Image Credit: Old NYC, NYPL.
This week’s Throwback Thursday photo shows the handsome Walt Whitman Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, as it was in the 1930s. The library, which is still open today, is currently eligible to win $20,000 through the NYC Neighborhood Library Awards. But they need your help! Click here to cast your vote for the local branch.
This library on St. Edward’s Street opened in 1908 and was funded by a grant from Andrew Carnegie, which built thousands of “Carnegie Libraries” across the nation. In 1908, when the public library opened at this location, it was known as the City Park Library, due to its proximity to City Park (which is now named Commodore Barry Park). The branch was later renamed to honor Walt Whitman, who had lived in Fort Greene. The name change occurred on Whitman’s 125th birthday, in 1943.
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