The captivating story of how a bridge of unprecedented size and technology was built during an age of remarkable innovation.

Join us as Jeffrey I. Richman presents his newly published book, Building the Brooklyn Bridge,1869-1883. This book invites the reader to step back in time to discover why this iconic bridge -- proclaimed the “eighth wonder of the world” soon after its completion and a National Historic Landmark since 1964 -- continues to hold such a special place in the hearts of so many.

Spanning the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge connected for the first time the then independent cities of Brooklyn and New York. This awe-inspiring structure was not only a modern engineering feat of extraordinary imagination, fortitude, and skill, it also was a towering beacon of human triumph.

Jeffrey Richman, historian at Brooklyn’s famed Green-Wood Cemetery, gathered more than 250 superb nineteenth-century images, many never before published on the printed page. He also specially commissioned more than forty anaglyphs - 3D images generated from the historic stereograph to recreate the 3D experience on the printed page. In his talk Richman will share an engaging selection of images from the book as he tells the amazing story of the bridge's construction. Free 3D glasses will be handed out to all attendees!

Jeffrey will have copies of his books to sell and sign after his presentation.

“This thrilling and richly arranged coffee-table volume will re-ignite your love of the Brooklyn Bridge. Bringing together a trove of archival images, Richman explores the extraordinary story of the bridge’s construction—grand, marvelous and sometimes tragic. Richman’s epic visual treatment of the bridge’s development rightly centers it as one of the greatest engineering achievements in American history.” –Greg Young, “Best of the Bowery Boys Bookshelf: Holiday gift ideas for history buffs,” Bowery Boys (December 16, 2021)

Jeffrey has been fascinated by New York City’s history for as long as he can remember. In 2007, after thirty-three years of practicing law, representing indigent criminal defendants, he became the full-time historian at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Since then, he has led Green-Wood’s Civil War, World War I, and World War II projects which, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, have identified, written, and posted online biographies for thousands of veterans interred there. He is the author of three previous books, including Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery: New York’s Buried Treasure (1998). Richman is an avid collector who has amassed an outstanding collection of stereo view and lantern slide photographs of New York City—including many of the Brooklyn Bridge under construction—which he has donated to The Green-Wood Historic Fund.