September 27: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1876, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The naturalization of citizens in this county for the Fall campaign has been begun. The County Court is open daily from 9 to 4 o’clock, and Judge Moore and his clerks turn the naturalization mill. Tonight, Friday night, and every night next month up to the 28th, the County Court will be open from 7 to 9 o’clock. This being a Presidential campaign, there is heavy work ahead for the County Judge and his assistants. It is expected that Kings County will bring out its voters to the last man this time, and the indications are that more aliens will be made citizens than ever before. Sixty-eight of those who presented themselves passed muster last night. This is a fair average for the first night, the General Committees of both parties not being inclined to rush in their men at the start. Last year as high as 700 were made citizens in one night.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1914, the Eagle reported, “How has the European war affected you? In some ways, surely, for though your income might be the same as it was before hostilities were begun, you must bear your share of the general burden by paying increased prices for certain articles. Perhaps you were unlucky enough to have your income reduced and have been driven to the necessity of taking a roomer to help pay your household expenses. A large number of Brooklynites have taken this step ‘to make ends meet.’ Socially and commercially the effects of the war are widespread. Plans for raising funds for charitable purposes have been temporarily laid aside. Even the churches are feeling the results of the great conflict. One congregation finds that it can build an addition now cheaper than it could a short time ago, as building materials and labor cost less than they did. Another church, because of the general reduction, is giving up part of its musical talent. Foreign mission societies are particularly active, bending their efforts toward measures for relief of the more acute sufferers from the war … Commercially, the effects are two-fold; the first being the cutting off of our imports, and the second the opportunity offered for expansion beyond the seas. Businessmen in Brooklyn feel that we will be able to replace most, if not all, of the articles we have been importing by similar articles made in this country. American enterprise and ingenuity, it is thought, will produce anything that the old world has been able to send us, and while it may take some little time to accomplish this, there is a firm conviction that ultimately we will be able to overcome any elimination of exports which may follow.”
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.