Education.— Brooklyn's public school sys tem, up to the date of consolidation with New York, held a high place in the esteem of public educators. In 1897 it was merged in the public school system of the greater city, but it still possesses many of the characteristics that for merly distinguished it, and few if any cities in the world have a better equipped galaxy of pub lic schools. It has six high schools, of which one is devoted to manual and technical instruc tion, while another is wholly given over to commercial instruction. Its 180 public schools are crowded almost beyond their capacity every day in the school year. Many of the schools in the poorer neighborhoods are kept open dur ing the summer months as recreation schools for the benefit of children who remain in the borough during the ordinary school vacation and who are taught many things outside of the ordinary school curriculum. Brooklyn has more than 328,000 pupils registered in her public schools and 7,900 teachers.
Brooklyn has no university but it has many excellent private schools and academies, some of which, such as the Polytechnic Institute, Ade1phi Academy and Saint John's College, hold collegiate rank and grant degrees. The parochial schools also hold high rank, while the Pratt Institute affords thorough technical training to hundreds of pupils.
The Brooklyn Public Library, with which the excellent Brooklyn Library was incorpo rated, maintains 31 branch libraries throughout the borough, including 20 presented by Mr. Andrew Carnegie.
One of the most notable of the educational institutions in Brooklyn is the Brooklyn Insti tute of Arts and Sciences. This valuable and practically unendowed institution is, as regards its present buildings, situated upon high ground adjacent to Prospect Park, on what is known as the East Side Park lands, of which 11 9/10 acres have been leased to the trustees for 100 years. It is the development of a school of arts and sciences founded during the middle of the 19th century by Augustus Graham, a philan thropist of English extraction. It expanded under the direction of the late Prof. Franklin W. Hooper and a public-spirited board of trus tees into what is likely to prove the nucleus of a great national academy. It has a well furnished museum, which is especially rich in prehistoric American relics, and departments of archaology, architecture, astronomy, botany, chemistry, domestic science, electricity, engi neering, entomology, geography, geology, law, mathematics, microscopy, mineralogy, music, painting, pedagogy, philology, philosophy, pho tography, physics, political science and psy chology, each of which is presided over by an expert in the science. When completed the
entire structure will cover a large area, with four interior courts to provide light for the central portions of the building. It will con tain on the first floor rooms for collections illustrating the general history of the arts and architecture, on the second floor rooms for the illustration of the practical arts and sciences and on the third floor galleries for the illus tration of the history of painting, engraving, etching and decorative art.
Parks.— Brooklyn's public park system has been developed on a scale altogether commen surate with the character of the borough, and full advantage has been taken of the cheapness of land to make provision for the needs of the future in the matter of breathing places and pleasure grounds. The oldest and best known, although not the largest of these, is Prospect Park, which includes 516 acres of rolling land, with picturesque lakes and an unrivaled growth of old forest trees. Prospect Park is beautifully laid out, special care having been taken during the 40 years of its existence as a park to pre serve its natural characteristics. Its statuary includes figures of J. S. T. Stranahan, one of the pioneers in the matter of providing public parks; John Howard Payne, Thomas Moore, Washington Irving, Beethoven and Mozart. There is also, at the foot of Lookout Hill, a memorial shaft in honor of the Maryland sol diers who fell in the battle of Long Island.
Another notable pleasure ground is Forest Park at Richmond Hill, which includes 536 acres on the crown of the ridge of hills on the Queens County border. Except for the laying out of walks, paths and golf links, it has been left in its natural state. It affords splendid views of the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay. Sunset Park, a reserve of 14 acres on the shores of New York Bay, and the Coney Island Con course, which runs along the Atlantic shore and contains 70 acres, are unique in their location. In addition, there are nearly 4() small parks and recreation grounds in the borough.
Bibliography.--'Brooklyn, the Borough of Beauty and Promise— the Home Borough of New York City' (Municipal Club of Brooklyn 1912) ; Edwards, R.,