Thursday, March 18, 2010

Harlem Burial Ground: Old Map Views

below, the area in 1879

below in 1836

from the manhattan kids blog

Human remains from an African burial ground circa 1700 may still be present near East 126th St. & 1st Avenue (NW corner) in East Harlem
Ever since Nellie Hester Bailey of the Harlem Tenants Council, Inc. mentioned in passing at a Summer 2008 rally that an African burial ground dating from the Dutch and British colonial era may exist in East Harlem, we have been frantically looking for more details to no avail. Recall that an African Burial Ground dating from the 1600s and 1700s was re-discovered in 1991 in downtown Manhattan near City Hall which finally became a national monument memorial in 2007.
The New York Times has published the most exhaustive survey of the potential site of a Harlem African burial ground we have seen on January 19, 2009 (which coincidentally is the Martin Luther King Day federal holiday): Article from the New York Times: Are traces of the original Harlem settlement — including an African burial ground — awaiting discovery during the replacement of the Willis Avenue Bridge and the planned rehabilitation of the 126th Street Bus Depot? The painting below shows the Harlem waterfront as it appeared in 1765. The steeple of the Reformed Low Dutch Church can be seen at the far right. Just below are what appear to be headstones.
There will be no way to know for certain until the soil is dug up, but the prospect of such a discovery is being greeted both anxiously and eagerly by a couple of stewards of Harlem history. The bucolic farming village of Nieuw Haarlem was established in March 1658, meaning that it is still in its 350th anniversary year. “What an awesome way to celebrate!” said Christopher Paul Moore, a member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the research coordinator for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. “Seems like a cultural bonus could be reaped from this, and not just about preserving the cemetery, but preserving or recapturing a hugely significant era in New York’s history, the founding and settlement of Harlem.”

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Harlem Burial Ground


an excerpt from ny1

A group of Harlem activists say they are concerned that an African burial ground is being desecrated by city agencies as they move ahead with construction projects near the site. NY1's Cheryl Wills filed the following report.
Hidden underneath the bus depot on East 126th Street is the final resting place for New Yorkers like Jane Anthony, Henry B. Edwards and Eliza Johnson. They were enslaved Africans who were buried there in the mid 17th century just off Harlem River Drive. It's an area that is quickly becoming known as the city's 'other' African burial ground in Harlem. And now there's an emerging movement to preserve and protect the cemetery that had been abandoned.
"The presence of the early Africans and their contributions to what became this city, this state, this country is woefully neglected," said Eric V. Tait, Jr. of the Harlem African Burial Ground Task Force.
The burial ground came to light in 2008 when the Department of Transportation started expanding the Willis Avenue Bridge. The property, which sits at the foot of the burial ground, is where construction workers allegedly found human body parts while digging.
The cemetery is owned by Elmendorf Reformed Church, which is the oldest sanctuary in Harlem.
"They emphasized one thing. That was 'We're going to be very respectful of the bones.' And they repeated, 'We're going to be very respectful of the bones.' Well that unnerved us because if they said that they must have found something," said Reverend Patricia Singletary of Elmendorf Reformed Church.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Larry Doby Tribute


Back in the 1980's one of my favorite students from PS 397K was Natasha McLean. Her mom, Myrtle Doby was related to Larry.
The song is the Robby Doby Boogie by Brownie McGhee.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Major Taylor's Home In Worcester, Mass: 2 Hobson Avenue, part 2


from the major taylor association

Some of the racial hostility had receded, but when Taylor bought a house on Hobson Avenue in Worcester's well-to-do Columbus Park, the neighbors were upset. White residents offered to buy back the house for $2,000 more than Taylor had paid. He refused. In the end, the neighborhood grew to accept its distinguished black resident, whose racing career made him one of the wealthiest blacks in the country

Major Taylor's Home In Worcester, Mass: 2 Hobson Avenue

Maritcha Lyons' Addresses In Brooklyn

Maritcha Homes
Maritcha was an assistant principal at PS 83.

Maritcha Lyons In The 1900, 1910 and 1920 Census

Maritcha Census

Saturday, March 6, 2010

History Talk: Tonya Bolden's Maritcha: A 19th Century American Girl, Part 4


On February 9, 2010. Sponsored by Telling America's Story

Telling America's Story (TAS) is an intensive, federally-funded professional development project for American History Teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Bronx Community School Districts 8, 11, & 12. Philip Panaritis and Brian Carlin, Project Directors. TAS is a partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the history and education departments of major universities and cultural institutions.
The program combines content-rich traditional American History and teaching skills development for Teacher-Historians. Workshops take place in museums, historic houses, and universities. Instruction and content is provided by nationally-known historians and educators. Teachers develop original US history curriculum units and activities. Trips, book signings, and walking tours of historical sites are also important aspects of the TAS program. Ms. Bolden had visited many of the classes of the teachers gathered here. Behind her are samples of projects made by some of those classes.
About Ms. Bolden
Growing up, Tonya Bolden thought one day she would be a teacher. Today, as an award-winning author of more than 20 books for young people and adults, she is just that. Her classroom has no walls. Instead, you just need to pick up one her acclaimed books on topics such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington Carver or Reconstruction to step into the world she creates. History, she has said, is her passion. She passes that rich knowledge of the past on to people around the world. Along with being a talented researcher, Bolden is known as a gifted storyteller who turns facts into something more transcendent stories that move, challenge and inspire.

about Maritcha:
from the book flap:
To do the best for myself with the view of making the best of myself. wrote Maritcha Remond Lyons about her childhood.
Maritcha was born in New York City in 1848. For most of her youth, she and her family lived in lower Manhattan. Much of Maritcha's life there mirrored that of many children of the time: helping with the housework, attending school, and practicing the piano. Yet there were thrilling occasions as well, such as visiting the Crystal Palace, site of Americas first worlds fair. However, Maritcha's life took a dramatic turn in 1863, when, at the age of fifteen, she and her family had to flee from their home in the midst of the violent Draft Riots. They eventually resettled in Providence, Rhode Island, where Maritcha triumphantly overcame prejudice to become the first black person to graduate from Providence High School.
Based on an unpublished memoir by Ms. Lyons ~ Memories of Yesterdays: All of Which I Saw and Part of Which I Was, dated 1928 ~ the evocative text and photographs of young Maritcha, her family, and their friends, as well as archival maps, photographs, and illustrations, make this book an invaluable cultural and historical resource. Maritcha brings to life the story of a very ordinary yet remarkable girl of nineteenth-century America.
»» James Madison Book Award Winner
»» Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
»» YALSA Best Book for Young Adults
»» ALSC Notable Childrens Book

History Talk: Tonya Bolden's Maritcha: A 19th Century American Girl, Part 3


On February 9, 2010. Sponsored by Telling America's Story

Telling America's Story (TAS) is an intensive, federally-funded professional development project for American History Teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Bronx Community School Districts 8, 11, & 12. Philip Panaritis and Brian Carlin, Project Directors. TAS is a partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the history and education departments of major universities and cultural institutions.
The program combines content-rich traditional American History and teaching skills development for Teacher-Historians. Workshops take place in museums, historic houses, and universities. Instruction and content is provided by nationally-known historians and educators. Teachers develop original US history curriculum units and activities. Trips, book signings, and walking tours of historical sites are also important aspects of the TAS program. Ms. Bolden had visited many of the classes of the teachers gathered here. Behind her are samples of projects made by some of those classes.
About Ms. Bolden
Growing up, Tonya Bolden thought one day she would be a teacher. Today, as an award-winning author of more than 20 books for young people and adults, she is just that. Her classroom has no walls. Instead, you just need to pick up one her acclaimed books on topics such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington Carver or Reconstruction to step into the world she creates. History, she has said, is her passion. She passes that rich knowledge of the past on to people around the world. Along with being a talented researcher, Bolden is known as a gifted storyteller who turns facts into something more transcendent stories that move, challenge and inspire.

about Maritcha:
from the book flap:
To do the best for myself with the view of making the best of myself. wrote Maritcha Remond Lyons about her childhood.
Maritcha was born in New York City in 1848. For most of her youth, she and her family lived in lower Manhattan. Much of Maritcha's life there mirrored that of many children of the time: helping with the housework, attending school, and practicing the piano. Yet there were thrilling occasions as well, such as visiting the Crystal Palace, site of Americas first worlds fair. However, Maritcha's life took a dramatic turn in 1863, when, at the age of fifteen, she and her family had to flee from their home in the midst of the violent Draft Riots. They eventually resettled in Providence, Rhode Island, where Maritcha triumphantly overcame prejudice to become the first black person to graduate from Providence High School.
Based on an unpublished memoir by Ms. Lyons ~ Memories of Yesterdays: All of Which I Saw and Part of Which I Was, dated 1928 ~ the evocative text and photographs of young Maritcha, her family, and their friends, as well as archival maps, photographs, and illustrations, make this book an invaluable cultural and historical resource. Maritcha brings to life the story of a very ordinary yet remarkable girl of nineteenth-century America.
»» James Madison Book Award Winner
»» Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
»» YALSA Best Book for Young Adults
»» ALSC Notable Childrens Book

History Talk: Tonya Bolden's Maritcha: A 19th Century American Girl, Part 2


n February 9, 2010. Sponsored by Telling America's Story

Telling America's Story (TAS) is an intensive, federally-funded professional development project for American History Teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Bronx Community School Districts 8, 11, & 12. Philip Panaritis and Brian Carlin, Project Directors. TAS is a partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the history and education departments of major universities and cultural institutions.
The program combines content-rich traditional American History and teaching skills development for Teacher-Historians. Workshops take place in museums, historic houses, and universities. Instruction and content is provided by nationally-known historians and educators. Teachers develop original US history curriculum units and activities. Trips, book signings, and walking tours of historical sites are also important aspects of the TAS program. Ms. Bolden had visited many of the classes of the teachers gathered here. Behind her are samples of projects made by some of those classes.
About Ms. Bolden
Growing up, Tonya Bolden thought one day she would be a teacher. Today, as an award-winning author of more than 20 books for young people and adults, she is just that. Her classroom has no walls. Instead, you just need to pick up one her acclaimed books on topics such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington Carver or Reconstruction to step into the world she creates. History, she has said, is her passion. She passes that rich knowledge of the past on to people around the world. Along with being a talented researcher, Bolden is known as a gifted storyteller who turns facts into something more transcendent stories that move, challenge and inspire.

about Maritcha:
from the book flap:
To do the best for myself with the view of making the best of myself. wrote Maritcha Remond Lyons about her childhood.
Maritcha was born in New York City in 1848. For most of her youth, she and her family lived in lower Manhattan. Much of Maritcha's life there mirrored that of many children of the time: helping with the housework, attending school, and practicing the piano. Yet there were thrilling occasions as well, such as visiting the Crystal Palace, site of Americas first worlds fair. However, Maritcha's life took a dramatic turn in 1863, when, at the age of fifteen, she and her family had to flee from their home in the midst of the violent Draft Riots. They eventually resettled in Providence, Rhode Island, where Maritcha triumphantly overcame prejudice to become the first black person to graduate from Providence High School.
Based on an unpublished memoir by Ms. Lyons ~ Memories of Yesterdays: All of Which I Saw and Part of Which I Was, dated 1928 ~ the evocative text and photographs of young Maritcha, her family, and their friends, as well as archival maps, photographs, and illustrations, make this book an invaluable cultural and historical resource. Maritcha brings to life the story of a very ordinary yet remarkable girl of nineteenth-century America.
»» James Madison Book Award Winner
»» Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
»» YALSA Best Book for Young Adults
»» ALSC Notable Childrens Book

History Talk: Tonya Bolden's Maritcha: A 19th Century American Girl, Part 1


On February 9, 2010. Sponsored by Telling America's Story

Telling America's Story (TAS) is an intensive, federally-funded professional development project for American History Teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Bronx Community School Districts 8, 11, & 12. Philip Panaritis and Brian Carlin, Project Directors. TAS is a partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the history and education departments of major universities and cultural institutions.
The program combines content-rich traditional American History and teaching skills development for Teacher-Historians. Workshops take place in museums, historic houses, and universities. Instruction and content is provided by nationally-known historians and educators. Teachers develop original US history curriculum units and activities. Trips, book signings, and walking tours of historical sites are also important aspects of the TAS program. Ms. Bolden had visited many of the classes of the teachers gathered here. Behind her are samples of projects made by some of those classes.
About Ms. Bolden
Growing up, Tonya Bolden thought one day she would be a teacher. Today, as an award-winning author of more than 20 books for young people and adults, she is just that. Her classroom has no walls. Instead, you just need to pick up one her acclaimed books on topics such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington Carver or Reconstruction to step into the world she creates. History, she has said, is her passion. She passes that rich knowledge of the past on to people around the world. Along with being a talented researcher, Bolden is known as a gifted storyteller who turns facts into something more transcendent stories that move, challenge and inspire.

about Maritcha:
from the book flap:
To do the best for myself with the view of making the best of myself. wrote Maritcha Remond Lyons about her childhood.
Maritcha was born in New York City in 1848. For most of her youth, she and her family lived in lower Manhattan. Much of Maritcha's life there mirrored that of many children of the time: helping with the housework, attending school, and practicing the piano. Yet there were thrilling occasions as well, such as visiting the Crystal Palace, site of Americas first worlds fair. However, Maritcha's life took a dramatic turn in 1863, when, at the age of fifteen, she and her family had to flee from their home in the midst of the violent Draft Riots. They eventually resettled in Providence, Rhode Island, where Maritcha triumphantly overcame prejudice to become the first black person to graduate from Providence High School.
Based on an unpublished memoir by Ms. Lyons ~ Memories of Yesterdays: All of Which I Saw and Part of Which I Was, dated 1928 ~ the evocative text and photographs of young Maritcha, her family, and their friends, as well as archival maps, photographs, and illustrations, make this book an invaluable cultural and historical resource. Maritcha brings to life the story of a very ordinary yet remarkable girl of nineteenth-century America.
»» James Madison Book Award Winner
»» Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
»» YALSA Best Book for Young Adults
»» ALSC Notable Childrens Book

Thursday, March 4, 2010

The JT Project Reaches Out In Harlem

Connecting Jazz to Harlem's Youth from Olivia Manders on Vimeo.


Harlem and jazz share a rich history. For it to remain history – and nothing more – for younger Harlem audiences is a problem that one jazz band is seeking to remedy.

Todd is the son of my friend and former Knickerbocker Village neighbor, Murray Schefflin and his lovely wife Arlene.

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