Project Will Focus on Transformation of Bushwick, Canarsie and Sunset Park Since the Passage of the INS Act of 1965
Brooklyn, NY— Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Library have received a $12,000 Common Heritage grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for 50 Years of Integration: Personal Impacts of Demographic Changes on Shifting Neighborhoods in New York City, a year-long project that will help residents of both boroughs document the history and transformation of their neighborhoods.
The NEH Common Heritage grant will allow the library systems to build on their existing partnership in the Culture in Transit project, which archives neighborhood history by offering digitization events at smaller libraries and community organizations throughout the city. The grant will fund similar community scanning efforts in three Brooklyn libraries—Bushwick, Canarsie and Sunset Park—with a focus on demographic changes in these neighborhoods since the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. The law loosened restrictions on immigration from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, effecting a half-century of demographic change in America.
“In a borough that is no stranger to change and transformation, 50 Years of Integration takes the long view, examining the impact of sweeping national policy at the neighborhood level,” said Brooklyn Public Library President and CEO Linda E. Johnson. “We’re grateful to the NEH and our partners at Queens Library for their support of this project, and we look forward to working with residents of Bushwick, Canarsie and Sunset Park to tell the story of late-twentieth and early-twenty-first century immigration to New York City.”
Longtime residents and recent arrivals to the neighborhoods will be asked to share their memories and memorabilia at a series of community digitization events that will begin in the fall of 2016. Their stories, photographs, documents and other artifacts will be preserved as a digital archive of the personal impacts of demographic chang in their neighborhoods. Brooklyn Public Library digital preservation specialists will employ mobile digitization labs comprised of flatbed scanners, cameras, digital audio recorders and laptop computers to collect their history. Participants will leave the workshops with their original materials and newly-created digital copies.
The grant will also support community history programs that will give participants a wider view of the historical trends in their neighborhoods. Scholars will present incorporate each library's special collections and the materials contributed by neighborhood residents in presentations at library branches and at two capstone events in Brooklyn and Queens. While these events all provide tremendous educational and community-building opportunities, at the heart of this programming is the idea of democratizing the process of history-making—allowing people to contribute to and define their local history.
“NEH provides support for projects across America that preserve our heritage, promote scholarly discoveries, and make the best of America’s humanities ideas available to all Americans,” said NEH Chairman William D. Adams. “We are proud to announce this latest group of grantees who, through their projects and research, will bring valuable lessons of history and culture to Americans.”
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About Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is an independent library system for the 2.5 million residents of Brooklyn. It is the fifth largest library system in the United States with 60 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: www.bklynlibrary.org.
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.