Visiting BHS

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After visiting BHS, over the semester it has been a informal experience. Learning about how Brooklyn used to be and what it is now is amazing. I see all the neighborhoods and how much has stayed the same and also how much has changed. I got to see that Coney Island was still a place where people could enjoy themselves. Viewing the ads for the run away slaves,I had to pay close attention to the details that the slave-owners would write specific things about their slaves but the value for wanting them back was very low. It told me that there was a chance for that if the slave was returned that they would be killed or tortured.

Reading the letter for the slave asking his owner to buy his freedom was very different. One, because slaves weren’t educated and two most couldn’t buy their freedom because they didn’t have much money and three their owners wouldn’t allow it because they still wanted to keep them. Overall, after all my three visits to BHS i have gained alot of information that i would have never knew about without attending the class sessions held their. Presenting to the class was a good experience, it made me feel more comfortable to present in front of classmate because i knew what i would say. Group 6; was the group i was in and i believed that we worked great together and accomplished our goal.

New learning experiences

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Overall, our learning experience visiting the Brooklyn Historical Society was absolutely wonderful. It was an amazing chance to be able to look at primary documents that have been preserved for hundreds of years, and that we are able to study those documents today. I have done many research projects in which I’ve had to use several resources, and the material at the BHS,  though not for research purposes for our course, can be of very great use because most of them are primary documents. It is always great to research something and be able to use first hand materials in your research. The two visits in which we looked at runaway slave advertisements were very interesting because i have read a lot about slavery in many history classes in the past and about those ads that owners would put up in newspapers for their slaves, but i hadn’t actually seen an image of one, let alone the original newspaper it was published in. Another interesting experience I got from our visits to the BHS was being able to explore some of Brooklyn, and look at some of the streets there and see images of how it looked in the past. I grew up in the Williamsburgh part of Brooklyn so it was definitely interesting looking at what streets made up my neighborhood now and then.

The group work that we did at the BHS was very comfortable. Even though the members of our group were not all familiar with each other, we were still able to work together and deliver our presentation effectively. The groups were not so big in size so this made things more easier both while coming up with the material to present, and at the time of the oral presentations at the BHS. Everyone had a clear idea of what their task in the group was, and what they had to do so we all worked together and contributed equally to the effort put forth to complete our presentation.

I have to say that it was a wonderful experience being able to travel to the Brooklyn Historical Society, admire its architectural work, and see some of the projects that our fellow students from City Tech created at their fellowship. I liked working with the material they had set up for us, and it was a great learning experience overall.

New Learning Experience at BHS

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Visiting Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) was completely a new learning experience for us. We visited BHS three times and each time there were something new and interesting to learn. In our first visit we got opportunity to know little more about Brooklyn’s history through the maps and photographs dated century back. We made this visit when we were reading “Only The Dead Know Brooklyn” by Thomas Wolfe. Then our recent two visits to BHS were focused on the slavery time period. These visits were based on our readings; “Beloved” by Toni Morrison and “Runaway Slaves” by John Franklin and Loren Schweninger. In these visits we looked at the journals and newspaper ads of owners whose slaves ran away from them. These two visits were different than the first visit because we worked in groups to learn the materials. We also did a presentation for other group members and BHS staff members based on our ideas and observations. All those primary resources, group works, and most importantly the co-operative staff members of BHS enhanced our overall experience at BHS.

Brooklyn Historical Society

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I’ve never actually visited any places that are like Brooklyn historical society. So it was quite a new experience for me and an interesting one.my visit to Brooklyn Historical Society has educated me on a lot things. For instance, Brooklyn evolution, runaway slaves, and has also increased my research skills. In our first visit to Brooklyn Historical Society, we were learning about Brooklyn. I have learned a lot that day. First thing I learned was that Bensonhurst which is a place in Brooklyn is located near Cony Island. Moreover, there was also a beach picture, which one may say the people in that generation cover up more as oppose to nowadays when you go to the beach people Are almost clothe-less. I also learn that some places and streets in Brooklyn that’s from the 1900’s and are still remains the same, one of which is Brooklyn College.

Furthermore, in my second visit to BHS, I have learned about runaway slaves. In our second we had to work as a group rather than working individually. Therefore, I also learn about teamwork. In my group, we were giving runaways slaves ads to look at and to compare. One thing I have learned is that even though    they were slaves, they were treated differently because of their skin color. Therefore, those who had a yellowish skin complexion tend to have more privilege, they tend to be more literate and have more decent jobs such as barber, waitress, etc.. BHS is a very good place to visit because it holds a lot of historical information that one might need or want to explore. I enjoyed my times being there and hope to come back on of these days.

Offal

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offal— (noun) Waste parts, especially of a butchered animal.

“For a month or so in the winter any stray man had work, if he could breathe the stench of offal and stand up for twelve hours . . . ” (154).

From this, I understand now that the jobs available were only for the men who can stand the stench of a butchered animal.

Palsy

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palsy-(noun) -Complete or partial muscle paralysis, often accompanied by loss of sensation and uncontrollable body movements or tremors.

Page 5- Last sentence- “Not only did she have to live our her years in a house palsied by the baby’s fury at having its throat cut, but those ten minutes she spent pressed up against dawn-colored stone studded with star chips, her knees wide open as the grave, were longer than life, more alive, more pulsating than the baby blood that soaked her fingers like oil.

From this, I understand that the house was paralyzed and controlled by the baby’s fury.

My Experience at BHS

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I enjoyed our visits to the Brooklyn Historical Society. Ive never been there before so i did not know what to expect. Although we only got to look at a few pieces, i learned a lot from our visits. During our first visit we were reading “Only The Dead Know Brooklyn”, and so we got a chance to look at the history of Brooklyn. We saw maps of the borough of Brooklyn that showed streets, where the train and railroads crossed, and also noted many differences of Brooklyn today. From the map, we noticed that places that are now a part of Queens, were once in Brooklyn. This experience was cool because i didn’t think i could get my hands on primary sources like these. During our second visit, we looked at slave advertisements during the time we were reading “Beloved”. While reading the advertisements I understood the terms used to describe them because it was defined in the book. The slave ad that we saw at our table was in a newspaper from 1825, and the newspaper was still in good condition which was interesting to know it was well preserved and that i had the pleasure of reading it. In the last visit to BHS, we had a second chance to look at the same slave ads and we had to present. It was a nice experience since we didnt see everyone’s ads, but we got to hear what they saw. Overall, it was a intriguing experience.

Why do we learn suffering?

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I really had a wonderful experience in BHS. It allows us to understand the endurance of black people engulfed with pain and sorrow that brought the America to live. But at present situation, we live in modernized world. And I am wondering why we need to study these passed pain to make ourselves more painful.  May be it gives us more comfort by thinking that we don’t have to go through such harsh situation. Human’s brain has created such a system that enslave the nature itself. I really pray that these situation never occur again and education must be utilize not only for oneself’s desire but for the whole well-being of every sentient being.

Experience at BHS

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My visit to BHS was very exciting because I learned many things which i didnt know before. During my first encounter at BHS we learned many new things about Brooklyn such as, long before i was born there were railroad tracks on the streets we drive on currently. The maps were very different now then it was before. The second visit to BHS we learned about how runaway slaves were put on newspaper ads and there was a list description of which specify the runaway slave. Slaves were treated very harshly. It was eye opening experiencing at BHS because we were able to inspect certain materials first hand. Overall it was a great learning experience and i look forward to going back at BHS again in the near future.

Experience at BHS

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My experience has been great at Brooklyn Historical Society. I have had the opportunity to see and touch primary sources that people arent able to see. I think thats something special that not everyone gets to do. Prior to this class, i had already gone to the BHS. With the experience i had with with the first time, i’d have to say that this second experience was better. It’s better because since we’re reading beloved, we were able to see in more detail how slavery impacted in Brooklyn. This opened my eyes to realize that New York was always impacted by slavery, not in a way like the South was, but in a different way i didn’t think of before. On those two days i went, i was able to see newspaper advertisements on runaway slaves. Those advertisements described the slaves and granted rewards for them if they were found and returned to their “masters”. It bothered me when i saw these newspaper ad’s because they were treated like a piece of property, like an in-animate object being misplaced or whatever they were viewed as. I believe that going to BHS has helped me better understand how life was for the African American Slaves back in the centuries previous to ours.I have always somewhat enjoyed working in  groups for projects in classes, but i can say that working in groups for class in BHS helped my group oand i get along with each other and hear each other out when it came to ideas about the things we saw at BHS.This experience helped me understand a little bit more on the history of the U.S and appreciate the artifacts that are preserved for future generations to come.

Visting BHS – Group 2

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The first ad, is from the Long Island Star newspaper, published on January 10th, 1822. The newspaper is from Brooklyn, NY, about an indentured boy between the ages of 11-12 named David Smith. Our first highlight was the description, “Indented colored boy.” We were confused on why they said indented, and later were informed that it might have been a slang term for “indentured.” The ad also made us wonder a lot on why it was posted in the first place. The Master doesn’t want the boy, and as a group, we came to an agreement that the only reason that he posted up the ad in the first place is the fact that the boy was not a slave, and was an indenture, a servant with a contract that will expire after a certain amount of years and will later be free, he might be responsible for any negative actions that David Smith did while he ran away. He was described as a “great rogue,” and that the master tried to give the papers to the boy’s father but he refused to accept them. That also raised the question, since the boy’s father is colored as well, is he free or not? and will that affect the outcome on the privilage of accepting those papers.

The second article we got was an ad from Louisiana Slave Pamphlet, from 1835. It was about a runaway, Henry, which was about 18 years old, and was described as “middle sized, swelled cheeks, silky locks, black skin, well built, and speaks English and French.” Last seen on April 27th, carrying a basket of vegetables at the market. And it was supposed that he had fled on a steam boat. There was a $100 reward on whomever found and returned him. We noticed this ad was a bit different from the first one because this one had an icon, had a reward and the boy was described in a lot more detail than the David was.

In the ad, the boy resembles the lost song (either Buglar or Howards) of Sethe in the novel “Beloved.” Because in the ad, it says a rogue boy weas lurking in Brooklyn and owner couldn’t handle him.
In “Runaway Slaves,” Louisvilla Journal has published about a runaway slaves profile detail that says, he might go to Nashville where his mother lives as a free person.

Comparing to the novel “Beloved” and “Runaway Slaves,” the mother mentioned in Runaway slaves resembles Baby Suggs and her son Halle. Because in the novel “Beloved” Halle was out of the seen most of the time and he really takes care of his mother. He may be sold and reached Alabama but scaped. In “Runaway Slaves” the newspaper ad mentioned that a man named Jim or Armstead ran away with a horse, probably he will run to his mother where his many acquintance lived.

Group 5 (Damaris, Crystal, Curt, and Yoshiko)- BHS Runaway Slave Ads

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On our recent trip to the Brooklyn Historical Society, we saw two clippings of wanted runaway slave advertisements, with the end goal being that we had to compare the two advertisements to the events in Toni Morrison’s Beloved. They were both roughly 2.5 x 3 in size. The clippings themselves had been faded with time, but still legible overall. Our group specifically looked at two newspaper clippings in which rewards were posted in search of runaway slaves.

According to the chapter “Profile of a Runaway”, the type of slave most likely to attempt escape were male field-hands in their late teens/early twenties, and these two runaway’s fit the standard description. These newspaper ads, most likely written and funded by the slave owners, had the language and the tone of an open ad for any lost object, the reward being twenty/twenty five dollars. They consisted of short paragraphs that described the workers’ location, looks and their skills. The clothes they wore while making their escape played a particularly important role, especially if the slave did not bring a change of clothing. In these advertisements, they were described as wearing homespun vests, suits, trousers, and hats. The location was also a standout feature, as it confirms the existence of slavery close to home (in this case, Queens County/Great Neck, Long Island).

The skills and appearance of the runaway slaves played a significant role to the ad; these things determined the “worth” of the slave concerning the reward price. This mirrors the information the “Runaway Slave Profile” text, which speaks to how, the lighter complexion, the “better” a slave may have been treated and may have been “worth”. One of the ads describes a slave’s complexion as “yellow”, and according to the statements made in the “Runaway Slave Profile,” it is no coincidence that the ad featured this description.

In applying this to Beloved, Sethe and Paul D were both runaway’s when they escaped Sweet Home and headed north for Ohio. To this end, they had to walk across a path that ran through a mountainous forest and river. Beforehand, Sethe had been raped and beaten. She was pregnant throughout her escape, and went into labor before she’d reached her destination. Paul D, on the other hand, ran to avoid being sold of to another plantation. As such, their circumstances were far more severe than the slaves in the wanted ad—at least, from what we know.

BHS Experience

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throughout my 3 visits to BHS I can say that it was a new experience for me, I have never been to a place like that before so I wasn’t sure what to expect upon arriving. The first thing I noticed when getting there I noticed that the Door opened up differently, it slid to the side instead of opening by pulling back or forward. In my first visit we checked out different maps from Brooklyn. The maps were based on “only the dead know brooklyn” we were able to see how the city changed over the years, back then it was owned by different people and in the years the areas throughout the city were changed with different streets and new open areas to walk/drive through. Even the train was different back then. On our second visit we went to see different articles from the late 1800’s during slavery and how the news articles put up wanted posters or reward signs for wanted slaves that escaped. there were different amounts for reward and each described what the slave did, how they looked, body type, and if they had scars or any visible injury. On our third visit today we had to present on what we did during the last visit. Over all I feel like it was a good experience I learned a lot , and was able to visit a different place. I don’t know if I see myself going back unless I really need to for hw or class, but It’s good to know I have a place to go when I need information on a certain topic.

Group 1 Blog Post

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Description of Document 1

  • Color:Tan/Off white

  • Consisted of: Dates, Authors and Slave activites

  • Typewriter style of printing

  • 8’ X 11’ (average size), fairly see through, soft texture

  • Was written in a Journal of Baxters of Flatlands

  • New York City

  • Original author passed away and his son carried on the Journal.

Description of Document 2

  • Color: Gray

  • Consisted of: Slaves description, owners name, picture of a woman carrying a bag

  • Newspaper print

  • A clipping from a newspaper ad

  • From the Louisiana slavery Pamphlet collection

  • $20 reward for bring the slave back

 

       During our second visit to the BHS my group was asked to focus on two pieces of documentation that had both been written up during the slavery days of America. The first document was a journal kept by John Baxter (of Flatlands, NY). He was a schoolteacher, amanuensis and a successful farmer. He began the diary from 1790 and carried out till 1826. This document gave our group the most trouble because of its lack of focus on the slave named “Taft”. John didn’t have much to say about his slave in the journal. He hadn’t mentioned any physical appearance, behaviors or any special marks. What our group gathered was that Taft (We assume his name was given to him by his slave owner) was a runaway slave who was found a short time later. After being brought back to his owner, John Baxter, the person who gave Taft back to him was rewarded $8 but a few days later Taft was sold to someone called Jacobus Lott for 90 pounds. Some of the daily entries were very cryptic and impossible to piece together. Being so, we used this document to show that if the story was told from the point of view of Sethe’s owners this is the process they would have taken to find her.

     The second document was a “reward-if-found” ad in a newspaper depicting a runaway slave. This advertisement was published in Black Code of the State of Louisiana around 1835. The advertisement is very small and in the left side of the ad there is a sketched picture of a woman with a bundle of clothes in her left hand. The ad, being as short as it was, had given clear details of the slave: “Her name is Charlotte…35 years old… woman… scar near mouth… walks with feet pointing outward.. speaks French and English.” The mentioning of the scar near her mouth and her feet pointing outward was necessary so she could be easily noticed.

      Comparing both the documents with the stories we have read “Beloved” and “Runaway Slaves Profile” we can say that running away of the slaves was not the story of only a couple of houses. Slaves used to run due to various reasons, mostly due to torcher and improper management. We don’t have much to compare with John’s journal except we can say that there were more male slaves than female who used to run away. But if we compare the ad from Louisiana with Sethe’s story we can find similarities. First of all both are middle-aged woman. Being that Sethe was a mother, Charlotte should be a mother too. They both had scars and scars are the proof of torcher given to them. John states in the diary that they were hunting for Taft, as the schoolteacher did in “Beloved” for Sethe. When the slaves were found, they were taken back to the owner or jail. John’s diary says that Taft was brought to him, whereas in the newspaper ad the owner puts notice either to bring Taft back to him or to jail. This act is also comparable to Sethe’s story because when she was found she was taken back to jail.

     We thought both articles gave a slight glimpse of what Toni Morrison tried to illustrate in Beloved. Even after the slave is able to get away, they are hunted until they are found. This compares to document one in the sense that the slave, Taft, every move is traced and written to until he is found. Even though Sethe wasn’t found by her owners, this is what she would’ve had to endure if she was found.

      In Runaway Slaves by John Hope Franklin, the slaves are described by the color of their skin, branding on face and and clothing. In document two, the owner advertised the slave by saying she had a scar on her face, her feet pointed outwards, she speaks two languages and is thirty-five years old. This is very clear description of the slave and relates to the articles that are in the Runaway Slaves story. In the appearance section of Runaway Slaves it says the scars on the slave would show that they were slaves and the owners would recognize them immediately. This is why in document two the owner wrote the slave had a scar by her mouth. As stated in the Runaway Slaves story it was rare for women to run away from their owners but when they did run away they were typical young in age, as the slave was in document two.

 

 

Group 3’s Blog Post – BHS

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At our last visit to the Brooklyn Historical Society, we looked at runaway slave advertisements in newspapers. As a group, we looked at two different documents that both contained these ads, and we had the chance to compare and contrast what we saw here with our reading experiences in the novel “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, as well as Franklin/Schwinger’s “Runaway Slave Profile.” Our group came up with some interesting observations between all of the texts that we analyzed, as well as differences that we noticed.

The first document that we looked at was a typescript journal of John Baxter of Flatlands, Long Island; a slave owner. These were some of the observations we made.

-the document was a big green book and the pages of it looked somewhat delicate, which indicates that it was old

-it was published in Brooklyn, NY 1955

-It was from the time periods of 1805- May 1817

-the farm that he owned was located in Flatlands, Long Island

-in page 21 of the journal; from July-Sept of 1807 we read events that go on in the man’s life and at the barn he owned

-He states that a slave ran off- of the name Abraham Wyckoff

-in page 133 of the journal; from April-June of 1815, Mr. Baxter’s “negro ran away” as he states on May 19th

– Mr. Baxter went to the town to publish an ad for his runaway slave, with a reward of $80 on May 22

The second document that we looked at was a runaway slave ad in a newspaper

-A.H Inskeep was the one who put up the ad

-it was for a mulatto named George of about 22 years of age

-he was described as tall and slender

-it cautioned all persons not to harbor or employ said boy

-it was estimated that the boy ran away June 2-3

Drawing a comparison between the documents that we looked at and our other source, there were many points of similarity. Franklin/Schweninger’s “Runaway slave profile” gave the age range of slaves likely to escape between the late twenties to early thirties and are usually male, and in the advertisement for the mulatto named George he falls into that category; being shown in the ad that he is 22 years old, still in his twenties. Also in the “runaway slave profile” it gives a few examples of different slave reward ads that are very similar to the ad for George in the newspaper. The ads usually start with a runaway slave or negro man and followed by the day the slaved escaped, then with a description of the slave, the height, skin color; whether they were dark or light skinned usually called mulattos, but they were also called yellow, light bacon, light copper. Also, what the slave was wearing and any significant or unique features to make the slaves easily identifiable such as scars, following a reward.

There were also some differences in these documents that we closely examined. In the “runaway slave profile” not only does it show that African slaves in the South were the most likely to run, but that there was more ethnic diversities than that of the North. Slaves were usually bilingual, spoke Spanish and English and may also have spoken French. The slaves in the north were also more educated and often knew trades that they were employed in. One ad in the South stated that a creole slave ran away and these were often called negrees. The ads usually described these slaves as ‘American creole’, ‘American mulatto’ or ‘American negro’.

The documents that we studied can also be compared to the runaway stories that we read of the characters in “Beloved.” What is interesting in “Beloved” is that Sethe was pregnant with Denver at the time she ran away, but in the “runaway slave profile”, it indicated that women were less likely to run because they would not want to leave their children behind. It also indicated that most of those who ran were strong because the escape was quite rough. This action by Sethe tells us a lot about her character. It gives quite an understanding on how her struggles had an effect on her ultimate decision, and courage to run.

There was no obvious mention of an advertisement by Mr. Garner when Howard, Burglar or any of the ‘Sweet Home’ men ran away. So it will be quite difficult to relate the two in this regard but obviously, many of the characters in who ran away in “Beloved” must share a lot of the characteristics with the typical runaway slave described in the “runaway slave profile”.