Exploring Brooklyn’s Past
BY MEGHAN LEWIT
In the dark, wood-paneled library of the Brooklyn Historical Society, students in Eric Platt ’s history class pulled on pristine
white gloves and began to pore over delicate black and white photos laid out on long tables. Some of the photographs —
dating back to around 1900 — are grainy family portraits taken on the Coney Island boardwalk and printed on iron sheets.
Later photos, taken in the 1980s in the same location, show graffiti-scarred, dilapidated buildings.
“
H
Ultimately, it’s about getting students
ow does this reflect the time
into the archives and away from Googling,
when it was taken?” Platt, an
she said.
Assistant Professor of History,
“Students get so much of their informarecently asked a group of students as he
tion filtered and rarely read primary
pointed to one of the more current photos.
sources,” she said. “With this program,
“Is Coney Island in better shape today?”
they are learning to unlock their critical
It was the first of several class trips to
thinking skills; to make the materials have
examine the Brooklyn Historical Society’s
meaning, worth and value, rather than
archives. Platt’s survey of American history
someone telling them why it is important.”
focuses on the history of Coney Island and
The Brooklyn Historical Society is
students work in groups to analyze film clips
simultaneously working with neighboring
and images of the famous amusement park
schools Long Island University, Brooklyn
and neighborhood through the years. In many the landmark Brooklyn Heigh