BKLYN Community Audio

This episode was originally published on May 24, 2016.

In the past several years, Brooklyn's waterfront has transformed into a high-value, celebrated space lined with bucolic parks and new developments. In Episode 02 of Brooklyn Historical Society's podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia travel back in time to a different waterfront: a 19th- and 20th-century site of production, storage, and back-breaking labor for millions of Brooklynites who lived and toiled along its industrial shores. Through stories of people, goods, and work, Julie and Zaheer discuss how Brooklyn's waterfront was a crucible of American capitalism and labor. Julie and Zaheer vividly describe the rise of the commercial waterfront in the early 19th century, back when Brooklyn was dubbed "the Walled City" because of its miles of fortress-like brick warehouses. They sit down with BHS Assistant Public Historian Katy Lasdow to learn how Katy pieced together the story of one dockworker who lived and died at Brooklyn's Empire Stores warehouse. Zaheer and Brett Dion, BHS Oral History Archivist, discuss a clip from BHS's Puerto Rican Oral History Project. Finally, listeners hear from BHS Director of Education Emily Potter-Ndiaye and Teen Council Member Sam Pepere on the amazing work that teens have been doing at BHS this Spring.

This episode was originally published on April 24, 2016.

Last Friday, April 22, was Earth Day, recognized since 1970 as a day to agitate for environmental consciousness and protection. In honor of that, Episode 01 of Brooklyn Historical Society's podcast Flatbush + Main tackles one of the most pressing topics shaping Brooklyn's past and future: waste. With the help of guests historian Elizabeth Pillsbury and artist Barry Rosenthal, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia dive into the trash, sewage, and general yuckiness that is produced by a densely-populated urban center like Brooklyn. Julie and Zaheer learn how Brooklyn's sewer system prompted the demise of the oyster industry in Brooklyn, and discuss trash as a symbol of inequity for 1960s Civil Rights activists. Zaheer shares clips from BHS's Pfizer Brooklyn Oral History collection. Finally, Julie checks in with photographer Barry Rosenthal to learn more about his process creating art out of found trash.

This episode originally published on April 24, 2016.

Brooklyn Historical Society is excited to launch Flatbush + Main, a monthly podcast dedicated to Brooklyn's many-layered history and its dynamic present. Each week you'll hear co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia dig into some of the most compelling stories that we come across everyday in our work as historians at BHS.

To end the tour, we look at some of the ways that residents have advocated for changes in their neighborhood.

This segment is about Commodore Barry Park, past and present. Ms. Denise Evans shares memories about the establishment of the public pool located in the park. She also talks about Old Timers Day, a day to honor elders in the neighborhood, held in the park annually.

In this segment, public historian Prithi Kanakamedala, professor of history at Bronx Community College and the CUNY Graduate Center, talks about the roots of mutual aid organizing in Fort Greene, and in Brooklyn more broadly, in the 19th Century.

This segment is about Hall Street Shelter Volunteers, a mutual aid group established to distribute food, clothing, supplies to asylum seekers temporarily housed in the shelter on Hall Street, which has closed since the time of the interview. Volunteers Delmy Lendof, Tamar Ettun, and Lizzie Presser talk about building community through this work.

In this segment, listeners hear about One Love Community Fridge, an organization established during the peak of the pandemic to feed community members. Asmeret Berhe-Lumax and Kristina Garrity speak about the community fridge formerly located on Myrtle Avenue.

This segment includes interviews with Janis Russell and Edward Moran, who each independently moved to Fort Greene in the 1980s, and are members of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (LAPC) in the neighborhood.

In this segment, listeners hear from Ms. Denise Evans, who speaks about the Ingersoll Houses Community Center where she teaches art classes. Ms. Denise reflects on the important role the community center plays in the neighborhood and the positive impact of art therapy.