Art & Artifacts Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Badge |
Collection |
Alfred E. Steers collection |
Object ID |
M1985.15.34 |
Date |
1938 |
Dimension Details |
3 7/8" H x 3.175" W x 0 3/8" D |
Description |
Member ribbon badge 66th Annual Convention for the Fireman's Association of the State of New York. |
Place Names |
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) |
Subject Headings |
Conventions Fire fighters Fire fighting Ribbon badges Volunteer work |
Personal and Corporate Names |
Firemen's Association of the State of New York Steers, Alfred E., 1860-1948 |
Collection Finding Aid |
Alfred E. Steers collection (ARC.009) |
Curatorial Notes |
Donated to BHS by his descendants, this artifact once belonged to Brooklynite Alfred E. Steers (1860-1948). Born into a grocer family in the town of Flatbush (today a neighborhood of Brooklyn), Steers quickly rose to prominence in local government. Appointed first a justice of the peace in Flatbush in the 1880s, Steers became city magistrate by the following decade. In 1910, he was elected Brooklyn Borough President. This large collection medals and ribbons document Steers' official municipal activities as well as his involvement in important local civic organizations. A member of the 14th Regiment of the New York National Guard and a vocal member of the Democratic Party, Steers also took an active role in several firefighters' veterans' organizations in the late nineteenth century, fraternal organizations that rose in popularity after full-time professional fire departments replaced the older volunteer system. Together, this assemblage of artifacts captures a snapshot of local affairs at a critical transitional moment in Brooklyn's history, when the independent city gave way to the borough. |