffolk County--it was renamed the Brooklyn Historical Society in 1985.