About the Project
This project was produced by
Brooklyn Public Library's Brooklyn Collection and supported
by Brooklyn Public Library and by Federal Library Services
and Technology Act funds, awarded to the New York State
Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Brooklyn Public Library's strategic plan addresses the
need to expand educational services using "an advanced
telecommunications network to provide our diverse communities
with access to emerging technologies and online educational
services." (Taking Flight: Brooklyn Public Library's
Strategic Plan 2001-2006, adopted by the Board of Trusteees,
June 5, 2001.) A further motivation for the project was
deep concern for the preservation of the Library's rare
and extremely fragile special collections. By scanning our
materials and providing online access to them, we are meeting
the needs of our communities, as well as providing protection
for our collections.
With BPL's strategic plan in mind, as well as the demands of the New York State Learning Standards, our goal was to produce a Web site on Brooklyn's
role in the Civil War that would provide students and teachers
with online access to primary and secondary historical materials.
Students in the 4th and 7th grades must learn to analyze
primary source materials in order to meet New York State
Learning Standards for the study of local and New York history.
The Brooklyn Collection's unique collection of 19th century
Brooklyn books, maps, and images, as well as the rare collection
of Civil War books found in Brooklyn Public Library's History,
Biography and Religion Division contain significant primary
source materials. The recently digitized Brooklyn Daily
Eagle newspaper (Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online, 1841-1902,
available at www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/eagle) covers
the period in question, and is an especially useful resource
for the older student and researcher. In addition, this
Web site will allow researchers, writers, and those interested
in Civil War and local history to explore the deep resources
available through Brooklyn Public Library.
The materials presented in this site were selected, researched,
and prepared by Brooklyn Public Library staff. Additional
materials were gathered from the Library of Congress, the
National Archives, Brooklyn Historical Society, the collection
of Tom and Angela Sarro, June Gaddy, and other sources.
A bibliography of sources used is available here. A note
on historical primary source materials: some of the articles
in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and other documents may contain
offensive language or stereotypes. Such materials should
be viewed in the context of their relevant time periods.
Elizabeth Harvey, Local History Librarian for the Brooklyn
Collection, served as the Project Manager, and Lisa
DeBoer was the Project Coordinator. Additional support and
staff time for the project were provided by Brooklyn
Collection staff and other Brooklyn Public Library staff
members. Web design and interactive components (interactive map and timeline) were created by Jasper Design.
We hope that other library systems will benefit from this
project by learning about our experiences as we created
the project. Please let us know what you think of the project
by filling out our online survey. If you wish to discuss
the process, feel free to contact us at .
We have made every attempt to locate copyright ownership of all materials used in this Web site. However, if you have any information regarding copyright, please inform us at .
All materials used in this site are subject to the terms and conditions of use as set forth on the Brooklyn Public Library web site at