Brooklyn Before BAM: Whitman Weighs In

Walt Whitman courtesy of the Brady-Handy Photograph Collection,
Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress

by Sarah Gentile

Brooklyn native Walt Whitman is one America's best-known poets. His words often inspire modern artists, as they did for BAM's Crossing Brooklyn Ferry music festival in 2012 and 2013. A comprehensive Whitman resource, whitmanarchive.org, contains "the veracious pen-jottings" of Whitman—not just about early Brooklyn, but on the Brooklyn Academy of Music not a year after it opened in 1861.

Whitman wrote for a number of Brooklyn newspapers, including the Brooklyn Standard. In late 1861 and early 1862, Whitman penned a series of nostalgic pieces entitled Brooklyniana, telling readers about the olden days. For the eighth article in the series, Whitman details what life was like before the establishment of the Academy's more formal spectacles. During the cold winters, Whitman recalls the "…'frolics', balls, sleigh rides" of yesteryear. In later years, Whitman was able to enjoy more sophisticated entertainment thanks to the new Academy, like the 1870 opera production of Poliuto starring the famous soprano Clara Louisa Kellogg.

The scholars behind the Walt Whitman Archive were able to update their research on Whitman based on the new identification we at the BAM Hamm Archives provided for a revised footnote to this article. This new insight into Brooklyn life pre-dating BAM, and other discoveries of BAM's rich history, are currently being catalogued for the soon-to-launch BAM Digital Archives, a project made possible by the generous support of the Leon Levy Foundation.

Advertisement in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1870.

Sarah Gentile is the Digital Project Archivist for the BAM Hamm Archives.

Fresh Hamm: Do You Recognize this Building?

Do you recognize this building?

It's the BAM Fisher, our newest location and performance space at 321 Ashland Place. When this photo was taken in the 1930's, the site was home to the Salvation Army office for greater Brooklyn.  According to Salvation Army archivist Tyler Boenecke, the building contained a gymnasium, classroom, space for a women's group called "Home League," and a "Songter" room for singing groups.

Fresh Hamm: A Prima Donna and Schnapps

When the BAM building at 176-194 Montague Street was destroyed by fire in 1903, many programs and playbills dating from our incorporation in 1861 to 1901 were lost. In an effort to rebuild some of the history that was lost we at the BAM Hamm Archives have been using the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online to research those years. (A big thank you to the Brooklyn Public Library for working with us!) The Brooklyn Daily Eagle has given us some fun finds.

For example, did you know Brooklyn had a Prima Donna?

Brooklyn bred soprano Susan Strong delighted audiences across New York and around the world, prompting the Brooklyn Daily Eagle to praise her as "Brooklyn's Prima Donna." Shortly after returning from a period of intense study and critical acclaim in Europe, Strong starred in Faust here in November 1896.

Fresh Hamm: Small Finds From Large Collections

Processing the papers of former executive director Harvey Lichtenstein and the BAM prints collection as part of the Leon Levy Digital Archives grant is no small task for the archivists here at the BAM Hamm Archives. The hard work of sorting through the papers and boxes does have its rewards, especially when it results in some interesting finds.

Archivist Michael Messina caught in the act of processing boxes of Harvey Lichtenstein papers.