Category: Politics

Long Island and the Legacy of Eugenics w Mark Torres

January 20, 2025
cbkretz
Newspaper clipping with a black and white photograph of a man with a trim goatee.
Dr. Charles Davenport. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sep 5, 1930.

The science of genetics took a wrong turn in the early 20th century and it ran through Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Here overlooking a former whaling port, Dr. Charles […]

Love, Death, and German Immigrants in 19th Century New York

August 30, 2021
cbkretz
Illustration of the elevated Grand Street station in New York City in the 1878.
1878 New York from NYPL Digital Collections. See shownotes for full citaiton.

If you were a corrupt or incompetent official in 19th century New York City, Philip Merkle was your worst nightmare: an idealistic German immigrant with subpoena power. As city coroner […]