Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Collection

In Spring 2016 and Fall 2020, Queens Memory collaborated with Dr. Johnathan Thayer’s graduate Public History classes at Queens College on their work to document and preserve the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground, a local history site that has been the focus of a great deal of community activism. The Burial Ground was originally used for African-American, Native American and “pauper” burials, but in the 1930s was paved over and turned into a NYC park called Martin’s Field, featuring a children’s playground. A group of local residents (the Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground Conservancy), including some descendants of those buried at the site, have fought a long battle with the city to get the land recognized as a cemetery, and have finally won some progress in recent years. Students researched the site’s history, created multimedia public history projects and conducted interviews with Conservancy members as well as others connected with the site.