Brownsville Heritage House
Project Lead

Project Overview: The Brownsville Heritage House (BHH) collects, preserves, and exhibits original materials that document the heritage, history, and communities of Brownsville and surrounding areas of Brooklyn, NY. Stewarded by community members and dedicated staff, BHH is home to primary and secondary resources that teach and celebrate the contributions of Black people and Brownsville residents to local, national, and global history. By uncovering and challenging narratives about Brownsville, BHH’s collections encourage visitors to immerse and deeply consider their active roles and relationship to this history. Serving as a sanctuary for local communities, artists, culture workers, young people, educators, and Brownsville visitors, BHH provides a space to interpret the narratives, struggles, and accomplishments of Brownsville’s residents through exhibitions, performances, and educational programming.

Scope of Work: Jan-Sept 2022: With the goal of making this historic collection of Black heritage and Brooklyn history more accessible for research, this multi-phased collaboration between Brownsville Heritage House, Archival Alchemy, and BlackSpace included establishing a clear collection mission, assessing and co-developing collection management processes, organizing community collection surveying days, and producing a Collection Guide containing project documentation and future recommendations.

Features:

With a Revamp, Brownsville Heritage House Aims to Be ‘Neighborhood’s Public Living Room’