Brooklyn Program With History Books Written By Kids Wins Award

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn Historical Society program that lets young students become authors of their neighborhood's history has earned prestigious recognition for its work preserving local history.

The program, called "Young Scholars," will be one of this year's recipients of the "Award of Excellence" from the American Association for State and Local History at their Leadership in History Awards, BHA announced. The awards recognize people, projects, exhibits or publications that are the "best in the field" in terms of preserving and interpreting state and local history.

For BHA, the award will recognize the many years of Young Scholars, which lets elementary, middle and high school students spend four to six months researching their neighborhood and eventually publish a book about its history. BHA President Deborah Schwartz said the program is made possible by City Council and Department of Cultural Affairs funding.

“The mission of BHS is to connect the past to the present and to make the vibrant history of Brooklyn tangible, relevant, and meaningful for today’s diverse communities, and for generations to come," she said. "The Young Scholars program exemplifies the mission in its design, implementation, and product...BHS’ Young Scholars program brings history to life, helping students develop critical thinking skills while assisting teachers in preparing their students to meet rigorous New York State Leaning standards.”

The program has created books like "Sugar Power! Industry in Greenpoint, 1890 – 1910," which is about Brooklyn’s sugar industry, "Brooklyn’s Gem: The Formation of Prospect Park" and "Stories of Our Brooklyn Fire Fighters, Tales of Long Ago" and many more.

Each book becomes part of BHS’s Othmer Library. They are made using primary and secondary sources from BHS’ archives, with field trips to historic sites or other tours and working with a team of professional historians, copy editors and graphic designers.

It first started in 2015 with one elementary school and has since grown to include seven elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. BHS has produced 14 books and will produce nine more this coming year though Young Scholars.

The organization will accept the award during a special banquet at the AASLH Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on Friday, Aug. 30.