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Brooklyn Public Library: 1941
February 4, 1941. "Foyer, Brooklyn Public Library (Ingersoll Memorial), Prospect Park ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 07/17/2012 - 10:09pm -

February 4, 1941. "Foyer, Brooklyn Public Library (Ingersoll Memorial), Prospect Park Plaza." Acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. KafkaesqueMy first thought was this must be in Eastern Europe -- big empty halls to make you feel so small. What a place!I was about to say something about how nice the place looked when it wasn't crowded with metal detectors and security gates and lines everywhere. These days it's full of kids running around and people having loud conversations in about 50 different languages, and those are great things to have in a library too. In the StacksBack in 1965 I spent several days going through that foyer to the newspaper stacks, searching for my grandfather's April 1903 Brooklyn Daily Eagle obit. Since that time, the Library has digitized every copy of the Eaglefrom 1851 through 1902. Someday maybe they'll have enough funding to complete this enormous job. Re: What a PlaceI used to go there from the time I was old enough to go to the library by myself, up through college. So, I remember its heyday as does Zach. It's sad to hear that it has deteriorated. You can thank the decline in civility to the influx of the mongrels. ["Decline in civility"? You should know. - Dave] A Grand LibraryLots of fond memories of BPL's main branch, and can still remember kids break dancing in front as they waited for it to open. You can't say that about every library! Makes me wishI had a time machine Lonely big spacesI wonder if some guy named Eddie Hopper is loitering around the corner. Public spacesTell you so much, intended and unintended, about the values of the culture. Today, buildings like this are pretty much limited to financial and corporate institutions--and sports venues. Dial M for MesmerizedThis gorgeous photo is very intriguing. It looks like a still from an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I wish I were clever enough to come up with a dark and suspenseful plot surrounding the two men who are talking and the lone man on the right who is merely pretending to be interested in that wall display. I guess I'll just enjoy looking at this picture, one of my favorites on Shorpy so far. The LibraryMy goodness -- what a beautiful building. All those sweeping columns and recessed lights. To a kid who loved to read, it must have been like going to a cathedral. I hope it's still gorgeous like that even now. Crown HeightsI grew up in Crown Heights and often went here as a young kid. I remember being awe-inspired and intimidated by the library. As someone else mentioned, it was as if walking into a monumental cathedral to a kid in second grade. Not even on a human scale. Well PreservedI live three blocks from this library and am glad to report that it has not deteriorated. The entrance has recently been redone and the inside (except for the changes noted above) looks pretty good to me. This is a wonderful building and it greatly contributes to Grand Army Plaza on which it occupies a prominent corner. It looks pretty much the same now as it did then. Not just a lookerA gorgeous architectural photo. But today, as Zack wrote, it's overrun with people. I think the builders would be happy with that result. When I wait in line at my beautiful local library I always feel lucky that my neighbors appreciate the space and appreciate books. Ministry of InformationSam Lowry: I've been told to report to Mr. Warren. Porter: Thirtieth floor, sir. You're expected. Sam Lowry: Um... don't you want to search me? Porter: No sir. Sam Lowry: Do you want to see my ID? Porter: No need, sir. Sam Lowry: But I could be anybody. Porter: No you couldn't sir. This is Information Retrieval. Although, the porter in the movie at least had a impressive desk and a real chair instead of a bar stool. Foyer à FarkFarked again! (The Gallery, Farked, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
Brooklyn Public: 1941
January 13, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library (Ingersoll Memorial), Prospect Park Plaza, New ... way. Aha! A closeup of the inscription from the Brooklyn Public Library's website . "Noble things that tower ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/13/2011 - 1:59pm -

January 13, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library (Ingersoll Memorial), Prospect Park Plaza, New York." Acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. The Library at BrooklynI actually like the architecture. Reminds me of ancient Egypt, in the sense that it looks like long after all the other buildings in Brooklyn crumble, this one would still be standing, giving testimony to all the knowledge of mankind. Prewar, there was an idealism of the inherent belief in the good of mankind, so in the attempt to lift us from the Depression, we as a country built all these great libraries, schools, public works of all kinds trying to bring everyone up. And after the war, there was this fatalist realization that this wouldn't ever be possible, so why bother. It's fundamentally and economically not worth the effort, as there will never be any grand success to this ideal. This building reminds me of that prewar idealism -- clean, sterile lines, like the architect was dreaming of 23rd century America and wanted this building to be there still, stoic to the whims of the ages, an edifice to higher education sitting like an ancient hall. Then and nowView Larger Map I am confused...Is that a monument to Stalin, or Ayn Rand? Looks the same, either way. Aha!A closeup of the inscription from the Brooklyn Public Library's website. "Noble things that tower above the tide"In addition to the splendid gilded figural reliefs by Carl Paul Jennewein and Thomas Hudson Jones, the library's entrance façade and doorways are ornamented with numerous inspirational inscriptions written by Roscoe Conklin Ensign Brown (1867-1946), who served on the Library Board from 1908. He was the Board President who oversaw the design and completion of the building, and was clearly very good at crafting a lofty phrase. Yuckto this and the interior shot below. Late 30s - early 40s IMO = the beginning of truly hideous architecture. I'm sure I'm in the minority here but dang, to me that thing is fugly. More than just books.A building this beautiful makes me want to go in and explore. Looks like an Egyptian funerary temple.Or something by Albert Speer. Nice neighborhoodThe area around the library went downhill for a long time after this picture was taken. But the last 20 years has seen a tremendous resurgence. Every Saturday morning in the summer months there is a large farmers market that is full of life. Both Park Slope, and now Prospect Heights have evolved into some of America's most beautiful and livable neighborhoods. And when you see it up close, the architecture of this building is not as brutal as it may seem in pictures. Come to Brooklyn and see! Architectural illiterates! This is a remarkable building which elevated its users into a higher plane. It meant something to go into that space (as I did when researching high school projects in the 1960s.) It was the flagship for a superb borough-wide system of excellent libraries and had the distinction of being both beautiful and user friendly. I can only surmise that those who are totally unused to a high level of design in their daily existence would be overwhelmed by its magnificence. It is "only" a library after all, but such a presence. Outside GOOD, Inside BADAs a nearby resident and archi-nerd, I couldn't help but think, "I doubt most of these people have actually used this building." Because the glowing reviews would pretty much stop there. Yeah, the exterior is beautiful in an eccentric "destined to be a landmark" kinda way, but the inside is pure misery. There is zero natural flow between the departments, the main lobby is ostentatiously grandiose while serving no real purpose, the kids section is so far removed from the others (with no place to sit and rest), the rest of the building is a rabbit's warren of hidden rooms and long corridors... the list goes on and on. Yes: til the break of dawn. Reminds me a lot of the NYC Guggenheim. Visually wonderful, and an absolute nightmare to use. The FlagshipThe Ingersoll main branch is the flagship of the great Brooklyn Public Library System. Many of the smaller neighborhood branches were built through the generosity of Andrew Carnegie, whose largess in this regard resulted in over 2500 architecturally significant libraries being built in the US, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Almost 60 years after I first set foot in my local library in Brooklyn, I can still remember the smell of the books on the shelves, the wrought iron staircase that takes one to the balcony and its treasures, and the beautifully tiled fireplace in the central reading room. When I first set foot in the Ingersoll, I was even more proud to be a Brooklynite. Brooklyn's giftAs a child, I was thrilled to enter the Grand Army Plaza library. My 8th grade English teacher, Rose Silver, made us memorize the inscription by Roscoe Conklin Brown, President of the BPL System. I have forgotten neither the library nor my magnificent teacher to this very day. When I began driving in the late 1960s, I would often travel "in" from Queens to bask in the splendor of this library, Brooklyn's gift to the civilized world. I am still awed by the monumental architecture of this place, and no, it is nothing like Albert Speer's creations for the Third Reich. I left NYC in 1978. When my wife and I returned on vacations to "the city" during the 1980s with our children, we made it a point to have them take a stroll through the Ingersoll Building at Grand Army Plaza. Even the graffiti that besmirched the facade in those days could not diminish the grandeur of this soaring and stately symbol; it represented all that was good and noble within the Western World, forged, as it was, in a dark time of the Great Depression -- a precipice on which civilization itself tottered, in grave peril of being cast asunder by the 20th Century's version of the barbarian horde during the Second World War. It would not be hyperbole to say that this building and its contents indeed represent the greatness of American genius, culture, and values. As an aside, but of no less importance, let me address proposed library budget cuts. How sad -- for the children who need this resource to climb out of slums and ignorance; and for the adults who need this resource to continue to grow and never stagnate throughout their lives. Cutting the budget is nothing less than a sanctioned book-burning. Remember well the words of Heinrich Heine: "Dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen" -- Where they burn books, at the end they also burn people. Best times of my lifeGrowing up in Brooklyn in the '50s and '60s was an incredible experience. The Grand Army Plaza library was a wonderful part of that. I vividly remember the project I did for my wonderful eighth grade English teacher, Mr. Rood, at Mark Twain JHS in Coney Island -- "The Gladiatorial Contests of Ancient Rome." Every Saturday, for a year, my mother would pack a lunch for me (to be eaten in nearby Prospect Park only!), and my parents would drop me off at this wonderful library. The staff there was incredibly kind in helping me find obscure journals, books and art. They even helped me write proper citations and footnotes for each article and publication. Of course, the most fun was using the "new" copying machines, with those awful white on black, nearly impossible to read copies. For many years, I enjoyed just walking up and down the aisles looking at their great collection of books. I recently moved to Oklahoma City and truly miss everything about this fabulous library! (The Gallery, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
Children's Room: 1941
February 1, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park Plaza. Children's Room, from ... glimpse into her childhood world. Thank you. RIP, Mom 1941 I was born in 1941, so the serene Brooklyn Library scene is very ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 08/05/2012 - 1:13pm -

February 1, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park Plaza. Children's Room, from balcony." 5x7 safety negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. Shhhhhhhhhhh.....(thank you) Brooklyn Born and RaisedMy mother, Dorothy Kaiser, was a Brooklyn girl, born in 1926. She would have been 14 when this picture was taken and these kids would have been her contemporaries. What a wonderful glimpse into her childhood world. Thank you. RIP, Mom 1941I was born in 1941, so the serene Brooklyn Library scene is very familiar to one who started school in the late 1940s in New Jersey. There was something comforting about the spic and span nature of our schools then. And, it wasn't our fault that we were overdressed by today's scanty standards. Mom made us wear them! The only clothing I miss from that era was the great stuff from Christmas 1951: Hopalong Cassidy shirt, pants, boots, scarf and belt with silver buckle--with a silver six-shooter cap pistol for after school fun! Those were the days! The card catalog!Did you catch a glimpse of the long-forgotten card catalog, way over on the right? I actually have one in the back of my truck right now, purchased this weekend at a Texas antique store and waiting for some handsome hunk to come along and help me move it into my own middle school library ... where the kids will have *no idea* what we're wrestling BACK into a library! Anne! Is that you?The girl in the hat looks like Anne of Green Gables. Everyone here is so well dressed. Quiet PleaseI used to hate the way some libraries strictly imposed absolute silence but maybe it's gone too far the other way. The children's section at my local library now has a play area, where kids run around, squabble over toys, and build towers of hard plastic stuff which crash to the floor when they knock them down. Maybe it's good to have quiet places in your life, as well as other places where you can run around and yell and do silly stuff to let off steam. I can't believeHow open everything is! I work in our local library and our children's room is waaaay overdue for a remodel and is very crowded. We have many more books than this, but this scene is utterly charming! Don't want to break the magic spell, but...looks posed to me. [You are a master of the obvious. - Dave] Boys Wearing Knickers in 1941?I see both boys sitting with their backs to the window are wearing them. I thought 1941 was late for knickers. When did they go completely out of style? [August 12, 1943. - Dave] So peaceful!Kids sitting down and quietly reading in a library - I had forgotten what that looks like. AwesomeI can remember being in this room in late 50's as an early elementary school kid. It was an awe inspiring place. Wonder what it's like now. My dad owned a drug store two blocks away on Eastern Parkway. 50 years laterI've sat and read books in that room 50 years after this photo was taken. It's a beautiful thing. Those BlindsThe window blinds at the left look odd: is that a relection or some sort of optical trick? Was the photo shot through a glass lightly? [It is a (probably inadvertent) double exposure. - Dave] re: Those BlindsMy first thought was that the phantom image of the blinds was a reflection, as if this were taken through a glassed-in balcony or divider. There seems to be one in the distance at the right. (The Gallery, Education, Schools, Gottscho-Schleisner, Kids, NYC)
Light Reading: 1941
January 21, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park Plaza, New York. Popular Room." ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 7:08pm -

January 21, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park Plaza, New York. Popular Room." 5x7 safety negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. That's a proper library.Our local branch remodeled itself into a pale imitation of a Borders bookstore. Low shelves that hold only a fraction of the collection, tiny little tables that are no good for research, a superficial reference section, and only one lonely shelf of sale books. But they're very proud of their new overstuffed chairs. It's trying so hard to be hip and trendy that it's depressing. Sir, Anthrolopogy is in the East Wing, Three Miles South...The more I see of this library, the more I think they should have rented bicycles so you could get from one section to the other. I prefer my libraries smaller and less a tribute to progress, or whatever the heck they were trying to do here. Look at the time!I better get my suit on and head to the library. A little dab'll do ya!Obviously didn't use enough Brylcreem to keep that cowlick down. MLISIn library school I practiced pulling the pencil out of my bun and swinging my hair around. I'm saddened that no one has a bun. The more things changeLooked the same when I was last there in 1984 (except clothing styles). Wide Open spacesI can't believe how much ROOM there is in this place! I work at the public library here in town and we have stuff crammed into our areas. Our town has grown, but because of budget restrictions, we haven't been able to expand much and we are a BUSY library! MismatchedThe chairs don't go with the tables at all I've heard of these!Back in the olden days, it took two days for Kindles to recharge, leaving people stranded with no way to read books - thus, the library was invented. I understand some still survive to this very day. (The Gallery, Education, Schools, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
The Young Readers: 1941
Feb. 1, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library (Ingersoll Memorial), Prospect Park Plaza. ... from the waist down! Interesting Attair Feb 1941, the young lady, closes to the camera wearing winter leggings. Then the ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 7:08pm -

Feb. 1, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library (Ingersoll Memorial), Prospect Park Plaza. Librarian's desk, sharp view." 5x7 acetate by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size. WTF?Full leathers on the girl at the counter? Left her Harley outside? And the young lady dressed from the waist up as a little girl and as a soldier from the waist down! Interesting AttairFeb 1941, the young lady, closes to the camera wearing winter leggings. Then the young man next to her in shorts! Yes there is snow outside. On the shelf"The smallest one was Madeline." Are those boots?On that young lady in front, are those boots or some kind of brace? Leg bracesIt looks like the little girl to left has leg braces. Is this how they use to treat polio after the fact? Polio Leg BracesA not-uncommon sight before the Salk and Sabin vaccines. These have a leather zip-up winter cover. Girl in the foreground...What the heck is the footwear she's wearing? Signs of NewnessThey must have just opened the building. A fresh bulb garden and all the cupboards behind the desk are empty. I suppose librarians are extra tidy though. Floors could also use a waxing. The leather-lookI love those leather gaiters the girl up front is wearing! All zips and buckles! I'd have killed for a pair of those. Sadly, I was stuck wearing snow pants and galoshes like the girl at the back of the line. She's got her dress tucked into her pants, too, I'll bet. In 1968, we (the Grade 7 and 8 girls) had a sit-in to protest not being able to wear pants in school. We won. Nothing like having to walk to school in -20 temps in bare legs or have to wear snow pants under your mini-skirt. MadeleineSeventy years later, my daughter has the same Madeleine book in the background. First thing I thought of was how these young lives were changed by December of that year. I hate budget cuts!A brand new library and not one table or chair for these kids. Team LibrarianI wonder how many librarians it took to raise those blinds to the top of the window. The first young lady in front of the deskhas some leggings(?) on. My first thought was chaps, but a riding a pony to the library in Brooklyn in 1941 SEEMS unlikely. Would those perhaps be to cover leg braces? Polio was my second thought. Anyone remember something of the sort? [The consensus seems to be that they might be covers for leg braces of the type worn by kids who've had polio. - Dave] Nine out of Ten are GoilsSeems rather strange that in Brooklyn there were nine goils (Brooklyn accent) to every boy. How will they all find dates for the prom in ten years? My AuntMy aunt, who had muscular dystrophy, wore leggings just like those to cover her leg braces when she was a girl in the 1950s. Cold LegsHaving been a little girl in the 1940s before girls were allowed to wear slacks or pants to school, I know how cold it was wearing little cotton dresses and bobby socks in the winter. Many of the girls who had access to riding jodhpurs or snow pants wore them to school over their dresses. They had to be checked into the cloakroom for the school day. How I envied them. My mother thought the winter weather in San Francisco not cold enough to go to the expense of buying a pair of snow pants for me. I did finally talk her into buying me some knee socks. Leg bracesMy uncle was wounded in the Korean war and had to wear leg braces that were attached permanently to boots. The little girl's shoes do resemble those boots quite a bit, right down to the heel. "I'm Elaine and these are my socks."Take your eyes off the gaiters and check out the third girl from the left. Were monogrammed socks in style in 1941 or was Elaine just fearful of sock thieves? Feb. 1, 1941This was the day the library opened to the public after four years of construction. History of the Library. Polio leg bracesI recall that my dad's sister spent 13 years on her back looking into a tiny mirror mounted above her iron lung machine after she was stricken by polio. When a cure was slowly produced my aunt Anita Moe became well enough to undergo an operation to fuse her hip and leg to a point where she could walk with the aid of a cane and a similar leg brace and shoe. My heart goes out to that little girl. I'll bet she was teased quite a bit. She became the Chairperson for the Chicago Heart Foundation until stricken by a stroke and soon her life ended. (The Gallery, Education, Schools, Gottscho-Schleisner, Kids, NYC)
Learning Curve: 1941
January 21, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park Plaza. Balcony curve. Githens ... 
 
Posted by Dave - 09/05/2012 - 7:07pm -

January 21, 1941. "Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park Plaza. Balcony curve. Githens & Keally, architect." Gottscho-Schleisner photo. View full size. Lots of unused spaceI know that many great buildings have large spatial volumes, but for a library, there sure is a lot of open space where you would expect either sitting areas, magazine areas, book shelves, more card catalogs, etc. And to think, the area where the card catalog is here would easily hold the entire contents of the library, in electronic form today, including racks to put electronic book readers and places to sit. Beautifully SparseAs they say, "Less is more." I just love how bare the library lobby is. Furthermore, look at the librarians' desk. No phone, no computer, no clutter! Amazing!!! It's still a wonderful buildingThis part of the inner lobby is now the checkout desk, and the section of the card catalogue (long gone--the BPL now has a nifty, customer-friendly computer system) shown here has been replaced by a nice cafe. The building is still breathtaking, a joy to walk into. (The Gallery, Education, Schools, Gottscho-Schleisner, NYC)
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