{"id":122934,"date":"2026-02-04T19:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/122934\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T19:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T19:03:16","slug":"marcia-ely-brings-popular-live-programs-to-the-cbh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/122934\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcia Ely brings popular live programs to the CBH"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>BROOKLYN HEIGHTS \u2014 Before she designed public programs at the Center for Brooklyn History (CBH), Marcia Ely was a television writer and producer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ely sees a clear throughline between these seemingly dissimilar careers. \u201cStorytelling is the common denominator,\u201d she told the Brooklyn Eagle. \u201cWhen you put together a panel, you are casting like you would a TV show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ely brings a storytelling ethos to her work as the director of public programs at the CBH to connect the public with the sometimes daunting institution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Othmer Library in the Center for Brooklyn History is newly available to the public for research and study. Photo: Gregg Richards<\/p>\n

When the Brooklyn Historical Society merged with the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) to become CBH five years ago, the organization renewed its commitment to opening its arms to a broader public, fueled by BPL\u2019s deep dedication to public service.<\/p>\n

Introducing a recent public program at CBH, BPL President Linda E. Johnson celebrated the initiative. \u201cAs of two years ago, all Brooklynites and curious minds have free and open access to these resources,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Opening the 145-year-old building<\/a> and archive to the public was one major move toward connecting with more Brooklynites. The public programming that Ely designs is another.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A visitor engages with the \u201cBrooklyn is\u2026\u201d exhibit in 2023. Photo: Gregg Richards<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory is what happened yesterday, right?\u201d she said. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve tried to focus on is what is on people\u2019s minds. The criteria for programs is that they have to do with what people who live in Brooklyn and beyond Brooklyn are interested in hearing about now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Eugene<\/a>Eugene Robinson and Darren Walker engage the audience in the Feb. 3 launch of Robinson\u2019s book, \u201cFreedom Lost, Freedom Won.\u201d Photo: Marcia Ely<\/p>\n

One example was the book launch of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eugene Robinson\u2019s new book \u201cFreedom Lost, Freedom Won\u201d on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Robinson was joined in conversation with Darren Walker, the former president of the Ford Foundation<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On a cold, windy night, a diverse audience of over 100 people filled the center\u2019s redesigned Great Hall for the book talk. As they waited, they got a sneak peek at CBH\u2019s newest exhibition<\/a>, \u201cThe Battle of Brooklyn: Fought and Remembered,\u201d which opens Thursday, Feb. 5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A lively talk followed, filled with laughter and connection from the audience. Robinson and Walker discussed the former\u2019s painstaking, extensive research into a rich family archive, in turn telling a story of American history.<\/p>\n

Throughout the talk, Robinson brought these archives to life in rich stories spanning more than a century. They began with Robinson\u2019s maternal great-great-grandfather, Major Henry Fordham, a Black man and accomplished blacksmith who freed himself from slavery in 1851 Charleston, SC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to show that we were present at all of the major historical events,\u201d said Robinson. \u201cBlack history is a strand of American history that is necessary.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He finished by connecting these histories to present-day America, noting the ongoing cycles of oppression and freedom experienced by his own family.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The Center for Brooklyn History reopened its redesigned space to the public in fall 2023 with the exhibit \u201cBrooklyn is\u2026\u201d Photo: Gregg Richards<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so filled with emotion,\u201d shared an 85-year-old audience member during the Q&A. \u201cAll the stories you\u2019re telling, I\u2019ve lived through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ely\u2019s background outside of academic history \u201cin some ways makes [her] better at this job, which is to make an institution that can sometimes be seen as hoity-toity relevant to the general public.\u201d She is, on the other hand, very rooted in Brooklyn: she has lived in Park Slope since 1992.<\/p>\n

When BPL and the Brooklyn Historical Society merged, they combined their collections<\/a> to form the world\u2019s largest archive of Brooklyn-related materials. Ely digs into this wealth of resources, newly accessible to the public, to design public programming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I hear that an interesting collection has just been processed, my ears prick up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A full house in the CBH Great Hall for a conversation with Jennifer Egan and Hernan Diaz in January 2026. Photo: Gregg Richards<\/p>\n

One example was the recent panel on film scouting<\/a> that illuminated the newly processed CBH film location archive \u2014 an event which Ely believes broke internal records for attendance with 229 audience members. Another upcoming event will explore how author and Brooklynite Abigail Savitch-Lew used the CBH archive in her research on Brownsville.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus on making research something that everyone feels that they can do in our space filters down to my work,\u201d Ely said. \u201cHow are people using our collections, and how can we tap into that to develop public programs that scratch that same research itch?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ely hopes that potential visitors know they are more than welcome at CBH. \u201cEverybody is a researcher and a scholar in their own ways,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope that people feel as if that intimidating building is for them. The doors are wide open, and folks are all welcome, and there\u2019s something there for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROOKLYN HEIGHTS \u2014 Before she designed public programs at the Center for Brooklyn History (CBH), Marcia Ely was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2571,2572,98,20291,100,99,16073,53731,53732,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-122934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-arts-and-entertainment","tag-bklyn-live","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-bookbeat","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-public-library-bpl","tag-center-for-brooklyn-history","tag-ella-spungen","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}