By Linda Collins

Fulton Street between Ashland Place and Rockwell Place will soon be devoted entirely to cultural spaces with the establishment of the new BAM Hamm Archive Center.

BAM reported Tuesday that it has acquired a 3,800-square-foot ground floor retail space in the Forté condominium at the corner of Fulton and Ashland to house its vast collection of materials dating back to 1857.

With an address of 230 Ashland Place, the space was acquired through a generous gift from board member Charles J. Hamm and his wife, Irene F. Hamm, according to BAM President Karen Brooks Hopkins. Construction of the interior space will take place in early 2011, she said, adding that in the meantime, the archives are available to researchers by appointment.

An architect has not yet been selected to design the space.

The two other buildings along that stretch of Fulton include the BAM Harvey Lichtenstein Theater at 651 Fulton (next door to the future archive center) and 647 Fulton the home of Urban Glass and BRIC Arts Media Brooklyn, which will soon be undergoing a major renovation as reported in the Eagle last month.

The Archive Collection

The archives, which are currently housed in a space at the MetroTech Center, are described as “a rich collection of materials documenting BAM’s unique artistic heritage as well as the institution’s early history as a major Brooklyn center for cultural and community events.�

Said BAM Archivist Sharon Lehner, “BAM’s history is significant in the way that it connects to a greater progressive movement in the U.S. BAM and the early Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences hoped to provide a cultural life for citizens that preceded libraries by many years.�

BAM was also connected to the anti-slavery movement and to other political and social movements, according to Lehner, who noted that archival holdings include documentation of lectures by Booker T. Washington, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Frederick Douglass; as well as playbills for performances by Sarah Bern-hardt, Enrico Caruso, Isadora Duncan, Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and Philip Glass. There’s also an extensive oral history created by Harvey Lichtenstein, former BAM president and executive producer.

Planned Activities at Hamm

The BAM Hamm Archives Center will coordinate tours of BAM, organize archival exhibits in conjunction with BAM programming, oversee projects of institutional importance such as oral histories and be used for BAMart exhibitions and other BAM events.

Charles Hamm — a native of Brooklyn, former CEO and chairman of Independence Community Bank and a BAM board member since 1997 — said it was “a great honor� to enable BAM to preserve its history. “Irene and I believe in BAM and its future. We are pleased to help provide an opportunity for others to access this wealth of materials,� he said.

Added Hopkins, “The creation of the BAM Hamm Archives Center is a vital step forward for our institution and serves as an acknowledgment of BAM’s significant historical role for the past 150 years.�

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