Author Talk! David Felsen, author of NYC Monuments of Black Americans @ RDC

Join Emmy Award Winning History Professor David Felsen for a walk through time, with an evening discussing his new book, "New York City Monuments of Black Americans: A History and Guide"

Hosted by the Historic Ridgewood Democratic Club in Ridgewood, Queens

One overlooked aspect of this collection is its monuments of Black Americans, each with its own remarkable story. The first appearance of a Black person in a city monument came in the Civil War Soldiers’ Monument in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery in 1876, but this was a nameless symbolic figure. It wasn’t until 1945 that Booker T. Washington became the first identifiable Black American honored in a New York City monument. In 2007, the city dedicated its first monument to a Black woman, Harriet Tubman. Behind every first is a story of triumph over adversity and exclusion. Local author David Felsen reveals the stories behind thirty inspiring monuments that have endured, as well as how they found their place in the city’s history.

"Monuments tell us about the values of a city at a point in time, who we choose to honor and what ideas we choose to honor," Felsen said.

Felsen takes us on a wonderful tour of New York City. You don’t have to read the book all in one go to enjoy it, and it can serve as a guide and a reference book. Whether you organize a walking tour with friends or make individual sojourns, these monuments are well worth the visit. Use the book to either visit a part of the city they’ve never been to before or to maybe see their own neighborhood in a new light.

In the front of the book, you can view a map of NYC, along with numbered marks indicating where each monument discussed in the book is located. Felsen encourages readers to follow the map and along with his guide, learn more about these monuments and the Black Americans the city has chosen to honor.

David Felsen teaches American history to eleventh graders at Avenues: The World School in New York City. He has a master's degree in American history from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and a bachelor's degree in history from Haverford College. Before becoming a history teacher, David produced television documentaries for HBO, PBS and History, among others. He lives in Brooklyn near Prospect Park with his wife, his son and a dog and a cat.

The Ridgewood Democratic Club is located by the Fresh Pond M train stop in Ridgewood Queens

https://www.ridgewooddemocraticclub.com/

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