New Lefferts House Exhibit Offers Window into 19th Century Childhood

A new exhibit that sheds some light into the world of 19^th century children is opening at Lefferts Historic House Museum this weekend.

Called “The Lefferts Children’s World,” the small but carefully curated exhibit has children’s artifacts from the mid- to late-19^th Century.

Curated by collections manager Tania Batley, the toys, furniture and clothing in the collection give an glimpse into a former world.

For example, on display are three hand-made clay marbles.  

“You can see their irregularities and the spheres. It reflects a time before things were mass produced, reflects a time when things were soured locally,” said museum director Elyse Newman.

On display are also a collection of hand-made lace bodices, two dolls, one with a porcelain face and one with a wooden face, a hand-stitched sampler from 1858, a wooden baby cradle and a doll’s cradle.

“We get a lot of visitors here that have young children and they can compare and contrast dolls of the 19^th century with dolls of today,” said Newman.

The exhibit replaces the “Farm to Table” show that ran in the fall, which explained the process of growing food, raising livestock and processing the food and meat in the 19^th century.

Built in 1783, Lefferts Historic House was originally located on Flatbush Avenue near Maple Road. It was built by Pieter Lefferts, a lieutenant in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War who went on to serve as a judge in Kings County. The house used to include 250 acres of farmland, but as Brooklyn became increasingly urbanized in the 20^th century, the family donated the house to the City of New York. It was moved to Prospect Park in 1918 and opened as a museum in 1920. 

Lefferts Historic House is located just inside the Willink entrance to Prospect Park, at the intersection of Empire Boulevard with Flatbush and Ocean avenues. It is open 12-3:30 on Saturday and Sunday and is free.