{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/nv9959cv6p/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Sally Mehreteab Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eSally Mehreteab is a board member of the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy. In this interview, she discusses how she became interested in the site after moving to Flushing in 2004, and the work she’s done since then to help raise awareness of its history. Mehreteab sees the Burial Ground as one example of many nationwide in which African-American and Native American sacred places have been literally paved over, and thus lost to the historical narrative. She hopes the increased recognition of the Burial Ground’s original purpose will spark further interest in the complex racial history of Flushing.\u003c/p\u003e (summary)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/40453"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2020-11-29 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Sally Mehreteab (Interviewee)","Melissa Lino (Interviewer)","Gabriella Lacza (Interviewer)","Kevin O’Leary (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["This interview was conducted as part of a short documentary about the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground. The documentary was produced during Dr. Johnathan Thayer’s 790 Public History class in the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at Queens College in Fall 2020."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["2004-2020 (temporal)","The Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground, Flushing, Queens, NY (spatial)"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eSally Mehreteab is a board member of the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy. In this interview, she discusses how she became interested in the site after moving to Flushing in 2004, and the work she\u0026rsquo;s done since then to help raise awareness of its history. Mehreteab sees the Burial Ground as one example of many nationwide in which African-American and Native American sacred places have been literally paved over, and thus lost to the historical narrative. She hopes the increased recognition of the Burial Ground\u0026rsquo;s original purpose will spark further interest in the complex racial history of Flushing.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA\u0026nbsp;Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/106/032/small/Sally_Mehreteab-aviary.png?1613579454","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/37083/file/106032","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - Sally_Mehreteab.mp4"]},"duration":1261.46133,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/106/032/small/Sally_Mehreteab-aviary.png?1613579454","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/37083/file/106032/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/37083/file/106032/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/106/032/original/Sally_Mehreteab.mp4?1613579195","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":1261.46133,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/37083/file/106032","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/37083/file/106032/transcript/23272","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Interview Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/37083/file/106032/transcript/23272/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sally Mehreteab  (00:00):\r\nSo, um, my name is Sally Mehreteab and I've lived near the Burial Ground for 16 years and I was very much interested in it. Uh, once it became known that it was a burial ground, when I first moved to Flushing, um, with my husband as newlyweds, it was 2004. And, um, I think it was just a lot that people would play soccer there. And then, um, when my son was two or maybe two, three, um, uh, they started the renovation for the original memorial, with the, um, the signs, um, and the Native American, um, directions, um, and some, you know, explanation of what the site was. Um, and being I'm, uh, interested in American history and I myself wanted to get the place on the national registry, having no idea that there was a Conservancy already. And I attended a, um, a town hall with Mayor de Blasio, and I heard Beverly Riley, a longtime member of the Conservancy, questioning about that money that had been sitting there that Robbie referenced, um, that, uh, you know, we wanted to put it to use, to have headstones there, so everybody would know that this is indeed a burial ground. Um, and so after her, the dialogue with, uh, Beverly Riley's dialogue with the mayor, I approached her and I started getting involved with the Conservancy and, um, attended the meeting with parks to get the, um, the current, um, memorialization that's happening. Um, and the, the, uh, construction here. Um, we built a website, um, so people could more easily find the site. Um, I had searched for it, Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground and I didn't come up with too much information online, but now, um, there's, there's more and I've -- we've looked in the archives to find, um, even more into, um... I wanted to mention one thing about, uh, when the site, when the cemetery originally became, um, a playground, the letter to get money for this, um, change referenced the site as an empty lot. They didn't say it was a burial ground. They didn't say it was a cemetery or former burial ground, but they just referenced it as an empty lot. So I thought that was, uh, important to note.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (02:32):\r\nSo I know in class, you mentioned, are you the one who's like actually in charge of the front, like handling? OK. So, and Robbie, so that you were like, basically almost like, I guess the digital hand that works on everything. So how would I guess kind of [unclear]. So how do you think you're sort of like, uh, like the, the online site -- has that made like a marked difference in how, like, in the public knowledge of the site, or at least like accessibility, accessibility for people to get knowledge of it, or has that...\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (03:05):\r\nYeah, I would think so, because now if you search Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground, it's one of the first hits that come up. So it's more readily accessible. We want to get all -- right now we have the four names of the original headstones that were there when, um, it was paved over. Um, and we're gonna put the, the, um, the other names which could help with, uh, genealogy searches. So I, yeah, I think, uh, it would definitely help somebody just learn about the background of the site.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (03:37):\r\nYou said you got, you became interested because you live locally. Would you say like the general sentiment of people who are like around the site, would you say that they're aware the site is there, or that they're like interested in sort of bringing up public knowledge, or like, are they just kind of like ambivalent about whatever happens?\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (03:54):\r\nUm, well, a lot of people, I don't think too many people have a strong opinion on it unless they live on the street. And then the people who live there knew, um, the site when there was a playground or maybe they grew up with the playground there. Um, those people are adamant that, um, it should be not -- should not be recognized, um, or at least, uh, utilized as a cemetery, that it should only be a playground. Um, they're very anti, uh, burial ground recognition, seemingly. Um, and then other people, I, I think that because there aren't any headstones there and the memorial that's there is, you know, flat on the ground, people walk through there all the time, they use it as a shortcut. So I don't think most people know, even though there's a, a sign, um, that it's, it's a, it's a, it's a burial ground where people are buried underneath, you know, 500 to a thousand. Um, and I think without that, um, there was an archeological survey done in the '90s that Mandingo had, um, encouraged to be done. And without that, I think it would be a playground today. Um, because you know, a lot of people thought, well, maybe it used to be a burial ground, but that, you know, um, solidified the fact that -- verified the fact that, you know, there are, you know, up to a thousand people buried there.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (05:22):\r\nSo when you were at, you said you attended the board meeting with like de Blasio and the, I guess, local citizens. And that stuff was like first kind of like gaining ground, I think in like the early 2000s. What was kind of like the turnout there for like the local people? Like, did you see people that you knew there, like, like, you know, like neighbors or anything and like...\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (05:41):\r\nFor the original -- well, I was only aware of this, this was for the second go-round. Um, this was a town hall with the mayor, so I wasn't involved in the original, um, recognition of the burial ground. So then I think it was not local residents. I think it was people who were interested in preserving the site, um, historically, and of course, uh, factually as a cemetery.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (06:07):\r\nSo then in 2006 you were saying that was like around the time that they were, that was -- was that the period when they were doing what you said, the second go-round?\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (06:17):\r\nUm, no, the second, well, when I went to this town meeting with Beverly Riley, um, it was, uh, 2017. So I had been interested in the site, but I didn't know the Conservancy existed. Otherwise I would have joined them long before, 'cause I thought it was really important that the site be acknowledged, because I see it as a bigger, uh, instance of American history where an African-American and Native American site, um, has been, you know, literally paved over in this instance and, you know, people were fighting against the recognition. Um, and this has happened with burial grounds, um, across the country. There were, uh, places where, um, they wanted to build a highway and, you know, people were throwing, um, you know, they, they removed headstones. So it was the same. And one thing about the four headstones, um, is that the, there was, um, we're referring to a report that was done, I think in 1926 or 1928, about local burial grounds and the conditions they were in. And they noted there were four marble headstones in good condition. We have a few photos, I think from the early 1900s or in the eight -- the late 19th century, where people were complaining about sunken graves. And, um, there were, um, there was a photo and there, you can see that there are partial headstones too. So I have a feeling that, um, there were a lot more headstones there, but there were only four that were in good condition that was noted on the, uh, on the, uh, that, um, that cemetery, uh, survey they had done in the '20s.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (07:52):\r\nSo just to clarify, the year that you actually got involved in the --\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (07:55):\r\nTwo 17, 2017. Yeah. So I'm very recent compared to everybody else. Yeah.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (08:00):\r\nOK. So then basically at that time, like you were saying, was there not as much opposition as there was before? Like, was it, had it been like settled in now?\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (08:08):\r\nWell, yeah, because they had paved over the, um, I mean, sorry. They had, um, they had done a memorial with, you know, signs saying -- the name change had occurred. And, um, there was, um, a circle, um, area where, um, you know, there was a Native American saying and with the four directions in, um, I forget which language -- Algonquin? Yeah. Um, and then there were signs up saying, you know, this is the information of, you know, on the site, but, um, we were still, you know, wanting, um, some money to be used to have replacement of the headstones. And that's where the major fight happened. And in our quest to have some type of headstone, um, is how this new construction has come about with a larger memorial, um, and the additional names, um, which Rudy found, um, added to the, um, to a memorial wall.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (09:11):\r\nSo you know in 2018 it was added to the New York, uh, list of historic sites...\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (09:16):\r\nYeah, national and state. Yeah.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (09:18):\r\nSo you mentioned that you were taking grad classes and you had a general interest in American history, but like, so what's your background? Like how did you start becoming interested in like historic sites, or just your general interest in American history?\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (09:30):\r\nWell, general interest in American history -- that's a good question. I don't know. I'm just kind of naturally drawn to what, how we present history and what we leave out and what we leave in and how it's changed and our national narrative and who we prop up as, um, heroes of American history. And, you know, the Founding Fathers are up there. Um, immigrants. You know, there's, there's the immigrant story where, you know, we came here with, you know, $5 in my pocket or nothing, and then we built our way up. Um, and one thing I've felt, um, is that African-Americans have not -- have been missing from that narrative or at least in the way that, um, you know, that I think is, um, valid, um, that, you know, there was so much work and skill and labor that was put into what is American now that people don't recognize.\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (10:23):\r\nAnd even with Flushing, um, you know, there's, there's a nice Asian, Asian-American community here, Korean, um, Chinese, Indian. Um, and then before that it was, uh, people knew it as, um, Italian, Irish, Jewish, but then there's an African-American community that people don't talk about and people don't refer to in Flushing. Um, so I think that's missing, and this burial ground, it plays a big part in that because had there been, um, knowledge of an African-American and Native American burial ground here, people would have known, \"Oh, there, there was a, if there's a burial ground here, there must have been communities here.\" Um, so I think it's, it's all tied in, um, and that's, um, uh, being a resident, just a few blocks away, is what got me interested, um, in this particular site. Um, but in general, um, I'm interested in, you know, how we look at who has helped build America and, you know, what's missing from that narrative.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (11:26):\r\nWe noticed some photos, I think, was it with John Liu? At like the first naming ceremony that obviously there was a [inaudible] was there. We noticed there were some, I think it was the Matinecock that performed like a ceremony, a ceremony in honor of the site. But like you were saying how the current, uh, there's a different community now in Flushing, than what it has been known. And even when I was in high school, I would have teachers who live here and be like, Oh, Flushing wasn't like this before, before it was like, mostly, you know, like, uh, mostly white or European-descent people living here. But, um, how do you think the site -- 'cause I know you, both of you mentioned in class that it was actually newer immigrants were actually kind of more receptive to having the site memorialized -- but how do you think, how would you contextualize, especially as you were saying, how you feel that, um, African-Americans especially have kind of been neglected in the story of how America has been like made and like solidified, how do you, how do you think it would be contextualized now in terms of how Flushing is? Yeah. In terms of how the, uh, the city is now?\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (12:33):\r\nOh, well I think that, um, for people who are new to the area, I think, you know, if they know this area, this, you know, this cemetery as a cemetery, then they're going to respect it as a cemetery. The people who disrespected it were people who knew it as a playground. Um, and there are still people living on the street, um, who feel that way. I had, um, an interaction with a woman who, uh, was, uh, adamant that it should be a playground. Um, and I tried to...a child was playing, um, on a tree that had fallen. And, um, there had been a skull that had been, um, shown when, um, the tree had fallen and, you know, had been unearthed. And I wanted to mention that to her because even though, you know, it had fallen, you know, months and months before, I just wanted to mention that he was playing in the area, right where there had been a skull.\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (13:37):\r\nAnd I think she just heard the word \"bones\" and she started saying, you know, it was just this interaction where she was saying that if her, it was her grandmother that would have been born there, she would be very happy that her grandson was playing there at the time. But the difference with that is that, you know, it's not a known site. People don't know that their grandparents or great-grandparents are buried there. It's, it's, it's, it's totally different than having a known place where people can find their genealogy. People can pay respect, for those people who like to go to a graveyard. Um, it's just a totally different situation than having a place of historic record saying these people were here, they lived and they're buried here now because they're still there. That these graves weren't removed when they built a playground in the 1930s; those people, um, remain there. And so I think it's really important that the area knows that. And I think, um, to your question of, um, people who come in, um, now and live there -- I think first of all, knowing that this place is a burial ground to begin with is very helpful. And then secondly, um, Peter Koo gave a really wonderful speech, um, during the, um, um, it was the unveiling of the, um, uh, of this new, um, uh, site or the new memorialization. And, um, I, one part I can quote is that, you know, these bones can rest now. Um, you know, having been recognized as, um, as a proper burial ground.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (15:16):\r\nHas there ever been any work -- like, I know Maureen [Regan] has come in with her group to do like cleaning up of the site, but has there ever been any work with um, I think, I guess like local, maybe like Asian-American groups to kind of like, get like the signage, like maybe translated in like other languages? 'Cause one thing that we were considering doing, I think we mentioned like earlier in class, we wanted to do these like random on-street interviews and see how aware people were of the site, but then we realized we were like, oh, but we would need to translate these questions.\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (15:45):\r\nSome. A lot of people speak more than one language.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (15:48):\r\nYeah. We were just like curious, like, has there ever been any outreach done with like groups that maybe where English isn't the primary language, to kind of like broaden the scope of the, like the public who knows about it or anything like that?\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (16:05):\r\nUm, well, I think some of the signs, um -- but it's just the rules -- are in more than one language, but that is a Parks, uh, New York City Parks Department, um -- that's standard for every park. I think you'll see, uh, signs, um, on the, uh, on the, on the fences here, I think that's standard. So we haven't done any specific outreach of trying to get the, uh, um, to different groups. Um, yeah.\r\n\r\nMelissa Lino (16:33):\r\nI just asked because earlier this year, obviously with the Black Lives Matter protest, there was a Korean activist group at Main Street who were like protesting, saying like, you know, that, you know, other non-Black, non-white minority groups can be like complicit in the erasing of the struggles of African-Americans. So I was just wondering how, I guess, like how that would be contextualized in terms of like the modern city and how that might relate to, again, like the sort of, kind of like, not like, I guess by like the Parks Department and maybe like the older residents seeing like, you know, not wanting to acknowledge it and like memorialize the site, but, yeah that was just my question. But um, I think that's it.\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (17:23):\r\nCan I add one thing? Um, so I was mentioning how I think this cemetery is a part, a larger, uh, part of American history. And, um, especially now in 2020, um, with the pandemic going on, this site is where, um, people from a cholera, um, and smallpox outbreaks were buried. Um, so that's how, I think, it became such a big number up to one, uh, 1,000 [burials]. And with this pandemic going on, people were up in arms when New York City was going to, um, use parks, New York City parks as, um, a, as a place for burial, uh, as temporary burials, even though they were temporary, people were up in arms. So I ask the question, if we're up in arms because a park is potentially being used as a burial ground, why would we allow a site that has been a cemetery to be a park? It just doesn't make sense. So I think if people were to, you know, look at the bigger picture, even if you knew this as a playground growing up, that you were, you were on a cemetery and it was misuse of, of land. Um, so I think it's, you know, even with this pandemic, you know, who knew, um, uh, you know, it's -- this is like a microcosm of the larger, of so many aspects of American history.\r\n\r\nKevin O'Leary (18:55):\r\nIn terms of it being a microcosm, I don't know if you have anything to add about the fact that this isn't the only site. And we were toying with the idea of like, thinking of this site as a sort of a white paper in itself, for like other similar sites. Uh, do you have, like, I don't know if I'm asking for suggestions, or if you --\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (19:16):\r\nNo, there are other sites, and I wanted to reach out to these other places that have done the same thing. There was, um, I think it was, was it South Carolina? There was a man who in, I don't know if it was the 1940s, um, an African-American man who, because he -- maybe it was the '30s during the WPA -- he worked on a project where the, the person in charge said, remove these headstones, throw them over there. It was an African-American burial ground. And they were, um, making, um, I think a highway or a road. And they said, don't worry, we'll replace them when we're done. And he, this man in like the '30s or '40s, knew they would never be replaced. And he fought for, um, the same thing: recognition of these, um, graves to be, to be, um, noted, you know, to have the grave, uh, noted.\r\n\r\nSally Mehreteab  (20:12):\r\nAnd, um, he died and he was asking, um, a neighbor or somebody, could you make sure that this happens? And so then this man then took on -- he said he had no idea how hard it would be bureaucratically and culturally to, um, to do this, but they have, um, they have some type of memorial there, I think, um, it's, it's a grave. So, but it's, it's happening in other places where people are trying to reclaim, um, the site as it's, you know, as, uh, as it would naturally be: a cemetery. So this is part of a bigger wave as well. Looking back, saying these sites were mistreated, misused, um, and people, um, collectively, um, have been trying to, um, reclaim these sites.\r\n\r\n","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/37083/file/106032#t=0.0,1261.46133"}]}]}]}