Four years before the American Civil War, a legal battle emerged from a situation that occurred aboard a steamship from Savannah to New York. One of the passengers, Thomas Steele, a light skinned man, was accused of being a fugitive slave by another...

Complete text of article The Brooklyn Daily Eagle , Sunday March 4, 1900. Beautiful Yachts Which Will Soon Awaken From Their Winter Sleep In The Erie Basin . Pleasure Craft, All Swathed in Canvass, Dormant in Gowanus Bay—Set Apart from the Humble...

Man sculling in foreground past portion of barge (left), moored steamship (center), and wooden pier and pylons (right); shoreline dotted with masts and sails in background. The photograph is by George Bradford Brainerd, 1845-1887. He was a civil...