The Brooklyn Historical Society

Grant Type: Program/Project

Duration: January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019

Organization Overview:

Brooklyn Historical Society connects the past to the present and makes the vibrant history of Brooklyn tangible, relevant, and meaningful for today’s diverse communities, and for generations to come.

Request Overview:

Muslims in Brooklyn is a multi-year public arts and oral history project designed to amplify stories of Brooklyn’s diverse Muslim communities. During the project’s first year, BHS focused on researching Muslim histories in Brooklyn, establishing relationships with Brooklyn’s Muslim communities, and conducting oral histories. The project completed the transcription, cataloging, and audio-text synchronization of 50 oral histories to be shared at a December 2018 launch party and published on an online Oral History Portal. During 2019, BHS will use the oral histories as the basis for the public-facing and community engagement components of the project, including a web-based educational curriculum; exhibitions; a subway advertising campaign that invites transit users to access the web-based oral histories from their mobile devices; a series of public programs, including music performances, dance recitals, literary and poetry readings, and panel discussions; dedicated segments in BHS’s Flatbush + Main podcast series.

Year founded: 1863

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Website: http://www.brooklynhistory.org/