Building Brooklyn

Brooklyn Public Library presents “Building Brooklyn,” a podcast mini-series about four neighborhoods that made Brooklyn the vibrant, diverse borough it is today.

First, we travel to Downtown Brooklyn, which was, in the middle of the 20th century, the center of a thriving Mohawk ironworking community. Next up, we delve into the oral histories of women who worked at Brooklyn’s Navy Yard during World War Two. Episodes three and four focus on Sunset Park, Brooklyn’s Chinatown and at one time the home of the first non-profit housing co-operative in the country, founded by early 20th-century Finns. Finally, we end in Canarsie, a neighborhood in Southwest Brooklyn that gets its name from the Lenape people, Brooklyn’s first inhabitants. We tell a story about the tension between land ownership and belonging that dates back to pre-colonial times and carries through to the 1990s and beyond.

This five-episode series is an off-shoot of BPL’s flagship podcast, Borrowed, and is co-hosted by two BPL librarians. Drawing from our own oral history collections, as well as new interviews with Brooklynites, tell some of Brooklyn’s most unique and over-looked stories.
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Brooklyn Public Library presents “Building Brooklyn,” a podcast mini-series about four neighborhoods that made Brooklyn the vibrant, diverse borough it is today. First, we travel to Downtown Brooklyn, which was, in the middle of the 20th century, the center of a thriving Mohawk ironworking community. Next up, we delve into the oral histories of women who worked at Brooklyn’s Navy Yard during World War Two. Episodes three and four focus on Sunset Park, Brooklyn’s Chinatown and at one time the home of the first non-profit housing co-operative in the country, founded by early 20th-century Finns. Finally, we end in Canarsie, a neighborhood in Southwest Brooklyn that gets its name from the Lenape people, Brooklyn’s first inhabitants. We tell a story about the tension between land ownership... Show full description