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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Reverend Lawrence E. Lynch Memorial Triangle – also known colloquially as Lynch Triangle – is a 0.138-acre (0.056-hectare) park located at the intersection of Rockaway Boulevard, Atlantic Avenue, and 81st Street in Ozone Park, Queens, New York City.
The neighborhood's streets were laid out in a grid of streets and avenues at the turn of the 20th century while Rockaway Boulevard cuts diagonally through the grid on its route between Cypress Hills and Woodmere. Triangular intersections that were too small to be developed were designated as public plazas, including this one. In 1949, the city designated this triangle in memory of Lynch, a Woodhaven resident who served as a chaplain in the Pacific Theater during World War Two.
Lawrence Lynch was born in Brooklyn in 1917, one of twelve children of devout Catholic parents who emigrated from Ireland. He served as an altar boy at the St. Sylvester church and was ordained as a priest in 1932 through the Redemptorist Order.[1]
During World War Two he was assigned as chaplain the legendary Fighting 69th Infantry of the National Guard, where he earned the nickname Father Cyclone for his tireless efforts to comfort the injured and ill of all faiths. He was killed at age 38 on April 25, 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, while administering Last Rites to a dying soldier. Lynch was buried at the Redemptorist Cemetery, Mount Saint Alphonsus, in Esopus, New York. Although the triangle was named for Lynch in 1949,[2] the sign carrying the name disappeared and the honor was forgotten for more than a half century.[3]
In 2018, Ed Wendell, President of Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society, approached Councilman Eric Ulrich to have the triangle rededicated for Lynch. On March 10, 2019, the triangle was officially named for Lynch with a ceremony that commemorated his actions during the war.[4]
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Reverend Lawrence E. Lynch Memorial Triangle – also known colloquially as Lynch Triangle – is a 0.138-acre (0.056-hectare) park located at the intersection of Rockaway Boulevard, Atlantic Avenue, and 81st Street in Ozone Park, Queens, New York City.
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the sixth-largest park in the city, containing 843 acres (341 ha), and the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 million visitors annually as of 2016. Central Park is owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation but has been managed by the Central Park Conservancy since 1998 under a contract with the government of New York City in a public–private partnership. The conservancy, a non-profit organization, sets Central Park's annual operating budget and is responsible for care of the park. The creation of a large park in Manhattan was first proposed in the 1840s, and a 778-acre (315 ha) park approved in 1853. In 1858, landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition for the park with their "Greensward Plan". Construction began in 1857; existing structures and settlements, including a majority-Black settlement named Seneca Village, were seized through eminent domain and razed. The park's first areas were opened to the public in late 1858. Additional land at the northern end of Central Park was purchased in 1859, and the park was completed in 1876. After a period of decline in the early 20th century, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses started a program to clean up Central Park in the 1930s. The Central Park Conservancy, created in 1980 to combat further deterioration in the late 20th century, refurbished many parts of the park starting in the 1980s. The park's main attractions include the Ramble and Lake, Hallett Nature Sanctuary, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, Sheep Meadow, Wollman Rink, Central Park Carousel, Central Park Zoo, Central Park Mall, Bethesda Terrace, and the Delacorte Theater. The biologically diverse ecosystem has several hundred species of flora and fauna. Recreational activities include carriage-horse and bicycle tours, bicycling, sports facilities, and concerts and events such as Shakespeare in the Park. Central Park is traversed by a system of roads and walkways and is served by public transportation. Central Park is one of the most filmed locations in the world, and its design has inspired that of other parks. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark district in 1963 and a New York City scenic landmark in 1974.
Collect Pond, or Fresh Water Pond, was a body of fresh water in what is now Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, New York City. For the first two centuries of European settlement in Manhattan, it was the main New York City water supply system for the growing city. A jail was later built on the former pond. In the 20th century, the site became Collect Pond Park (40.7163°N 74.0019°W / 40.7163; -74.0019), which includes a reflecting pool to acknowledge the historic importance of this body of water.
Prospect Park is a 526-acre (2.13 km2) urban park in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The park is situated between the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush, and Windsor Terrace, and is adjacent to the Brooklyn Museum, Grand Army Plaza, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Prospect Park is the second-largest public park in Brooklyn, behind Marine Park. Designated as a New York City scenic landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Prospect Park is operated by the Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks. First proposed in legislation passed in 1859, Prospect Park was laid out by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux for the then-independent city of Brooklyn. Prospect Park opened in 1867, though it was not substantially complete until 1873. The park subsequently underwent numerous modifications and expansions to its facilities. Several additions to the park were completed in the 1890s, in the City Beautiful architectural movement. In the early 20th century, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) commissioner Robert Moses started a program to clean up Prospect Park. A period of decline in the late 20th century spurred the creation of the Prospect Park Alliance, which refurbished many parts of the park from the 1980s through the 2020s. Main attractions of the park include the 90-acre (36 ha) Long Meadow; the Picnic House; Litchfield Villa; Prospect Park Zoo; the Boathouse; Concert Grove; Brooklyn's only lake, covering 60 acres (24 ha); and the Prospect Park Bandshell that hosts outdoor concerts in the summertime. The park also has sports facilities, including the Prospect Park Tennis Center, basketball courts, baseball fields, soccer fields, and the New York Pétanque Club in the Parade Ground. There is also a private Society of Friends (Quaker) cemetery on Quaker Hill near the ball fields. In addition, Prospect Park is part of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway, a network of green spaces that stretch across western Long Island.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
