“This program made my love of history grow. Brooklyn history is important because most of my classmates live in Brooklyn, but don’t know much of its history. We aren’t taught Brooklyn history in class.”

-Keyshawn, Hellenic Classical

Each student in the Brooklyn Connections program is expected to complete a research project on a Brooklyn topic. Students begin the year by looking for interesting topics that could be researched within the Collection. For most, this means working with original primary sources for the first time.

Participants are given full access to the Brooklyn Collection during and after school. At home and in school, they use their research to create papers, displays and presentations.

This year, students at MS 136 used a packet of documents to tell the story of immigration and industry in their neighborhood of Sunset Park.

“When I recently moved here I had many questions about the community. Now because of this project I know that Sunset Park is a great community.”

Charlie expressed what he had learned about the neighborhood through original cartoon characters.

Charlie’s classmate Jeanise created fictional diary entries written from the perspective of a recently arrived immigrant in 1950.

At Hellenic Classical Charter school, students broke into groups to study how the Civil War changed life in Brooklyn.

“I learned about the many ways Brooklyn contributed to the Civil War. My favorite document was the letter from the soldier to his sister because it explains what was going on around him.”-Steven

“I studied a lot about Walt Whitman. I learned that Brooklyn had a newspaper called the Brooklyn Eagle and that Walt Whitman was a writer for it.”-Alex

“This project gave me the opportunity to learn something new. Ithelped young kids like me learn about our heritage.” -Uneeq

Students at IS 162 were asked to find topics in Brooklyn history that also fit into the National History Day theme: Innovation in History. Diana, Angie, Stephanie and Karinafocused on the ground-breaking work of Brooklyn artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

“That one man from Brooklyn changed so many people’s views on Graffiti in the art world is amazing. We enjoyed this project because we went to different places to learn more and more about our topic.”

Students at Hudde Junior High researched critical themes in the 7th grade curriculum on both a national and local scale. The American Revolution group was invited to present their work on stage at our End-of-Year Celebration.

“This is where we live now. Why not learn about what happened in this place before we were born?” -Melina

“I enjoyed working on the presentation. I enjoyed being very creative while working.” -Samantha

Brooklyn Connections is made possible by a generous grant from The Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund, with additional support provided

by New York Life Foundation and Tiger Baron Foundation.