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Community Corner

The Stuyvesant Heights Oral Project

Bed-Stuy Residents Preserve Their History

The Stuyvesant’s Heights Oral History Project is dedicated to detailing Bedford-Stuyvesant's rich personal history.

Founded by members of the Macon/MacDonough/Stuyvesant/Lewis Block Association (MMSL), the project brings together Bed-Stuy’s past (seniors in the community), present (long-time/current residents), and future (youth/newcomers), in a multimedia, multi-generational initiative designed to preserve the history of the second-largest African-American community in New York City.

“One of the things that’s so unique to this neighborhood is that people have lived here for so many generations,” said Mary-Ann Monforton, vice president of the MMSL Block Association and co-founder of the Oral History Project.

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Monforton's husband, Morris Shulman, an artist and longtime resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant, had long fell in love with the neighborhood's historic blocks. And soon enough, Monforton did too after they bought a house here together.

Charmed by the succession of old families that had passed down brownstones from generation to generation, Monforton knew that she to do something to make sure that the wisdom and history of Bed-Stuy were recorded.

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“When I moved here, I noticed that my neighbors besides me, across the street and next to them were all old-timers," said Monforton, an associate publisher for the Bomb, a literary and art magazine. "Some of them had come here with their parents; they had been here a really long time, and now their kids have taken over.

"I thought that was very unique. And plus, it’s an incredibly beautiful neighborhood with wonderful brownstones and a long history of family ownership. It just seemed like a logical place to start recording history.”

Last year, Monforton along with MMSL Block Association members Bee Atwell and Liz Stewart, were inspired to record for posterity a complete picture of the realities of living in Bedford Stuyvesant through the words of people who have been residents for decades.

So far, five longtime Bed-Stuy residents have been featured for the oral history archive. The 40-minute sessions (which can be accessed on the MMSL’s website, include an interview with Edith Lovell, a lifelong resident of Bed-Stuy who recently celebrated her 107th birthday.

On August 10, MMSL will hold a celebration for the Stuyvesant Heights Oral History Project at the Akwaaba Mansion on MacDonough Street. The event/fundraiser will feature appearances by past Bed-Stuy storytellers and an announcement of future interviewees.

For Monforton, the testimonials from longtime Bed-Stuy residents are not only important for preservation-sake, but also serve as critical research material to be archived. It also encourages community collaboration, she pointed out.

“A personal story is layer of history that is critical to the time of what it was really like,” said Monforton. “Unlike [the negative images portrayed in newspapers], you get a sense of community and neighborhood-- stories of real people having real lives.

"People in Bed-Stuy appreciate their neighbors and love to hear their personal reflections recorded.”

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