Five Children and a Puppy

In the bright sun, five Black children squat down on the ground, forming a semicircle. Four have their hair carefully sectioned off in plaits, the fifth has natural hair closely shaven, as if fresh from the barber. All five look on with affection, their arms outstretched. What is the object of their focus? A fluffy puppy on a leash! The canine's owner, standing just off camera, patiently waits as the children pet the puppy and show it some love. Irving Herzberg (b. 1915- d. 1991) took this black-and-white photograph, and it is one of several soon to be added to the growing Irving I. Herzberg photograph collection.

Born in Germany, Herzberg immigrated to the United States in 1935, passing through Ellis Island and settling in Brooklyn, NY. In Brooklyn, he founded the Trump Village Camera Club in Coney Island, where he took many of his photographs. The subjects of his photography included beach goers, subway passengers, adults and children, and denizens on building stoops and the infamous boardwalk. Herzberg specialized in slice-of-life documentary photography in Brooklyn, with his work spanning from 1945 to his death in 1991. His work, which consists of over 2,000 photographic prints, negatives, and slides, is part of the permanent collection of the Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History. 

The digitization of Irving Herzberg’s photographs is supported through funding from the David Berg Foundation and the Library Services and Technology Act.

Interested in seeing more photos from CBH’s collections? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images, or the digital collections portal at Brooklyn Public Library. We look forward to inviting you to CBH in the future to research in our entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections. In the meantime, please visit our resources page to search our collections. Questions? Our reference staff is available to help with your research! You can reach us at [email protected].