On Juneteenth, a commemoration tells the story of a community that was displaced when the park was created in the 1850s. Source: New York Times
Posts published in “Slavery (Historical)”
The Art Design for Abolitionist Place in Brooklyn Moves Forward
By Gotham Rex on January 28, 2022
Despite an ongoing legal challenge, New York City is going ahead with a plan for artwork at a new park that will feature messages of social justice, not the statuary some had sought. Source: New York Times
City Schools Are ‘Staying Open,’ Mayor Eric Adams Says
By Gotham Rex on January 4, 2022
But the spike in Omicron cases has created trepidation for many parents. Source: New York Times
Enslaved to a U.S. Founding Father, She Sought Freedom in France
By Gotham Rex on November 23, 2021
Brought from America to Paris by John Jay, an enslaved woman named Abigail died there trying to win her liberty as the statesman negotiated the freedom of the new nation. Source: New York Times
Review: Martha Washington, Hilariously Haunted by Her Slaves
By Gotham Rex on June 28, 2021
James Ijames’s amusingly cynical and eclectic new play, “The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington,” is at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival through July 30. Source: New York Times
The Stealth Sticker Campaign to Expose New York’s History of Slavery
By Gotham Rex on May 7, 2021
Peter Stuyvesant was an enslaver. So were other prominent New Yorkers whose names are all over the city. Source: New York Times
Spotlighting a History of Slavery in N.Y.C.
By Gotham Rex on May 7, 2021
A campaign draws attention to streets, subway stations and neighborhoods named after some of the city’s most famous families. Source: New York Times
Sculpted in Metal, Stories of History and Identity Take Shape
By Gotham Rex on May 4, 2021
Works by Melvin Edwards are celebrated in a survey at City Hall Park in Manhattan. Source: New York Times
The Fun Police: Law Enforcement Comes to Carnival
By Gotham Rex on February 18, 2021
Events like J’Ouvert in New York and Carnival in London have seen violent incidents. But the way they are policed says a lot about what happens when Black people gather. Source: New York Times
Preserving New York’s Ties to the Underground Railroad
By Gotham Rex on January 8, 2021
Safe houses and other structures used in the fight against slavery were often clandestine, and survivors today can be difficult to document. But there’s a 19th-century house in Washington Heights … Source: New York Times
Uncovering a Cemetery's Lost Black History, Stone by Stone
By Gotham Rex on December 22, 2020
Sourland Mountain, a once-isolated region in New Jersey, has long inspired tall tales. Two local women turned “history detectives” have been trying to recover its true story. Source: New York Times
After 90 Years, Columbia Takes Slave Owner’s Name Off a Dorm
By Gotham Rex on August 29, 2020
Samuel Bard was George Washington’s doctor and delivered Alexander Hamilton’s first son. He was also a “pretty significant slave owner.” Source: New York Times
Who Tore Down This Frederick Douglass Statue?
By Gotham Rex on July 7, 2020
President Trump and others have speculated about why vandals destroyed a Rochester, N.Y., statue of the prominent Black abolitionist even as protests against systemic racism continue. Source: New York Times
‘Sad and Joyful’: N.Y.C. Marks Juneteenth After a Month of Protest
By Gotham Rex on June 19, 2020
Recent protests have stirred a reckoning on racism and on Friday, thousands, many for the first time, will participate in events recognizing the holiday. Source: New York Times
How to Celebrate Juneteenth in N.Y.C.
By Gotham Rex on June 19, 2020
The virtual events include a poetry performance, meditations, discussions, music and more. Source: New York Times