Principal Patrons

A dedicated core of citizens fostered the remarkable cultural flowering in nineteenth-century Brooklyn. The forty-two most active patrons feature here. Search by name, or home and business address on the map below. Transatlantic trade involved most of them, often from places of business in Lower Manhattan, a short ferry ride from their homes in Brooklyn. They served on the boards of Brooklyn’s major cultural societies. They emerge as the most highly networked persons among the 3,500 people in the larger database. Their close collaborative effort created Brooklyn’s Renaissance.

Luther Boynton Wyman (1804-1879), pictured here, was an exemplary Brooklyn patron. Affectionately known as “Papa of Brooklyn” for his many contributions to the betterment of his city, Wyman was a merchant with the famed Black Ball Line of Atlantic packets and patron of many landmark fine arts and charitable foundations. He initiated and was long-time president of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Society and a founder of its spawn, the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He sat on the boards of a dozen useful societies and was noted for his unflagging support of Brooklyn Regiments in the Civil War and for facilitating the great 1864 Sanitary Fair at the old Academy of Music. Until now his and many others’
contributions to Brooklyn’s development as an arts-friendly community have been overlooked. This website alongside my book brings them to light.

Download list of Principal Patrons

The image used above was created by digitally merging two different historical maps:

Brooklyn
Author Unknown. Map of Brooklyn. Chicago, IL: People’s Publishing Co., 1886.

Manhattan
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. 1873. Colton’s Map of New York City, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Hoboken, &c. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/4a7e8c30-757e-0131-5e51-58d385a7bbd0