Local History

Sometimes, from beyond the skyscrapers, the cry of a tugboat finds you in your insomnia, and you remember that this desert of iron and cement is an island
-Albert Camus; American Journals (April/May 1946 entry)

In the quote above, Camus reminds us that this skinny piece of land, on which are built so many buildings and skyscrapers, is in fact, an island. What struck me about this quote today weren't its emotional implications but rather the fact that "Island" is not the immediate impression one gets of Manhattan. New York City, however, is actually comprised of many islands - all of which have interesting stories of their own. I enjoy islands for the peculiarities they tend to develop so I decided to take some of the next few weeks to highlight a few lesser known islands which make up this great city.

New York State Political Elections, ca. 1850

Those who know me well may think I'm stuck on confections in general, but with the presidential election less than two weeks away, I cannot think of a more appropriate juncture to discuss the inauguration of election cake into American culture. And what would such an examination be without sharing a few traditional recipes found in NYPL's collection!

The birthplace of election cake can be traced back to the gubernatorial elections held in Hartford, Connecticut as early as 1660 when English colonies, Connecticut and Rhode Island, were granted the right to elect their own governors—long before the Revolutionary War began in 1775. Some primary evidence of the cake's existence is found at the Connecticut Historical Society, which holds the Colonial Records of Connecticut. These papers show that in May 1771, a man named Ezekial Williams submitted a bill to the Connecticut General Assembly to be reimbursed for the cost of making election cake for the colonial capital’s public festivities (also known as “Election Day Drinkings”). Historians have come to believe that election cake was adapted from yeast breads of that period popular in England.  read more »

Works Progress Administration or the WPA (renamed Work Projects Administration in 1939) was in my opinion, an amazing relief program. Established in 1935 as part of the New Deal by the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the WPA was an ambitious federal jobs program created to provide blue collar and white collar jobs for the unemployed during the Great Depression. Work ranged from road construction to theatrical productions to research for the Library of Congress and the program employed millions of individuals.

Opponents of the WPA criticized its work as nepotistic, wasteful and communist. Regardless, however, of one’s opinion about the WPA, the wealth of resources it provides us in the form of photographs, posters, interviews and writing is invaluable to research of this time period. There are far too many sources produced by the WPA at the New York Public Library to list but I want to highlight a few from the Milstein Division which would benefit the local historian and genealogist.

The Federal Writers’ Project of the WPA produced guide books to various cities, states and regions. Many of these are on our open shelves in section 33, including a guide to New York City. The Division of Community Service Projects created guides to vital statistics of church archives for several cities. New York City’s guides are also on our open shelves on section 15, divided by borough and then denomination. These can be very helpful when searching for church records like baptisms, marriages and funerals which took place in the metropolitan area of New York City prior to 1940. In a future blog post I will go into more detail on how to use this resource.

I found these pictures at www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com

The original Bethel Church in Tottenville burned down in 1886 and was re-built and dedicated the next year. There is a history of the church in Tottenville In Retrospect by Benjamin Franklin Joline, which is at the Tottenville Branch. When the church moved to its present location, pictured above, some members felt it was too far away from the heart of Tottenville, and they broke away to start another Methodist church closer to the heart of town.

The church pictured above is near Amboy Road and Page Avenue, one of the entrances to the town of Tottenville, about 3/4 of a mile away from the Tottenville branch

Recently the Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History and Genealogy has acquired close to fifty books of historical photographs from locations across the United States. Photographic books are not uncommon but generally focus on large cities like Chicago, New York or Los Angeles. This series, however focuses on smaller cities like Omaha, Nebraska and Knoxville, Tennessee. Come visit us and take a look!