The nerdy part of me that loves NYC history was staggered to find out that the behemoth that is the Astor Place Starbucks used to be home to the Astor Place Opera House and was the site of a civilian massacre in 1849.
There is never a moment in New York when at least one established location isn’t being transformed into something new. We can see live shows in a converted community pool, go dancing in old churches, and try on $900 boots in what used to be an old meat locker. Terms like gentrification and development have various meanings to New Yorkers these days and nowhere is it more of a hot-button issue than in Brooklyn where the proposed Atlantic Yards projects have sparked protests, rallies and many, angry T-shirt slogans.
Of course some development as a city grows and changes is inevitable. But how do we decide what we preserve, and what is worth preserving?
The Urban Memory Project attempts to pose this question to the city’s young people, asking them to document the changes they see in their own neighborhoods, and helping them to develop informed opinions about the changes taking place around them. Co-Founder and Director Rebecca Krucoff spoke with me about her work.
Where/When did the idea for the Urban Memory Project originate?
Part of what inspired me to do this project was when I came across a collection of photographs in the the Brooklyn Historical Society where I used to work.
An amateur photographer named Eugene Armbruster, a German immigrant who worked in a cigar box factory and lived in Bushwick, took hundreds of photographs of Brooklyn the 19-teens and twenties. It seemed, from examining his collection and reading his monographs, that he was interested in recording his Brooklyn for posterity. He was living through a time of great development in NYC — farms were disappearing, subways were ferreting people further out into the wilds of Brooklyn and Queens, and he felt it important to preserve what he saw for future generations through recording it. Ain Gordon (UMP Co-Founder) and I just fell in love with him. A lot of his images are of historic homes, but many are also of just street corners, old wooden shacks, etc.
I couldn’t believe how many photographs he took, and when I was teaching in Bushwick (at the NY Harbor School) I thought “Wow, what a great opportunity to do a project about how the community is changing today.” Because we all know, Bushwick is right next to Williamsburg, and many young folks are heading out that way because of affordable housing. My students couldn’t believe that their neighborhood was going to become gentrified (that part of Bushwick still isn’t), but we talked about it a lot and began reflecting on what they would like to preserve. that NY Harbor School project morphed into what we are currently do with UMP. We use Armbruster’s images as a model in each class we teach.
Ain and I began thinking about this project back in 2005, though the name “Urban Memory Project” was added in 2006 when we had our first showing of student work and had to come up with a title for what we do. The idea came from several strands – educational and historical – and from my previous work as an educator in both museums and schools.
We are both intrigued by questions of memory, preservation, and the struggle over “What is really the Greater Good?” These are issues we raise and explore with the kids.
How does the project work?
We have 2 essential questions we generally work with: “What is really the Greater Good, and what should be sacrificed in that name?”
and “What makes something worth preserving and how should it be preserved?”
We study these questions through various lenses throughout the course of study – we visit particular neighborhoods where these issues are prevalent, such as Coney Island, and we also visit the students’ school neighborhood. In addition, students are required to “visit” their own neighborhood and examine it. They are asked to look for and think about what is changing, as well as which places hold meaning for them in their lives. Students document those places in writing, through photography and with taking interviews. They do a lot of reading and writing – both formal and personal. We hold seminar discussions and debates. At the end of the project students present all of their work in a formal exhibition at the school, and we have a big celebration event.
What was the first project you did?
The first project we did was with the NY Harbor School while I was still a teacher there. We co-taught with a teacher named Melissa Jones who was also on staff. That was before we were actually on our own, but it was the beginning of our working this way. After that, in the Fall of 2005, we worked at Midwood HS, The Secondary School for Research in Park Slope, and at Williamsburg Preparatory. Those projects culminated in exhibitions at each school. In Spring 2006, we added The Brooklyn School for Global Studies, and were fortunate to have much of that school year’s work displayed both informally at the Brooklyn Historical Society, and formally at the Municipal Arts Society.
What are the kids reactions to the project? Are they excited about it?
I think there is something in each project that grabs all kids at one point or another. In general there has been a positive response. There are so many different kinds of people who are our students that everybody responds in his/her own way, but what almost every kids loves is the photography piece.
Walking around a neighborhood with a purpose, and a camera, really focuses the kids and is a great learning tool. The kids also love going to their own neighborhood and applying what they have learned to an examination of their own community. We have had great success with our seminar discussions – where we require that students read and analyze very dense texts in order to write an essay and hold an informed discussion. The students are having serious academic debate probably for the first time in their lives and they can see that they are learning. That’s exciting for everyone. Finally, the exhibition always motivates kids – even ones you think haven’t had much interest up until that point! We assign committees and give the kids checklists of things to do and they just get to it.
What kinds of reactions do the kids have to subjects like gentrification/development? Has this led to discussions or is UMP mostly about observing without analyzing?
We do a lot of analysis, and try to delve deeply into our subjects. We provide the kids with a lot of reading, watch documentaries, invite people to speak on the topics, and give the students opportunity to share their opinions (informed ones). We want the kids to think, and are trying to cultivate civically-minded people.
The students have very strong opinions (they’re teenagers after all). Many of them are anti-gentrification and development, but there are always gray areas, and it often depends on a particular issues. Does gentrification harm or help a neighborhood overall? Will the Atlantic Yards Project benefit more people than it harms? We also want them to reflect upon and consider what makes their city valuable to them, personally, as well as for the people of the city as a whole. This is why we emphasize the “personal city,” and ask students to photograph and write about places that hold meaning for them.
For more information visit http://www.theurbanmemoryproject.org/
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