MEMORIAL HONORS AFRICAN AND NATIVE
AMERICAN BURIAL GROUND IN FLUSHING
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Elected officials, members
of the Olde Towne of
Flushing Burial Ground
Conservancy (OTFBGC) and
community members gathered
for a ribbon-cutting
ceremony of the new commemorative
plaza at the Olde
Towne of Flushing Burial
Ground on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
The burial site, located on
46th Avenue between 164th
and 165th streets opposite
Flushing Cemetery, dates
back to 1840, and more than
1,000 people, most of whom
were African Americans and
Native Americans, are buried
there. The cemetery was
also the final destination
for poor white people and
wealthy folks who died during
the cholera and smallpox
epidemics in the mid-1800s.
The last burial took place
in 1898. In 1914, the Parks Department
took over the site,
renaming it “Martins Field,”
in honor of tree conversationist
Everett P. Martin.
In 1936, at the behest of
then-Parks Commissioner
Robert Moses, the last resting
place for so many was paved
over and turned into a playground
with a wading pool
and baseball field — no one
seemed to care that workers
had found evidence that the
site had been a burial ground.
OTFBGC board member
Sally Mehreteab shared that
Bayside-based community
activist Mandingo Osceola
Tshaka, whose parents told
him that family members
were buried at the site,
brought attention to the site’s
history when the Parks Department
began renovating
the playground in the 1990s.
He went to the main office of
Flushing Cemetery, where he
found records from 1919 indicating
that four marble headstones
used to stand on the
plot tombstones that were destroyed
during the construction
of the playground.
Death records also showed
that 62% of the interred were
African American or Native
American, more than half
were children under 5 and
34% were unidentified.
Tshaka urged the city to
conduct an archeological
survey of the lot in 1996. Archeologist
Linda Stone found
that the site was the final
resting for 500 to 1,000 people.
However, it took years of
advocacy to have the burial
ground recognized and honor
the lives of the dead.
In 2009, “Martin’s Field,”
which was also once known as
the “Pauper Burial Ground”
and “The Colored Cemetery of
Flushing,” the Parks Department
renamed it “The Olde
Towne of Flushing Burial
Ground.” In October 2018,
Mayor Bill de Blasio and then-
Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz allocated $1.6
million for a new memorial.
Eddie Abrams, an OTFBGC
board member, said it
was important that his children
pass the history on to
his grandchildren once he
was gone.
“I’m so happy,” Abrams
said. “This took a long time,
but you could really see
what can happen if people
really work together and put
things together and bring
back history.”
NYC Parks Commissioner
Gabrielle Fialkoff described
the ribbon-cutting ceremony
for the memorial wall — engraved
with 318 recorded
names of those buried at the
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | NOV. 26 - DEC. 2, 2021
site and inscribed with the
names of the four headstones
— as “unique.”
“This is a solemn occasion
in honor of a sacred
space,” Fialkoff said. “In reintroducing
at long last The
Old Towne of Flushing Burial
Ground, we honor the approximately
1,000 people laid
to rest in this space.”
She said the memorial
will now be a place to pay
respect to “those who came
before us.”
“It is also a space to reflect
on their stories, their struggles,
and their triumphs,”
said Fialkoff, adding that she
hopes the memorial will give
New Yorkers a way to rediscover
the sacred and historical
place.
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards said
that the unveiling of the
plaza was a significant milestone
in a decades-long effort
to right a terrible wrong.
“For far too long, the 314
individuals whose names are
engraved on this new memorial
have not gotten the recognition
nor the respect that
they deserve,” Richards said.
“The hundreds of other unidentified
people buried here
who are not individually recognized
on the memorial because
their names were lost
over time have been similarly
disrespected.”
He pointed out that those
buried at the site played a
vital part in building the
community and laid the
foundation for a diverse and
prosperous Queens.
“Their final resting place
should be a place of dignity
and respect where their legacy
can be properly honored
and remembered,” Richards
said. “This land is our land.”
Congresswoman Grace
Meng said that she wasn’t
only attending as a local lawmaker,
but also as a mom.
“It’s important for our
children and generations
of children to come to truly
learn a more accurate and
complete teaching of American
history here in New York
and around the country,”
Meng said.
State Senator John Liu
pointed out that even though
New York City was “the
greatest city on the planet,”
it also had its shortcomings
and has made grave mistakes.
“This terrible mistake
that this site was once a part
of is still a legacy of a time
in this city’s history when
entire communities and
people were completely disregarded
and disrespected,”
Liu said.
Assemblyman Edward
Braunstein acknowledged
the tireless work and dedication
of Tshaka and the OTFBGC
to make the memorial
happen.
“I’ve watched for years
the determination that took
place to get this done, and
our community is better off
for it,” Braunstein said. “Not
only do we finally have a
proper place to recognize the
sacred land behind us, but
we also have an opportunity
where our community can
come and learn the history
— the real, accurate history.”
Councilman Peter Koo
reminded everyone to stay
vigilant to ensure that future
generations don’t forget
about the burial ground. He
also praised the tenacity of
the burial ground advocates,
saying they refused to “take
no for an answer.”
“They fought tooth and
nail to make sure this hollow
ground was given the respect
it deserves,” Koo said. “They
made sure that the only acceptable
answer was ‘yes.'”
Queens District Attorney
Melinda Katz said the project
was about correcting past
mistakes.
“Today is about respecting
those that are buried
here,” said Katz, who helped
fund the project during her
tenure as Queens borough
president.
Robbie Garrison, the OTFBGC
co-chair, thanked all
conservancy members for
their achievement and elected
officials for their contributions
in turning the memorial
into reality.
Earlier, she shared with
QNS that she was ecstatic,
praising Katz for coming
through for them.
“It has been a long, hard
road to get to this,” Garrison
said. “But we are here now,
and we have to mention the
money people. If it had not
been for Melinda Katz bringing
in Mayor de Blasio, we
would not have arrived here
today. And I have to be grateful
to them because they
came in with us, and they
worked with Parks.”
Community members read the names of those buried at the memorial site at Olde Towne of Flushing
Burial Ground. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
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