Pages of the Past: The Breukelen Adventures of Jasper Danckaerts


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Center for Brooklyn History
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This exhibition was originally organized and published by the Brooklyn Historical Society.

In 1679, Jasper Danckaerts and his colleague Peter Sluyter came to New York in search of land for a religious colony.

Danckaerts chronicled his experiences in a meticulously-written and illustrated journal. For 200 years, Danckaerts' journal lay undiscovered until Henry C. Murphy, a founder of the Long Island Historical Society (later renamed the Brooklyn Historical Society) came upon it in 1864 in an Amsterdam bookstore. They are now an important part of BHS' manuscript collection and an invaluable primary resource for scholars. The journal and Danckaerts' related illustrations served as the centerpiece of Pages of the Past: The Breukelen Adventures of Jasper Danckaerts, an exhibition celebrating the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's arrival in New York. It was curated by 19 high school students participating in Brooklyn Historical Society's educational program known as Exhibition Laboratory.