Day One: Pieces in Communication at the Brooklyn Historical Society

When I started volunteering at the La Brea Tar Pits, I had the impression that I would be a walking, talking factbook for visitors to consult upon request. Over many training sessions and under the tutelage of my wonderful colleagues, I’ve learned that interpretation is about building bridges with visitors and the exhibits, between their interests and the stories told by objects. Sometimes, I’d first have to draw a story that ties together my interpretive talks with the exhibits around me as well, to unify the different displays under a single theme.

As I explored the Brooklyn Historical Society today, at its locations in Pierrepont and DUMBO, I’ve noticed that some of the most insightful exhibitions came from clever juxtapositions of objects — arrangements that placed objects in conversation with each other, without worded labels. From these pieces in communication, I could feel the tensions that underlie how Brooklynites and their institution seek to write a new history of their burrough, while living under the shadow of the old.

Along the staircases going up, I saw a portrait of William Cullen Bryant, poet and namesake of Manhattan’s Bryant Park, mounted across from the exhibition, “WISE EYES STILL WOKE: Stories of Five Brooklyn Women by the BHS Teen Council,” here highlighting Debbie Almontaser, the community activist and founder of the Khalil Gibran International Academy. One great man chosen by former generations for his contributions to poetry, journalism, and politics, another a great woman chosen by today’s youth for her work in education and advocacy for the Arab-American community.

In another example, the connections made by objects can bridge together topics or include the stories of groups that may have been overlooked in past historical treatments.

Lucille Kolkin worked in Brooklyn’s shipyards during World War II, and I particularly enjoyed how she (or at least her objects, such as her badge, notes and letters, and union membership card) bridged together a saga about the difficulties that women experienced taking up what was seen as men’s work. The difficulty was heightened for some, such as her coworker Minnie, who faced additional discrimination for their ethnicity. Using these items from these times creates a unified story of women of all colors at work in the War.

When objects on display correspond with and complement each other, they told a fuller, stronger story than on their own. And it does not solely have to be limited to objects, but can also extend to narratives, biographies, and disciplines. The Brooklyn Historical Society’s DUMBO location takes an interdisciplinary look at Brooklyn’s history in Waterfront. By looking across large scales of time, focused on one location, one sees how geology and nature as well as history and culture intertwine and provide a fuller view of all the different factors that made Brooklyn what it is.

If museums seek to function as a forum where people can freely exchange ideas with one another, that old aphorism about leading by example can come in handy. Showing that objects, narratives, and disciplines tie into one another can encourage us to look beyond our own limited perspectives and knowledge and build bridges with objects, stories, and people.