From the Times Ledger:Bayside community activist Mandingo Tshaka said he was pleased after the city renamed Flushing’s Martins Field to honor the remains of African Americans and native Americans who had been buried there more than 100 years ago, but he has also called for the site to be locked up at night to prevent vandalism.
The city Parks Department changed Martins Field’s name to the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground in mid-December. The site, between 164th and 165th streets along 46th Avenue in Flushing, had originally been a cemetery for 19th-century blacks and American Indians who had died of small pox and cholera.
Several new signs at the burial ground have been put up to notify community residents of the site’s historical significance.
The city had paved over the burial ground more than 70 years ago to build a playground and pool at the site, which had violated city law. In 2006, the city performed $2.7 million in renovations at the burial ground, such as adding a steel picket fence, new sidewalks and a playground with a commemorative plaque.
The burial site, which dates back to the 1840s, was originally known as the Colored Cemetery of Flushing. More than 1,000 people were buried at the site between 1840 and 1898.
12 comments:
Why the on-purpose misspellings? I thought we'd be trying to combat illiteracy instead of promoting it.
why aren't there any tombstones with names and dates at this cemetery ? did anyone ever locate a bone
at this site? was a DNA test ever performed ?
i have read that 500 were buried. in other stories the
number is 1000. what is the truth?
is it true that Gary Ackerman,j.liu and the president are associated with this project ?
did a former C.P.B. member lobby to have his name on this burial ground ? why was the name changed ?
Mandingo?!?!? wtf?
Very appropriate. By the way, bones are still unearthed in Washington Square Park which left cemetery duty one hundred years ago.
They have also been unearthed in the African burial ground in lower Manhattan which is older still and had cars parked on the bodies for decades.
Anonymous said...
Mandingo?!?!? wtf?
Sunday, January 03, 2010
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Whether or not he was born with it or chose it, that's his name. WTF is your problem?
If more preservationists were like Mandingo, the borough would be in pretty damn good shape. He's a battleaxe who doesn't exchange silence for ice cream money. And he is effective.
see wikipedia:the hanging tree,washington square park.legend is that traitors of the revolutionary war were hung here.
some "legends" do not have any public records, what is the truth?
the "potters field " was 200 yards south of the elm tree(in 1989 supposedly 310 years old).
it is located at the n/w/corner of W.S.Park
many victims of the cholera epidemic were supposedly buried here, far from the residential sections?
did we not find out recently that even the N.Y Times will lie to the readers ?
lies become the new facts ,if reported enough times.
Q: "Why aren't there any tombstones with names and dates at this cemetery?"
A: "The city had paved over the burial ground more than 70 years ago to build a playground and pool at the site, which had violated city law."
Q: "Is it true that Gary Ackerman,j.liu and the president are associated with this project"
A: It is in their districts. As for the President, I don't think he cares that much about Flushing.
Q: "Did a former C.P.B. member lobby to have his name on this burial ground ? why was the name changed ?"
A: Unless his name is Olde Towne of Flushing, no.
My Q to you: Why are you making this out to be some sort of grand conspiracy? They renamed a park, not amended the Constitution.
A: . . .
Mandingo Tshaka is living proof that we can save our local history, and we should not give up.
the name everett martin without the middle initial "P",as stated by times ledger reporter N. Duke,will not give a full history of the former Martins field.
if you add the middle initial on google,you will read that in 1840 the flushing residents paid $400.00 for the site. the original name was "the paupers burial ground".with the native indians and negroes,poor whites and wealthier individuals were buried there ,also. because the residents of flushing were afraid that these cholera and smallpox victims would contaminate the other burial sites.
there were four major epidemics in 1840,1844,1857 and 1867. see:press release n.y.times
also see:n.y.times 12/15/1913,fifty years of freedom,by Everett p.Martin,(recent expo. showed. great progress of colored people).
does he sound like a "racist",as the times ledger article states ?
j.liu states that he brought the people around the site together "along racial lines". good old john.
the south side of Washington Sq.Park also had a "potters field" for victims of these epidemics.see:wikipedia
I have had the honor of meeting Mr. Tshaka and he is a beautiful honest man:) As for "Martins Field" it is Sacred Land it will always be Sacred land.
It is 2013 and little is done
to remember those who were suppose to be buried In Martians field it was better maintain before it was declared a burial ground. I live on the block and it is more of a problem know then it was seven years ago. Where is John lue and that other guy??.
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