The Brooklyn Children's Museum is a children's museum in the Crown Heights neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Founded in 1899, it is the first

children's museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feat ...

in the United States – and according to some, the first one worldwide. It is unusual in its location in what is predominantly a residential area. Housed in a multi-level underground gallery, the museum underwent an expansion and renovation to double its space, reopened on September 20, 2008, and became the first green museum in New York City.

Exhibits

The museum's collection and exhibitions reflect its long history as well as the changes in children's educational needs over time and the changing environment. Its original focus was the presentation of natural science to children raised in an urban environment, but following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, technology and cultural awareness became more important. The underground gallery in which the museum was located following a 1975 move provided the ideal location for arranging evolving exhibits. The museum was not intended to solely attract the interest of a young audience, but rather to engage their minds from a young age. Children contribute extensively in the planning of museum exhibits, and have done so for a significant part of its history.

History

The Museum was founded following a proposal from the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (now the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Cro ...

) on December 16, 1899, in the Adams House. The museum operated under the direction of the Brooklyn Institute and received approximately $70,000 in funds from

each year to supplement the donations it received. Attendance grew quickly, with monthly visitation exceeding 13,000 by October 1905. In 1929, the museum opened the Smith House annex.

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

attended the ceremony. In 1930, the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

supplied hundreds of workers to the museum, which thrived in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Among these workers was Ellis Credle, who painted murals before her career as an author began. By October 1930, monthly visitation had reached 60,000 and by 1939, the museum had received move than 9 million visitors since it opened 40 years prior. In 1968 the Brooklyn Children's Museum opened MUSE, the Bedford Lincoln Neighborhood Museum. In 1975, the museum moved to an award-winning new space, housed underneath Brower Park at St Mark's and Brooklyn Avenues, following the demolition of the

Victorian house In Great Britain and former British colonies, a Victorian house generally means any house built during the reign of Queen Victoria. During the Industrial Revolution, successive housing booms resulted in the building of many millions of Victorian ...

s that served as its prior home. In 1996, the museum was once again renovated at a cost of $7 million to include miniature amphitheaters and a number of new galleries. Two years later, it became a part of Heart of Brooklyn, a cultural partnership established to promote tourism to Brooklyn. In 2005, it was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...

. In the same year, work began on the $43 million expansion that was to nearly double the size of the museum, and handle more than 400,000 visitors each year. As part of its commitment to environmental integrity and energy efficiency, the institution has taken credit for being the first New York City museum to use geothermal wells for heating and cooling purposes.

References

*https://www.nytimes.com/1968/05/28/archives/museum-beckons-please-do-touch-bedfordstuyvesant-youth-get-new.html *https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/23/archives/2-brooklyn-youths-tune-in-the-stars-on-radiotelescope.html *https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/10/archives/amateur-digging-pays-anthropological-dividends-students-finding.html *https://www.nytimes.com/1972/06/18/archives/music-muse-set-to-jazz-up-its-exhibit.html

External links

* *
Brooklyn Children's Museum on Google Cultural Institute
* https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1962/02/22/80382198.html?pageNumber=23 {{Authority control 1899 establishments in New York City Children's museums in New York City Crown Heights, Brooklyn Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums Museums established in 1899 Museums in Brooklyn Works Progress Administration in New York City