Brooklyn Institute, 1840-1891

In 1843 the BAL merged with the Brooklyn Lyceum to become the Brooklyn Institute (BI). It later absorbed the collections and members of the Brooklyn City Library which was also housed at the Brooklyn Lyceum building. BI continued the mission of educating youths and adults by providing access to books and periodicals. However, the Brooklyn Institute also began to collect natural history collections for study and display, to exhibit art, and to sponsor robust lecture series. This was in large part thanks to founder and Institute president Augustus Graham's bequest.