Flatbush + Main: A Podcast from Brooklyn Historica

In Episode 36 of Flatbush + Main, Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia say farewell to Brooklyn Historical Society by revisiting their favorite segments from the podcast’s history. Thank you so much for being such loyal and passionate listeners. It has been a joy to make Brooklyn history with you. Please keep in touch and follow us on Twitter @JuliethePH and @zaheerali. And keep an eye out for exciting new history projects at Brooklyn Historical Society! Index 01:04:03 Histories and Ideas (Ep. 15: Welcome to BHS Dumbo) 00:23:45 Into the Archives (Ep. 28: The New York City Draft Riots) 00:42:45 Voices of Brooklyn (Ep. 35: Wandering Brooklyn with Walt Whitman) For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’ve enjoyed our podcast! Be sure to revisit your favorite episodes and share the experience of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. The post Flatbush + Main Episode 36: Making Brooklyn History appeared first on Brooklyn Historical Society.

In Episode 35 of Flatbush + Main, we celebrate the 200th birthday of Brooklyn’s bard, Walt Whitman. Whitman was a journalist, a poet, a lover, a wanderer, and a Brooklynite. We consider his experiences walking Brooklyn’s streets and the inspiration he drew from the places and people he encountered. Index 00:02:28 Histories and Ideas 00:13:16 Into the Archives 00:27:00 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast platform you use. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas For our first segment, Zaheer and Julie partnered with our friends at BackStory.  They talked with historian and BackStory cohost Joanne Freeman about Walt Whitman the Brooklynite, and the places and forces that shaped his life. You can listen to BackStory’s full episode on Walt Whitman here. Segment 2: Into the Archives Walt Whitman kept over 100 journals, which are now held at the Library of Congress. Inside of these commonplace books, Whitman recorded diary entries, drafts, literary notes, names and addresses, sketches and drawings, and trial titles. Among the entries, Whitman would also list the names of the men he met and had romantic attachments with along Brooklyn’s waterfront. In this segment, Zaheer and Julie discuss the significance of these entries, and what we can learn about the Brooklyn stomping grounds that defined Whitman’s personal and professional life. You can learn more about the Walt Whitman collections held at the Library of Congress here, and explore digitized images of the journals here. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn In this segment, Julie and Zaheer listen to clips from the oral history of poet Suheir Hammad, from BHS’s Muslims in Brooklyn oral history collection. Segment 4: Endorsements Zaheer endorsed “The Tea on Brooklyn’s Prismatic LGBTQ Nightlife,” a public program at BHS’s Pierrepont St. headquarters on Monday, June 24, 2019 at 6:30pm. Brooklyn has been home to LGBTQ gatherings for decades. The program will feature clips from We Came to Sweat, the documentary on the storied Starlite Lounge that was home to a queer black community Crown Heights, and a panel featuring Calvin Clark of the former Club Langston; curator, writer, and social activist Kimberly Drew; Mohammed Fayaz of the queer POC dance party collective Papi Juice; and Ryann Holmes of the collective Bklyn Boihood. Tickets are $10 and $5 for members; reserve them here. Julie endorsed “Getting the History of HIV/AIDS Right,” a public program at BHS’s Pierrepont St. headquarters on Wednesday, June 26, 2019 at 6:30pm. The program will feature University of Illinois at Chicago professor Jennifer Brier, author of Infectious Ideas: U,S. Political Response to the AIDS Crisis, in conversation with Northwestern University professor and journalist Steven Thrasher, whose writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian and Esquire. Brier and thrasher will debunk historical myths about HIV/AIDS in America and push the audience to reconsider why particular narratives about the disease persist to this day. The conversation will touch on gender, race, sexuality, political and social history, and the tension between complacency and urgency today. This program is [resented in connection with the exhibition, Taking Care of Brooklyn: Stories of Sickness and Health, which opened on May 31. Tickets are $10 and $5 for members; reserve them here. The post Flatbush + Main Episode 35: Wandering Brooklyn With Walt Whitman appeared first on Brooklyn Historical Society.

In Episode 34 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss Brooklyn’s long farming history, and the complex interplay of power, land, and labor in Kings County. Index 00:02:16 Histories and Ideas 00:17:51 Into the Archives 00:32:57 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast platform you use. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In this segment, Zaheer and Julie discuss a surprising topic: how farms persisted in Kings County well into the 20th century. The look at the essential role that slavery played in Brooklyn’s farming economy before emancipation in 1827. And they consider the impact of new transportation technologies on land use in Kings County. To learn more about Brooklyn’s agricultural origins, check out our digital exhibition An American Family Grows in Brooklyn: Tee Lefferts Family Papers. For an in-depth look Brooklyn’s market farms in the early 20th century, check out the book Of Cabbages and Kings County: Agriculture and the Formation of Modern Brooklyn. Segment 2: Into the Archives To bring agricultural Brooklyn to life, Julie and Zaheer look at photographs and documents from the Lefferts family papers at Brooklyn Historical Society. Photo of a Dutch farm house, circa 1890 Photo of a Brooklyn farm, circa 1880 Photo of James Lefferts, circa 1900s On the Vanderveer Farm, circa 1920 The village of Flatbush as it was in the year 1870, 1943 You can explore these documents and more in the image gallery associated with BHS’s digital exhibition, An American Family Grows in Brooklyn. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn In this segment, Zaheer and Julie listen to clips from the oral histories of Gregg Todd and Sophie Johnson, both from the Voices of Crown Heights oral histories collection.

In Episode 33 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia explore Coney Island’s queer history. Guest Hugh Ryan joins Julie and Zaheer this episode. Hugh is the author of the new book, When Brooklyn Was Queer, and the co-curator, with Avram Finkelstein, of BHS’s newest exhibition, On the (Queer) Waterfront. Index00:02:34 Histories and Ideas 00:20:39 Into the Archives 00:39:09 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast platform you use. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain.   Segment 1: Histories and Ideas   In this segment, Zaheer, Julie, and Hugh explore the history of Coney Island through the lens of queer history. Hugh highlights the ways that Coney Island, with its public baths, amusement parks, and attractions, was an ideal place for queer communities to thrive and for people to push the boundaries of traditional sexuality. The three also discuss how the city’s social and economic transformations in the 1950s and 1960s let to the decline of Coney Island as a queer haven.   Segment 2: Into the Archives   Julie, Zaheer, and Hugh examine Coney Island’s decline and rebirth as a center of queer life through the lens of photography. Amalyzing images by photographers Anders Goldfarb and Lucille Fornasieri Gold, they discuss the destruction of institutions like Stauch’s Baths, and the regeneration of queer experience through Coney Island’s famous Mermaid Parade, launched in 1983. You can look at more photographs by Goldfarb and Gold in BHS’s online gallery.   Stauch's BathsAnders Goldfarb, Stauch's Baths, 1984, V1992.48.1; Brooklyn Historical Society. Mermaid Parade attendeesLucille Fornasieri Gold, Mermaid Parade attendees, circa 2005, V2008.013.15; Brooklyn Historical Society. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn   In this segment, Zaheer, Julie, and Hugh listen to selections from an oral history of Mabel Hampton taken by the Lesbian Herstory Archives. You can listen to several different interviews with Mabel Hampton on the LHA’s website.   Segment 4: Endorsements   This has been a busy few weeks at BHS – we just launched our new website (check it out)! As we’ve ironed out the kinks of our new system, we posted this episode later than planned, so some of the endorsements we made when we recorded have already passed. That said, everyone should come to the event endorsed by Hugh. On Monday, April 15, BHS will host “George Chauncey on Gay Male Culture in Post-War NYC.” George Chauncey’s trailblazing book Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940, shattered the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet. In this presentation, Chauncey, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, picks up where he left off, examining NYC’s post-war gay culture and politics. The event starts at 6:30, and tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for members. You can purchase tickets here.  

In Episode 32 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia examine the history of Muslims in Brooklyn, drawing on BHS’s groundbreaking public and oral history project that launched in 2017. Index 00:02:04 Histories and Ideas 00:16:34 Into the Archives 00:27:35 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts or whatever podcast platform you use. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In this segment, Julie and Zaheer talk about the Muslims in Brooklyn project, and the project’s goals to convey the long, diverse, and dynamic histories of Muslims in Brooklyn and New York City. For well over a century, Muslims have lived, worked, and prayed in Brooklyn, making it a major center of Muslim life not just in New York City, but the nation. They provide an overview of the histories of Muslims in New York City, and some of the themes that have informed those histories, including physical and spiritual migrations, community formations, neighborhood change, civic engagement, and the arts. They also reflect on the import of the project at a time when anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise. Segment 2: Into the Archives Julie and Zaheer analyze a marketing brochure for the Al-Karim school, an Afrocentric school that opened in Crown Heights in the early 1970s, and tease out the cultural influences of Islam on this school and other aspects of Brooklyn culture. The document is from the Eastern Parkway Coalition records (2007.016); you can explore the finding aid here. As Zaheer mentions in the segment, you can learn more by listening to the oral histories of one of the founders of the Al-Karim school, Ora Clark, and her son Karim Camara, who attended the school. Marketing brochure for the Al-Karim school, circa 1970s Marketing brochure for the Al-Karim school, circa 1970s Marketing brochure for the Al-Karim school, circa 1970s Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn In this segment, Julie and Zaheer listen to clips from the oral history of Brooklyn artists Mohammed Fayaz and Alsarah Abunama-Elgadi. You can hear their full interviews, as well as others that are part of the Muslims in Brooklyn oral histories collection on our Oral History portal. Segment 4: Endorsements Zaheer endorsed “Beauty, Media, Money and More: A Conversation with Tressie McMillan Cottom,” a public program on Monday, February 25, 2010 at 6:30pm. In her new book Thick and Other Essays, Cottom — award-winning professor and acclaimed author of Lower Ed — opens up about her role as a scholar and public figure. She is joined in conversation by Harlem-based writer, Morgan Jerkins, author of the New York Times bestseller This Will Be My Undoing. Tickets are $10 and $5 for members; reserve them here. Julie endorsed a book talk given by Kellie Carter Jackson about her new book, Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence, on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 at 6:30pm. Jackson, assistant professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College (and former Columbia colleague of Julie and Zaheer!), examines the political and social tensions preceding the American Civil War and the conditions that led some black abolitionists to believe that slavery might only be abolished by violence. Tickets are $5 and free for members; reserve them here. The post Flatbush + Main Episode 32: Muslims in Brooklyn appeared first on Brooklyn Historical Society.

In Episode 31 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss the infamous Blackout of 1977, the economic and social context that led up to the event, its impact on many Brooklyn neighborhoods, and its enduring legacy. Index00:02:15 Histories and Ideas 00:20:58 Into the Archives 00:30:42 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas Zaheer and Julie lay out the chronology of the blackout, which took place from July 13 to July 14, 1977. They contextualize the event in the context of 1970s New York City – deindustrialization, the financial crisis, white flight, red lining, declining city services, and the crowding and segregation present in many of the borough’s neighborhoods. They also discuss the loaded and racialized language used around the blackout – and how its use endures today. For a great read on New York in the 1970s, check out Kim Phillips-Fein’s Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics.   Segment 2: Into the Archives Julie and Zaheer examine evocative slides capturing the aftermath of the blackout – including the destruction of houses and widespread fires – in the 1977 Blackout Slide Collection (2007.042). Explore the finding aid here. You can find images from the collection online here. Extinguishing a fire in the Ruth & Sam Book Shop building, 1977; v2007.042.56; BHS. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn In this segment, Julie and Zaheer listen to the experiences of Rudy Suggs during the 1977 Blackout. You can access his full interview on BHS’s Oral History portal here. Destroyed building next to Ruth & Sam Book Shop, 1977; v2007.042.33; BHS. Segment 4: Endorsements Julie and Zaheer did a joint endorsement of “Black-Owned Businesses: A History of Enterprise and Community in Brooklyn,” an event on Monday, February 11. Explore the rich history and social impact of businesses owned by and serving black communities in Brooklyn. Historian Jason Bartlett is joined by Cynthia Gordy Giwa, editor-in-chief of the online publication Black-Owned Brooklyn, and Jyll Hubbard-Salk, founder of Crown Heights yoga studio Urban Asanas, to discuss the challenges and triumphs of the network of black business owners then and now, and how growing economic empowerment has tied directly to the struggle for equality. Moderated by Digital Editor at Black Enterprise and host of What’s Eating Harlem?, Selena Hill. The event starts at 6:30 and there’s a public reception beforehand, provided by TD Bank, that starts at 5:15. Tickets are $5 and free for members; buy them here. Flatbush + Main tackled this very topic last year – check out the episode here!

In Episode 31 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss the infamous Blackout of 1977, the economic and social context that led up to the event, its impact on many Brooklyn neighborhoods, and its enduring legacy. Index Index 02:15 Histories and Ideas 20:58 Into the Archives 30:42 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas Zaheer and Julie lay out the chronology of the blackout, which took place from July 13 to July 14, 1977. They contextualize the event in the context of 1970s New York City – deindustrialization, the financial crisis, white flight, red lining, declining city services, and the crowding and segregation present in many of the borough’s neighborhoods. They also discuss the loaded and racialized language used around the blackout – and how its use endures today. For a great read on New York in the 1970s, check out Kim Phillips-Fein’s Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics. Segment 2: Into the Archives Julie and Zaheer examine evocative slides capturing the aftermath of the blackout – including the destruction of houses and widespread fires – in the 1977 Blackout Slide Collection (2007.042). Explore the finding aid here. You can find images from the collection online here. Extinguishing a fire in the Ruth & Sam Book Shop building, 1977; v2007.042.56; BHS. Destroyed building next to Ruth & Sam Book Shop, 1977; v2007.042.33; BHS. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn In this segment, Julie and Zaheer listen to the experiences of Rudy Suggs during the 1977 Blackout. You can access his full interview on BHS’s Oral History portal here. Segment 4: Endorsements Julie and Zaheer did a joint endorsement of “Black-Owned Businesses: A History of Enterprise and Community in Brooklyn,” an event on Monday, February 11. Explore the rich history and social impact of businesses owned by and serving black communities in Brooklyn. Historian Jason Bartlett is joined by Cynthia Gordy Giwa, editor-in-chief of the online publication Black-Owned Brooklyn, and Jyll Hubbard-Salk, founder of Crown Heights yoga studio Urban Asanas, to discuss the challenges and triumphs of the network of black business owners then and now, and how growing economic empowerment has tied directly to the struggle for equality. Moderated by Digital Editor at Black Enterprise and host of What’s Eating Harlem?, Selena Hill. The event starts at 6:30 and there’s a public reception beforehand, provided by TD Bank, that starts at 5:15. Tickets are $5 and free for members; buy them here. Flatbush + Main tackled this very topic last year – check out the episode here!

In Episode 31 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss the infamous Blackout of 1977, the economic and social context that led up to the event, its impact on many Brooklyn neighborhoods, and its enduring legacy. Index00:02:15 Histories and Ideas 00:20:58 Into the Archives 00:30:42 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas Zaheer and Julie lay out the chronology of the blackout, which took place from July 13 to July 14, 1977. They contextualize the event in the context of 1970s New York City – deindustrialization, the financial crisis, white flight, red lining, declining city services, and the crowding and segregation present in many of the borough’s neighborhoods. They also discuss the loaded and racialized language used around the blackout – and how its use endures today. For a great read on New York in the 1970s, check out Kim Phillips-Fein’s Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics.   Segment 2: Into the Archives Julie and Zaheer examine evocative slides capturing the aftermath of the blackout – including the destruction of houses and widespread fires – in the 1977 Blackout Slide Collection (2007.042). Explore the finding aid here. You can find images from the collection online here. Extinguishing a fire in the Ruth & Sam Book Shop building, 1977; v2007.042.56; BHS. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn In this segment, Julie and Zaheer listen to the experiences of Rudy Suggs during the 1977 Blackout. You can access his full interview on BHS’s Oral History portal here. Destroyed building next to Ruth & Sam Book Shop, 1977; v2007.042.33; BHS. Segment 4: Endorsements Julie and Zaheer did a joint endorsement of “Black-Owned Businesses: A History of Enterprise and Community in Brooklyn,” an event on Monday, February 11. Explore the rich history and social impact of businesses owned by and serving black communities in Brooklyn. Historian Jason Bartlett is joined by Cynthia Gordy Giwa, editor-in-chief of the online publication Black-Owned Brooklyn, and Jyll Hubbard-Salk, founder of Crown Heights yoga studio Urban Asanas, to discuss the challenges and triumphs of the network of black business owners then and now, and how growing economic empowerment has tied directly to the struggle for equality. Moderated by Digital Editor at Black Enterprise and host of What’s Eating Harlem?, Selena Hill. The event starts at 6:30 and there’s a public reception beforehand, provided by TD Bank, that starts at 5:15. Tickets are $5 and free for members; buy them here. Flatbush + Main tackled this very topic last year – check out the episode here!

In Episode 30 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss Brooklyn Historical Society’s Puerto Rican Oral History Project (1973-1975), the institution’s first oral history collection, which resulted in over 80 interviews with narrators born as early as the 1880s. They situate this landmark undertaking in the social and intellectual developments of the 1960s and 1970s, from the Civil Rights Movement to the rise of Ethnic Studies programs. Index 02:35 Histories and Ideas 20:30 Into the Archives 36:28 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In this segment, Zaheer and Julie discuss the genesis of the Puerto Rican Oral History Project in 1973, including the roles of pioneer Puerto Rican studies scholar John D. Vazquez and community leader Jesús Colón. Zaheer and Julie also provide an overview of the migration history of Puerto Ricans to Brooklyn in the early 20th century. Finally they explore the meaning of the project in context of the emergence of ethnic studies. Segment 2: Into the Archives The Puerto Rican Oral History Project records include extensive documentation of this multi-year project. Zaheer and Julie examine some of the documents in the collection, including a letter dated 1971 written by then-Long Island Historical Society’s Executive Director John H. Lindenbusch to Jesús Colón that broaches the idea of doing an oral history project. Zaheer and Julie also examine a poster celebrating Colón, as well as a flyer describing Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños (popularly known as Centro)–the Center for Puerto Rican Studies that was founded in 1973, the same year the Puerto Rican Oral History Project commenced. Lastly, they read a letter from Centro’s Oral History Task Force to the Society’s Librarian offering to transcribe the oral histories that had been largely unaccessible for almost a decade. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Julie listen to excerpts from an interview with Celia Maria Vice. You can listen to her complete interview on the online Oral History Portal here. Segment 4: Endorsements Zaheer endorsed “Elections in the Age of Trump” on Monday, November 5, with FiveThirtyEight‘s Senior Political Writer Clare Malone John Sides, professor of political science at George Washington University and coauthor of the new book, Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America. You can get more information and tickets here. Julie endorsed “Tales from the Vault: Brooklyn for Peace” on Wednesday, November 7, with two members of our library staff, Maggie Schreiner and Laura Juliano, who examine archival materials from Brooklyn for Peace, an organization founded amid the tensions of the Cold War. You can get more information and tickets here.

In Episode 30 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss Brooklyn Historical Society’s Puerto Rican Oral History Project (1973-1975), the institution’s first oral history collection, which resulted in over 80 interviews with narrators born as early as the 1880s. They situate this landmark undertaking in the social and intellectual developments of the 1960s and 1970s, from the Civil Rights Movement to the rise of Ethnic Studies programs. Index 02:35 Histories and Ideas 20:30 Into the Archives 36:28 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In this segment, Zaheer and Julie discuss the genesis of the Puerto Rican Oral History Project in 1973, including the roles of pioneer Puerto Rican studies scholar John D. Vazquez and community leader Jesús Colón. Zaheer and Julie also provide an overview of the migration history of Puerto Ricans to Brooklyn in the early 20th century. Finally they explore the meaning of the project in context of the emergence of ethnic studies. Segment 2: Into the Archives The Puerto Rican Oral History Project records include extensive documentation of this multi-year project. Zaheer and Julie examine some of the documents in the collection, including a letter dated 1971 written by then-Long Island Historical Society’s Executive Director John H. Lindenbusch to Jesús Colón that broaches the idea of doing an oral history project. Zaheer and Julie also examine a poster celebrating Colón, as well as a flyer describing Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños (popularly known as Centro)–the Center for Puerto Rican Studies that was founded in 1973, the same year the Puerto Rican Oral History Project commenced. Lastly, they read a letter from Centro’s Oral History Task Force to the Society’s Librarian offering to transcribe the oral histories that had been largely unaccessible for almost a decade. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Julie listen to excerpts from an interview with Celia Maria Vice. You can listen to her complete interview on the online Oral History Portal here. Segment 4: Endorsements Zaheer endorsed “Elections in the Age of Trump” on Monday, November 5, with FiveThirtyEight‘s Senior Political Writer Clare Malone John Sides, professor of political science at George Washington University and coauthor of the new book, Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America. You can get more information and tickets here. Julie endorsed “Tales from the Vault: Brooklyn for Peace” on Wednesday, November 7, with two members of our library staff, Maggie Schreiner and Laura Juliano, who examine archival materials from Brooklyn for Peace, an organization founded amid the tensions of the Cold War. You can get more information and tickets here.

In Episode 29 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, host Zaheer Ali and guest-host Erin Wuebker, fellow BHS historian, discuss the impact of cholera on Brooklyn, which led to the illness and death of thousands of residents in the 19th century. Zaheer and Erin consider how epidemics of cholera were both symptoms of the city’s tremendous growth and change in this era, and catalysts for Brooklyn to develop basic infrastructure we associate with a modern city. Index 02:49 Histories and Ideas 22:29 Into the Archives 45:59 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Support for this episode was provided by the Wellcome Trust’s Contagious Cities project, which supports local conversations around the global challenges of epidemic preparedness.       Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In this segment, Zaheer and Erin discuss epidemics of cholera that reached the shores of Brooklyn in the mid-19th century in the context of the city’s transformation from a small farming town of 6,000 residents to the third largest city in America and a global center of trade and manufacturing. They detail why working-class Brooklynites were the most likely to contract cholera and the challenges in telling their histories. Zaheer and Erin also reflect on how these epidemics pushed Brooklyn to modernize, resulting in new roles for government and the city’s first hospitals, sewers, and more. For more on 19th-century cholera epidemics in the US and New York City, see Charles E. Rosenberg, The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866. For details on continuing challenges controlling cholera across the globe, see the World Health Organization. Segment 2: Into the Archives Zaheer and Erin delve into the prolific journals of Gabriel Furman, Brooklyn lawyer, politician, and amateur historian, who closely documented an 1832 outbreak of cholera. Furman’s journals reveal the different ways people understood cholera specifically and disease more broadly in this era – religion, morality, miasmas, climate – as well as the fear and uncertainty that many Brooklynites had as they waited for cholera to reach their city or heard contrasting advice on how to stay healthy. Zaheer and Erin also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Furman’s journals as a source on cholera. Though well versed in the politics and medical knowledge of the time, as a wealthy resident who never contracted the illness, there are some parts of the story of cholera in Brooklyn that are absent from his accounts. You can access the finding aid to this manuscript collection here (ARC.190). Below are images of Furman’s journals that we discuss: Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Erin listen to an excerpt from the oral history of Albert Johnson from the Voices of Crown Heights oral histories. In this selection, Johnson speaks about his experience with different physicians when he was diagnosed with HIV in the 1990s. You can listen to his entire oral history on BHS’s Oral History Portal. Segment 4: Endorsements Erin endorsed the program, “Immigrant Women, Labor, and the Quest for Gender Justice,” which takes place on Wednesday, October 10 at 6:30 pm at BHS’s Pierrepont building. Bernice Yeung, ProPublica reporter and author of In a Day’s Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America’s Most Vulnerable Workers, shares the harrowing experiences she chronicles in her book. She is joined by Rachel Isreeli of the Center for Family Life’s Cooperative Development Program in Sunset Park, which organizes cooperatives in the traditionally exploitative domestic work industry. Joanna Morales, a home care worker, will share her perspective as a worker-owner of Golden Steps Elder Care Cooperative. Tickets are $5, free for members, reserve them here. Zaheer endorsed “The Not-So-Sweet History of Sugar,” a public program on Tuesday, October 16 at 6:30 pm at BHS’s Pierrepont building. Join social historian, York College professor, and author of Sugar: The World Corrupted, From Slavery to Obesity, James Walvin, as he uncovers the fraught history of one of our most prevalent ingredients: sugar. From its role in catalyzing colonialism and slave trading, to its current contributions to health crises, Walvin delivers this history without any sugar coating. Tickets are $5, free for members, reserve them here.

In Episode 29 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, host Zaheer Ali and guest-host Erin Wuebker, fellow BHS historian, discuss the impact of cholera on Brooklyn, which led to the illness and death of thousands of residents in the 19th century. Zaheer and Erin consider how epidemics of cholera were both symptoms of the city’s tremendous growth and change in this era, and catalysts for Brooklyn to develop basic infrastructure we associate with a modern city. Index 02:49 Histories and Ideas 22:29 Into the Archives 45:59 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Support for this episode was provided by the Wellcome Trust’s Contagious Cities project, which supports local conversations around the global challenges of epidemic preparedness.       Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In this segment, Zaheer and Erin discuss epidemics of cholera that reached the shores of Brooklyn in the mid-19th century in the context of the city’s transformation from a small farming town of 6,000 residents to the third largest city in America and a global center of trade and manufacturing. They detail why working-class Brooklynites were the most likely to contract cholera and the challenges in telling their histories. Zaheer and Erin also reflect on how these epidemics pushed Brooklyn to modernize, resulting in new roles for government and the city’s first hospitals, sewers, and more. For more on 19th-century cholera epidemics in the US and New York City, see Charles E. Rosenberg, The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866. For details on continuing challenges controlling cholera across the globe, see the World Health Organization. Segment 2: Into the Archives Zaheer and Erin delve into the prolific journals of Gabriel Furman, Brooklyn lawyer, politician, and amateur historian, who closely documented an 1832 outbreak of cholera. Furman’s journals reveal the different ways people understood cholera specifically and disease more broadly in this era – religion, morality, miasmas, climate – as well as the fear and uncertainty that many Brooklynites had as they waited for cholera to reach their city or heard contrasting advice on how to stay healthy. Zaheer and Erin also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Furman’s journals as a source on cholera. Though well versed in the politics and medical knowledge of the time, as a wealthy resident who never contracted the illness, there are some parts of the story of cholera in Brooklyn that are absent from his accounts. You can access the finding aid to this manuscript collection here (ARC.190). Below are images of Furman’s journals that we discuss: Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Erin listen to an excerpt from the oral history of Albert Johnson from the Voices of Crown Heights oral histories. In this selection, Johnson speaks about his experience with different physicians when he was diagnosed with HIV in the 1990s. You can listen to his entire oral history on BHS’s Oral History Portal. Segment 4: Endorsements Erin endorsed the program, “Immigrant Women, Labor, and the Quest for Gender Justice,” which takes place on Wednesday, October 10 at 6:30 pm at BHS’s Pierrepont building. Bernice Yeung, ProPublica reporter and author of In a Day’s Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America’s Most Vulnerable Workers, shares the harrowing experiences she chronicles in her book. She is joined by Rachel Isreeli of the Center for Family Life’s Cooperative Development Program in Sunset Park, which organizes cooperatives in the traditionally exploitative domestic work industry. Joanna Morales, a home care worker, will share her perspective as a worker-owner of Golden Steps Elder Care Cooperative. Tickets are $5, free for members, reserve them here. Zaheer endorsed “The Not-So-Sweet History of Sugar,” a public program on Tuesday, October 16 at 6:30 pm at BHS’s Pierrepont building. Join social historian, York College professor, and author of Sugar: The World Corrupted, From Slavery to Obesity, James Walvin, as he uncovers the fraught history of one of our most prevalent ingredients: sugar. From its role in catalyzing colonialism and slave trading, to its current contributions to health crises, Walvin delivers this history without any sugar coating. Tickets are $5, free for members, reserve them here.

In Episode 29 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, host Zaheer Ali and guest-host Erin Wuebker, fellow BHS historian, discuss the impact of cholera on Brooklyn, which led to the illness and death of thousands of residents in the 19th century. Zaheer and Erin consider how epidemics of cholera were both symptoms of the city’s tremendous growth and change in this era, and catalysts for Brooklyn to develop basic infrastructure we associate with a modern city. Index 02:49 Histories and Ideas 22:29 Into the Archives 45:59 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Support for this episode was provided by the Wellcome Trust’s Contagious Cities project, which supports local conversations around the global challenges of epidemic preparedness. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In this segment, Zaheer and Erin discuss epidemics of cholera that reached the shores of Brooklyn in the mid-19th century in the context of the city’s transformation from a small farming town of 6,000 residents to the third largest city in America and a global center of trade and manufacturing. They detail why working-class Brooklynites were the most likely to contract cholera and the challenges in telling their histories. Zaheer and Erin also reflect on how these epidemics pushed Brooklyn to modernize, resulting in new roles for government and the city’s first hospitals, sewers, and more. For more on 19th-century cholera epidemics in the US and New York City, see Charles E. Rosenberg, The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866. For details on continuing challenges controlling cholera across the globe, see the World Health Organization. Segment 2: Into the Archives Zaheer and Erin delve into the prolific journals of Gabriel Furman, Brooklyn lawyer, politician, and amateur historian, who closely documented an 1832 outbreak of cholera. Furman’s journals reveal the different ways people understood cholera specifically and disease more broadly in this era – religion, morality, miasmas, climate – as well as the fear and uncertainty that many Brooklynites had as they waited for cholera to reach their city or heard contrasting advice on how to stay healthy. Zaheer and Erin also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Furman’s journals as a source on cholera. Though well versed in the politics and medical knowledge of the time, as a wealthy resident who never contracted the illness, there are some parts of the story of cholera in Brooklyn that are absent from his accounts. You can access the finding aid to this manuscript collection here (ARC.190). Below are images of Furman’s journals that we discuss: Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Erin listen to an excerpt from the oral history of Albert Johnson from the Voices of Crown Heights oral histories. In this selection, Johnson speaks about his experience with different physicians when he was diagnosed with HIV in the 1990s. You can listen to his entire oral history on BHS’s Oral History Portal. Segment 4: Endorsements Erin endorsed the program, “Immigrant Women, Labor, and the Quest for Gender Justice,” which takes place on Wednesday, October 10 at 6:30 pm at BHS’s Pierrepont building. Bernice Yeung, ProPublica reporter and author of In a Day’s Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America’s Most Vulnerable Workers, shares the harrowing experiences she chronicles in her book. She is joined by Rachel Isreeli of the Center for Family Life’s Cooperative Development Program in Sunset Park, which organizes cooperatives in the traditionally exploitative domestic work industry. Joanna Morales, a home care worker, will share her perspective as a worker-owner of Golden Steps Elder Care Cooperative. Tickets are $5, free for members, reserve them here. Zaheer endorsed “The Not-So-Sweet History of Sugar,” a public program on Tuesday, October 16 at 6:30 pm at BHS’s Pierrepont building. Join social historian, York College professor, and author of Sugar: The World Corrupted, From Slavery to Obesity, James Walvin, as he uncovers the fraught history of one of our most prevalent ingredients: sugar. From its role in catalyzing colonialism and slave trading, to its current contributions to health crises, Walvin delivers this history without any sugar coating. Tickets are $5, free for members, reserve them here.

In Episode 28 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss the impact on Brooklyn of the 1863 New York City draft riots, the largest domestic uprising in American history after the Civil War itself, resulting in the death of hundreds of Black New Yorkers. Zaheer and Julie consider the complex–and sometimes violent–racial dynamics that made Brooklyn a place of both refuge and danger for its Black residents during this perilous moment. Index 03:23 – Histories and Ideas 24:47 – Into the Archives 42:21 – Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In this segment, Zaheer and Julie discuss the draft riots in the context of the class and ethnic tensions that existed between working-class immigrants and Black New Yorkers, tensions that were exacerbated as the focus of the Civil War shifted more explicitly toward the issue of slavery. They tell some of the harrowing details of the attacks on Black New Yorkers and institutions, and examine the stories of Black New Yorkers who escaped to Brooklyn. They also explore the parallels between the draft riots and tobacco factory riot that happened in Brooklyn a year before, that while less bloody, revealed some of the same racial dynamics that erupted into the draft riots. For more on the draft riots, check out Iver Bernstein’s The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War, and Barnet Schecter’s The Devil’s Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America. Segment 2: Into the Archives Zaheer and Julie conduct a close reading of “The New York Riots of 1863 – By G. L. V.,” an unpublished manuscript written by Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt in the 1890s, 30 years after the event. Born in 1824 into the prominent Dutch Lefferts family, she went on to marry Judge John Vanderbilt, a member of another prominent Dutch family, in 1846. She was an avid chronicler of Brooklyn history, and published A Social History of Flatbush in 1881. Her account of the riots reveals a sympathetic but deeply condescending view of Black New Yorkers as victims, and a nativistic contempt for the largely immigrant population responsible for the riots. You can view the original manuscript here as part of An American Family Grows in Brooklyn: The Lefferts Papers at Brooklyn Historical Society. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Julie listen to excerpts from three oral histories which you can access on BHS’s Oral History Portal: Amy Ellenbogen and Richard Green from the Voices of Crown Heights oral histories, and Cheryl Byron from the West Indian Carnival Documentation Project records.

In Episode 28 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss the impact on Brooklyn of the 1863 New York City draft riots, the largest domestic uprising in American history after the Civil War itself, resulting in the death of hundreds of Black New Yorkers. Zaheer and Julie consider the complex–and sometimes violent–racial dynamics that made Brooklyn a place of both refuge and danger for its Black residents during this perilous moment. Index 03:23 – Histories and Ideas 24:47 – Into the Archives 42:21 – Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-apple. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In this segment, Zaheer and Julie discuss the draft riots in the context of the class and ethnic tensions that existed between working-class immigrants and Black New Yorkers, tensions that were exacerbated as the focus of the Civil War shifted more explicitly toward the issue of slavery. They tell some of the harrowing details of the attacks on Black New Yorkers and institutions, and examine the stories of Black New Yorkers who escaped to Brooklyn. They also explore the parallels between the draft riots and tobacco factory riot that happened in Brooklyn a year before, that while less bloody, revealed some of the same racial dynamics that erupted into the draft riots. For more on the draft riots, check out Iver Bernstein’s The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War, and Barnet Schecter’s The Devil’s Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America. Segment 2: Into the Archives Zaheer and Julie conduct a close reading of “The New York Riots of 1863 – By G. L. V.,” an unpublished manuscript written by Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt in the 1890s, 30 years after the event. Born in 1824 into the prominent Dutch Lefferts family, she went on to marry Judge John Vanderbilt, a member of another prominent Dutch family, in 1846. She was an avid chronicler of Brooklyn history, and published A Social History of Flatbush in 1881. Her account of the riots reveals a sympathetic but deeply condescending view of Black New Yorkers as victims, and a nativistic contempt for the largely immigrant population responsible for the riots. You can view the original manuscript here as part of An American Family Grows in Brooklyn: The Lefferts Papers at Brooklyn Historical Society. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Julie listen to excerpts from three oral histories which you can access on BHS’s Oral History Portal: Amy Ellenbogen and Richard Green from the Voices of Crown Heights oral histories, and Cheryl Byron from the West Indian Carnival Documentation Project records.

In Episode 27 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia are joined by guest Joshua B. Freeman, author of Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World. They consider the impact of factories on Brooklyn’s social and economic history, and discuss the experiences of factory workers that worked and lived in Brooklyn. Index 02:58 Histories and Ideas with Joshua B. Freeman 26:27 Into the Archives 39.44 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-itunes. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In segment 1, Zaheer and Julie welcome guest Joshua B. Freeman, Distinguished Professor of History at CUNY Graduate Center and Queens College, and author of Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World. They consider the historical development of the factory, its impact on global commerce as well as local places like Brooklyn, and its changing role in the American popular imagination. Get Josh Freeman’s important book here. Segment 2: Into the Archives Are factories always “behemoths,” like the massive complexes that Josh Freeman describes in his book? How do we categorize the smaller sites of production that dotted Brooklyn’s neighborhoods in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries? In this segment, we look at documents from the Wellmade Glove records (ARC.224), a manufactory and store that operated in the neighborhood of Park Slope in the mid-20th century. You can access the finding aid to this manuscript collection here. And here are pictures of the documents we examined: Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Julie listen to excerpts from the March 20, 1989 oral history of Ida Pollack from the Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection, 1995.005.005. The complete interview can be accessed onsite at Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library.

In Episode 27 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia are joined by guest Joshua B. Freeman, author of Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World. They consider the impact of factories on Brooklyn’s social and economic history, and discuss the experiences of factory workers that worked and lived in Brooklyn. Index 02:58 Histories and Ideas with Joshua B. Freeman 26:27 Into the Archives 39.44 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-itunes. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In segment 1, Zaheer and Julie welcome guest Joshua B. Freeman, Distinguished Professor of History at CUNY Graduate Center and Queens College, and author of Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World. They consider the historical development of the factory, its impact on global commerce as well as local places like Brooklyn, and its changing role in the American popular imagination. Get Josh Freeman’s important book here. Segment 2: Into the Archives Are factories always “behemoths,” like the massive complexes that Josh Freeman describes in his book? How do we categorize the smaller sites of production that dotted Brooklyn’s neighborhoods in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries? In this segment, we look at documents from the Wellmade Glove records (ARC.224), a manufactory and store that operated in the neighborhood of Park Slope in the mid-20th century. You can access the finding aid to this manuscript collection here. And here are pictures of the documents we examined: Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Julie listen to excerpts from the March 20, 1989 oral history of Ida Pollack from the Brooklyn Navy Yard oral history collection, 1995.005.005. The complete interview can be accessed onsite at Brooklyn Historical Society’s Othmer Library.

In Episode 26 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss the tragic 1978 killing of Crown Heights resident Arthur Miller Jr. by police, and consider his important legacy as a community leader, activist, and businessman. Index 03:21 Histories and Ideas 21:26 Into the Archives 40:10 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-itunes. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In segment 1, Zaheer and Julie are joined by Amaka Okechukwu, Assistant Professor of Sociology at George Mason University and the former Project Coordinator for the Voices of Crown Heights oral history project at Brooklyn Historical Society. Amaka, Zaheer, and Julie discuss Arthur Miller Jr.’s remarkable biography and frame his life against the backdrop of 1970s Brooklyn – both the unprecedented financial crisis that cut city services during that decade, and the grassroots community-building undertaken by Miller and his contemporaries. They also discuss the circumstances around his death by chokehold at the hands of New York City police, and analyze parallels to the crisis of police violence across the country today. To learn more about the NYC fiscal criss of the 1970s, check out Kim Phillips-Fein’s book Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics. To learn more about the history of police violence, check out Paul Butler’s book Chokehold: Policing Black Men; and for a broader contextual analysis, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation. To learn more about Amaka Okechukwu’s work, visit her website. To learn more about the efforts by Arthur Miller Jr.’s family to preserve his legacy, visit the Arthur Miller Jr. – A Daughter Never Forgets Foundation. Segment 2: Into the Archives Julie and Zaheer examine a series of documents from the Eastern Parkway Coalition Papers at Brooklyn Historical Society. Check out the finding aid here. This rich collection documents the plethora of rising community organizations in the neighborhood of Crown Heights in the 1970s and onward. Zaheer and Julie particularly highlight two organizations: the New Muse and the Nostrand Avenue Community Commerce Association – the latter of which was founded by Arthur Miller. Here are pictures of the documents we examined. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Julie listen to excerpts from the oral history of Florence Miller, the widow of Arthur Miller. You can listen to the entire interview on BHS’s Oral History Portal here. Segment 4: Endorsements This episode only scratches the surface of the story of Arthur Miller’s legacy and death. Julie endorsed a public program entitled “The Police Killing of Arthur Miller, 40 Years Later.” MSNBC’s Joy-Ann Reid leads a panel discussion featuring former New York City Council Member Al Vann, activist Thenjiwe McHarris, and NAACP representative Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele, who will discuss what has changed — and what has not — in the four decades since Arthur Miller’s death. Members of the Miller family – including Florence Miller – will be special guests. Zaheer and Amaka will kick off the program with a series of oral histories from Crown Heights residents who remember this tragic event. The event will be held on Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 6:30pm at BHS’s Brooklyn Heights headquarters. Tickets are $5 and free for members; reserve them here. Zaheer endorsed a public program entitled “The (New) Urban Resistance: Progressives Go Local.” With a federal government mired in dysfunction, cities across the nation are the new frontier of progressive change, presenting solutions to issues that range from income inequality to public health. The event will feature Democracy Now! co-host and former New York Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez, NYC councilmember (and friend of the podcast) Brad Lander, civil rights and immigration supervisor at Make the Road New York Yaritza Mendez, and Philadelphia City councilperson Helen Gym, who will dig into the power of local advocacy and activism. The event is moderated by The Nation’s Lizzy Ratner and co-sponsored by The Nation magazine as part of its “Cities Rising” series. The event will be held on Monday, June 25, 2018 at 6:30pm at BHS’s Brooklyn Heights headquarters. Tickets are $5 and free for members; reserve them here.

In Episode 26 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss the tragic 1978 killing of Crown Heights resident Arthur Miller Jr. by police, and consider his important legacy as a community leader, activist, and businessman. Index 03:21 Histories and Ideas 21:26 Into the Archives 40:10 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-itunes. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In segment 1, Zaheer and Julie are joined by Amaka Okechukwu, Assistant Professor of Sociology at George Mason University and the former Project Coordinator for the Voices of Crown Heights oral history project at Brooklyn Historical Society. Amaka, Zaheer, and Julie discuss Arthur Miller Jr.’s remarkable biography and frame his life against the backdrop of 1970s Brooklyn – both the unprecedented financial crisis that cut city services during that decade, and the grassroots community-building undertaken by Miller and his contemporaries. They also discuss the circumstances around his death by chokehold at the hands of New York City police, and analyze parallels to the crisis of police violence across the country today. To learn more about the NYC fiscal criss of the 1970s, check out Kim Phillips-Fein’s book Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics. To learn more about the history of police violence, check out Paul Butler’s book Chokehold: Policing Black Men; and for a broader contextual analysis, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation. To learn more about Amaka Okechukwu’s work, visit her website. To learn more about the efforts by Arthur Miller Jr.’s family to preserve his legacy, visit the Arthur Miller Jr. – A Daughter Never Forgets Foundation. Segment 2: Into the Archives Julie and Zaheer examine a series of documents from the Eastern Parkway Coalition Papers at Brooklyn Historical Society. Check out the finding aid here. This rich collection documents the plethora of rising community organizations in the neighborhood of Crown Heights in the 1970s and onward. Zaheer and Julie particularly highlight two organizations: the New Muse and the Nostrand Avenue Community Commerce Association – the latter of which was founded by Arthur Miller. Here are pictures of the documents we examined. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Julie listen to excerpts from the oral history of Florence Miller, the widow of Arthur Miller. You can listen to the entire interview on BHS’s Oral History Portal here. Segment 4: Endorsements This episode only scratches the surface of the story of Arthur Miller’s legacy and death. Julie endorsed a public program entitled “The Police Killing of Arthur Miller, 40 Years Later.” MSNBC’s Joy-Ann Reid leads a panel discussion featuring former New York City Council Member Al Vann, activist Thenjiwe McHarris, and NAACP representative Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele, who will discuss what has changed — and what has not — in the four decades since Arthur Miller’s death. Members of the Miller family – including Florence Miller – will be special guests. Zaheer and Amaka will kick off the program with a series of oral histories from Crown Heights residents who remember this tragic event. The event will be held on Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 6:30pm at BHS’s Brooklyn Heights headquarters. Tickets are $5 and free for members; reserve them here. Zaheer endorsed a public program entitled “The (New) Urban Resistance: Progressives Go Local.” With a federal government mired in dysfunction, cities across the nation are the new frontier of progressive change, presenting solutions to issues that range from income inequality to public health. The event will feature Democracy Now! co-host and former New York Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez, NYC councilmember (and friend of the podcast) Brad Lander, civil rights and immigration supervisor at Make the Road New York Yaritza Mendez, and Philadelphia City councilperson Helen Gym, who will dig into the power of local advocacy and activism. The event is moderated by The Nation’s Lizzy Ratner and co-sponsored by The Nation magazine as part of its “Cities Rising” series. The event will be held on Monday, June 25, 2018 at 6:30pm at BHS’s Brooklyn Heights headquarters. Tickets are $5 and free for members; reserve them here.

In Episode 25 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia, joined by fellow BHS historian Erin Wuebker, explore the fascinating history of gender and medicine in Brooklyn and learn about some of Brooklyn’s pioneering female physicians. Index 03:03 Histories and Ideas 25:26 Into the Archives 43:57 Voices of Brooklyn For complete show notes, go to brooklynhistory.org/flatbush-main. We hope you’re enjoying our podcast! Please subscribe, rate, and review us at brooklynhistory.org/fm-itunes. And share the news of Flatbush + Main far and wide using the hashtag #FlatbushandMain. Segment 1: Histories and Ideas In segment 1, Zaheer and Julie welcome Erin Wuebker, historian of public health and Assistant Curator on the upcoming BHS exhibition Sick: Seven Diseases that Changed Brooklyn. They discuss the challenges and opportunities that shaped the experiences of the earliest generations of female physicians in Brooklyn, and frame their stories around the origins of health care in Brooklyn, the professionalization of medicine, and Progressive-era ideas about women’s supposedly unique capacity to provide care. They highlight one unknown leader in the medical profession, Dr. Susan McKinney Steward, who was the first African American female doctor in New York state. Julie, Zaheer, and Erin mention several fascinating books and articles in this segment. Check out Regina Morantz-Sanchez’s book, Conduct Unbecoming A Woman: Medicine on Trial in Turn-of-the-Century Brooklyn. For more contemporary debates about gender, misogyny, and the medical field, check out these fascinating stories: Joe Fassler’s 2015 piece in The Atlantic, “How Doctors Take Women’s Pain Less Seriously” Linda Villarosa’s remarkable april 2018 piece in the New York Times Magazine, “Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies are in a Life-or-Death Crisis” Tennis superstar Serena Williams’ harrowing postpartum experience as reported in Vogue: “Serena Williams on Motherhood, Marriage, and Making her Comeback” Segment 2: Into the Archives Erin joined Zaheer and Julie again for segment 2 to analyze “The Memorial Hospital Tablet,” an 1898 monthly newsletter of the Memorial Hospital for Women and Children. The Memorial Hospital was a medical care facility for women patients, staffed and run exclusively by women physicians. One of its founders was the abovementioned Susan McKinney Steward. Here are some pictures of the newsletter: Erin found the newsletter in the Brooklyn Hospitals and Health Services Organizations collection (ARC.141), a manuscript collection in BHS’s Library and Archives. Access the finding aid here. Segment 3: Voices of Brooklyn Zaheer and Julie listen to an excerpt from the oral history of Dr. Josephine English, a pioneering 20th-century Obstetrician/Gynecologist. Listen to her full oral history on our oral history portal here. Segment 4: Endorsements Zaheer endorsed the public program “The Poetry of Kevin Young,” which takes place at BHS’s Pierrepont building on Wednesday, May 16. Kevin Young, Director of the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and poetry editor of The New Yorker, will read from his latest collection of poems and talk with fellow distinguished poet and recently appointed president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Elizabeth Alexander. The event starts at 6:30pm; tickets are $10, $5 for members. Reserve them here. Julie endorsed the public program, “Walt Whitman Turns 199: Harbors, Heights, and a Brooklyn Celebration,” which takes place at BHS’s Pierrepont building on Tuesday, May 29. To celebrate this consummate Brooklynite, Greg Trupiano of The Walt Whitman Project, Charles Jarden and Julian Macrone of the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, and Karen Karbiener of NYU and the Walt Whitman Initiative, along with readers Lonely Christopher and Elizabeth Nunez and opera singer Nicole Mitchell will stage a immersive, multimedia exploration of Brooklyn’s Bard on the occasion of his 199th birthday. The event starts at 6:30pm; tickets are $5 and free for members. Get them here.