Guide to the Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection, BCMS.0001 Finding aid prepared by Alla Roylance This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit September 27, 2018 Describing Archives: A Content Standard Brooklyn Public Library - Brooklyn Collection 10 Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn, NY, 11238 718.230.2762 [email protected] Guide to the Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection, BCMS.0001 Table of Contents Summary Information ................................................................................................................................. 3 Historical Note...............................................................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents....................................................................................................................................... 5 Arrangement...................................................................................................................................................5 Administrative Information .........................................................................................................................5 Controlled Access Headings..........................................................................................................................6 Collection Inventory...................................................................................................................................... 7 Series I: Lantern Slides........................................................................................................................... 7 Series II: Photographs..............................................................................................................................9 Series III: Teacher Certificate................................................................................................................. 9 - Page 2 - Guide to the Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection, BCMS.0001 Summary Information Repository Brooklyn Public Library - Brooklyn Collection Title Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection Date 1918-1923; bulk, 1919. Extent 0.4 Cubic feet , 1 small cube box and 1 flat box. Location Central Library, Brooklyn Collection Morgue, Shelf 15.3. Language English Abstract The collection consists of lantern slides, photographs and a teacher certificate related to the Betsy Head farm garden in the Brownsville area of Brooklyn. Preferred Citation This collection should be cited as the Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection, Brooklyn Public Library – Brooklyn Collection. - Page 3 - Guide to the Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection, BCMS.0001 Historical Note The Betsy Head Park, which still exists, and the playground (since redesigned) were named after Mrs. Betsy Head, a wealthy widow who bequeathed her considerable estate to the City of New York with the provision that one half of it would be spent on child welfare charities, and the other for the purposes of health and recreation. The Betsy Head Park was opened to the public in September of 1914. The Park came into existence not only due to the largesse of the donor, but also because of the local residents’ activism. Although Mrs. Head's charitable monies were allocated, they were not being spent; it was only thanks to pressure from Brownsville community leaders that the park finally was designed and constructed. It is situated on the block surrounded by Blake Avenue on the north, Dumont Avenue on the south, Thomas S. Boyland Street on the west and Bristol Street on the east. It absorbed land that was formerly used as a dumping site. Architect Henry B. Herts designed the recreational center. The park also included an athletic field, stadium , public baths and a swimming pool. The children’s playground consisted of a park with a wading pool and a beach; a mothers’ recreation center – which also included the city milk station; a model farmhouse and, finally, a farm school and a school for nature study. First vegetable farms and then personal and community vegetable gardens have been an ubiquitous presence in Brooklyn from its early days. The tradition received an additional boost when the United States entered World War I in 1917. As the country was pooling resources to support the military effort, the agricultural workforce dwindled in numbers, yet the need for increased crop output was higher than ever to adequately supply the military and civilians. Farm gardens for children were set up throughout the city. Brooklyn's Parks Commissioner John N. Harman was instrumental in locating four of them in Brooklyn: in McCarren Park (Driggs Avenue and Lorimer Street), at Betsy Head Playground (Hopkinson - now known as Thomas S. Boyland St. - and Blake Avenues), in Fort Greene Park (Myrtle Ave and St. Edward Street) and in Highland Park (Jamaica Avenue and Cleveland Street). The Betsy Head farm garden became the largest of the four existing children’s farms in Brooklyn. Children were educated in the art of growing, harvesting and preserving vegetables. They took home all the produce that was raised in the farm gardens to replenish the family table. Children were encouraged to cultivate hardy, short-season vegetables: carrots, cabbages, corn, beets, radishes, Swiss chard, turnips, peas and kohlrabi. The crops that grew more slowly – potatoes, cauliflowers, and celery – were avoided. It has been recorded that vegetables were harvested up to three times within a season. Most of the images in this collection were taken at the Betsy Head Playground, and one features the Highland Park farm garden. Several images in this collection feature Mrs. Jane C. Roth, a longtime director of the Betsy Head Playground, as well as other teachers, students and Mr. John N. Harman, the Brooklyn Parks Commissioner. - Page 4 - Guide to the Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection, BCMS.0001 Scope and Contents The first series consists of 26 lantern slides detailing the buildings, students and teachers of the Betsy Head Playground. The second series contains eight print photographs which also document the garden, buildings, students and teachers; several images detail a visit from John N. Harman, the Brooklyn Parks Commissioner. The third series comprises a single document, a teacher's certificate belonging to Mrs. Jane C. Roth, the director of the Betsy Head Playground. Arrangement The collection is arranged in three series by format: Series I: Lantern Slides; Series II: Photographs; Series III: Teacher's Certificate. Administrative Information Publication Information Brooklyn Public Library - Brooklyn Collection Access Collection is located in the Brooklyn Collection at the Central Branch at Grand Army Plaza. The collection may only be used in the library and is not available through interlibrary loan. Requests to view the collection must be made at least 48 hours in advance of visit. Use While many items in the Brooklyn Collection are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The borrower assumes all responsibility for copyright questions. Provenance - Page 5 - Guide to the Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection, BCMS.0001 Aquired from Mrs. Hudson's Fine Books and Paper, April 2014. Controlled Access Headings Geographic Name(s) • Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) • Brownsville (New York, N.Y.) Personal Name(s) • Davidson, Gertrude, Miss, Assistant Director, Highland Park Farm Garden • Harman, John N., Park Commissioner • Herts, Henry Beaumont, American architect, 1871-1933 • Roth, Jane C., Mrs., Betsy Head Playground director Subject(s) • Community centers • School farms • Urban agriculture • Vegetable gardening--United States - Page 6 - Guide to the Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection, BCMS.0001 Series I: Lantern Slides Collection Inventory Box Series I: Lantern Slides 1 Dimensions of all lantern slides are 3.25" by 4". They were all produced at the Excelsior Illustrating Co., 219 Sixth Ave., N. Y. City. PARK_0469 [A boy watering plants with a hose.] PARK_0470 [A girl weeding a row of vegetables.] PARK_0471 [A group of children with shovels and a wheelbarrow.] PARK_0472 [An unidentified city official holding a basket of greens and vegetable.] PARK_0473 [Two students harvesting corn with a tall basket of kale in the foreground.] PARK_0474 [A composite slide combining a larger group shot of children among vegetable patches and a smaller insert depicting a teacher with five schoolgirls.] PARK_0475 [Vegetable patches with small groups of school children among them.] PARK_0475 [The facade of Betsy Head Playground central building with students and teachers in front of it.] PARK_0477 [An internal wall decorated with framed specimens of plants and insects.] - Page 7 - Guide to the Betsy Head Farm Garden Photo Collection, BCMS.0001 Series I: Lantern Slides PARK_0478 [A group of children with harvest baskets in front of them.] PARK_0479 [A boy and a girl tending to the crops.] PARK_0480 [A group of five boys on a bench with berry baskets. The iron works building is in the background.] PARK_0481 [A group of students and teachers standing around a patch and watching Mrs. Jane Roth who appears to be teaching about planting.] PARK_0482 [A fragment of the kitchen with a set table.] PARK_0483 [Two girls and a boy with their crops in front of a larger group of students.] PARK_0484 [Students lining along the vegetable rows with a school building in the background.] PARK_0485 [Students