As I walked down Roebling Street in Williamsburg Brooklyn in search of some local food, I couldn’t help but notice the group of students and professional artists working on a mural on the East wall of NYC Middle School 50.
So I stopped and talked to a few of the artists and this is what I learned;
As part of the Integrated Arts Program, students from John D. Wells MS 50 and El Puente Academy For Peace and Justice High School, in collaboration with El Puente’s community group Los Muralistas de El Puente, are in midst of telling a story through visual art. They are sharing the history, challenges, victories, hopes and dreams of the community through powerful, thought-provoking, masterful imagery with socially relevant messages. The 100th anniversary of the John D. Wells school building was an inspiration to explore the rich and varied immigrant history in the community. For the past several years students have been collecting oral histories, photographs and other artifacts from community residents in order to tell the story of Williamsburg’s South Side “Los Sures”
Ancestral figures depicting John D. Wells and Willis Hodges. They represent the importance of Williamsburg in the fight for social justice in the 19th century. Wells, for whom the school is named, was a minister at S. 3rd Presbyterian Church. Hodges, was an anti-slavery activist and a delegate of The National Convention Of Colored People. They were both prominent in one of the largest and most active abolitionist movements in the country, centered in Williamsburg Brooklyn.
A dramatic presentation in which the youth of Los Sures create a lasting record of the fascinating history of the community Los Sures
Many scenes depicting some of the following;
-Workers holding up a model of the Williamsburg Bridge, which opened in 1903, allowing thousands of immigrants to move into Williamsburg from Manhattan’s lower east side as announced by a newspaper boy holding the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
-A group of immigrant children from a variety of countries engaged in the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
-The increasing presence of immigrants from Puerto Rico as economic pressures on the island and the lure of jobs in New York caused many to book passage bound for jobs in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, sugar factory and other industries.
-20th century young activists organizing for social justice.
Fact: In 1898 the United States invaded Puerto Rico and was handed the island from Spain as part of the settlement of the Spanish-American War (Treaty of Peace/Treaty of Paris) and the islands people have been American citizens since the passage of the Jones-Shafroth Act in 1917 under the Presidency of Woodrow Wilson.
I didn’t expect to learn the fascinating history of Los Sures on my lunch break, but I was glad I stopped and took a moment to recognize what most of us New Yorkers seem to pass by daily without even a glance.
Make sure to check out the interactive website about Los Sures 1984 & Today Living Los Sures
The website itself is an audiovisual expression of art and history.
