Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help.
Chat with a librarian, Monday through Friday, 12-2 pm Eastern Time (except Federal Holidays).
Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
Follow @ChronAmLOC External and subscribe to email alerts and RSS feeds.
Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
The Brooklyn Bridge opens as the longest suspension bridge in the world on May 24, 1883. Spanning across the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. The excitement and celebration of the opening are soon tainted by a stampede, caused by panic after a late afternoon accident on the bridge, on May 30, 1883. Although other accidents and events on the bridge make headlines for years to come, the bridge still stands and is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| May 24, 1883 | The Brooklyn Bridge is opened to the public with great fanfare; it is the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of completion. |
|---|---|
| May 30, 1883 | 12 people die and 36 are seriously injured on the Brooklyn Bridge in a stampede caused by unnecessary panic after a woman trips. |
| May 19, 1885 | Robert E. Odlum is the first person to commit suicide jumping from the bridge. |
| July 23, 1886 | Steve Brodie claims to have survived a jump off the bridge. |
| October 31, 1920 | Bridge is declared safe. |
