Representing 55 Schools Including Erasmus Hall and Girls High And Featuring Famous Brooklynites Including Senator Bernie Sanders and former Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm
Brooklyn Public Library announced today it has digitized almost 1000 school newspapers from 55 New York City high schools. The archives are free to the public and span more than 150 years.
The majority of the collection is from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Many famous Brooklynites appear in the pages of these publications, including Shirley Chisholm (Girls High) Bobby Fischer (Erasmus Hall High School), Janet Yellen (Fort Hamilton High School), and Bernie Sanders (James Madison High School).
“We are delighted to be able to share this archive with public,” said Natiba Guy-Clement, Manager of Special Collections. “In essays, interviews, poems, and reporting – students share the news of their school and beyond, covering important events including the assassination of John F. Kennedy and interviewing the most significant figures of the time, including Martin Luther King.”
The archive can be accessed here—and is available for use to anyone anywhere in the world. It is keyword searchable and the newspapers can be downloaded. The full list of schools (and number of newspapers per school) can be found in the collection guide.
Brooklyn Public Library has collected high school newspapers for many years. However, many were in poor condition, limiting the access librarians could provide. The new archive opens the access for all.
The Library’s Brooklyn Collection is the world’s largest public archive for the study of Brooklyn’s social and cultural history in the 19th and 20th centuries. Documenting every aspect of the borough’s past in a variety of media, the collection includes more than 5,000 books, 200,000 photographs, manuscripts, newspapers, maps and atlases, directories, prints, illustrations, sheet music, posters and ephemera.
Funding for the project was provided by the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund, Epstein Teicher Philanthropies, Hearst Foundation, Festa Family, in support of our Brooklyn Connections program.
About Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is an independent library system for the 2.5 million residents of Brooklyn. It is the sixth largest library system in the United States with 59 neighborhood libraries located throughout the borough. BPL offers free programs and services for all ages and stages of life, including a large selection of books in more than 30 languages, author talks, literacy programs, and public computers. BPL’s eResources, such as eBooks and eVideos, catalog information, and free homework help, are available to customers of all ages 24 hours a day at our website.