Brooklyn Cemetery To Honor Prominent Black NYers Buried There

BROOKLYN, NY — A cemetery in Brooklyn is taking a unique approach to celebrating Black History Month by honoring New Yorkers who found their final resting place on the historic grounds.

Green-Wood Cemetery — the nearly 200-year-old cemetery below Prospect Park — will host a virtual celebration to recognize the stories of some of its most prominent Black "residents."

The event, set up for Feb. 24, will bring together Green-Wood's historian and Brooklyn City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr. to discuss the New Yorkers' unique life stories.

"Although Brooklyn and New York City have long struggled with segregation and racism, they also have a history of diversity, progress, and activism," the event description reads. "This conversation, between City Councilman Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., and Green-Wood Historian Jeff Richman, will examine the life and accomplishments of many prominent Black New Yorkers."

Among those that will be remembered will be 1970s and 1980s artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, New York's first Black female doctor Susan Smith McKinney Steward, the state's first Black millionaire Jeremiah Hamilton and jazz great Cedar Walton.

The conversation will also focus on freed enslaved people who worked as abolitionists and the Green-Wood "Freedom Lots," where more than 1,000 people of color are interred.

"These stories illustrate the long struggle towards equality that remains ongoing today," organizers wrote.

The event is part of a series of virtual programs about the history of Green-Wood called "Zooming in on History."

Tickets to the virtual event can be found here. It is free and open to the public, though donations are encouraged.