Summary(0:35) Growing up gardening -- (0:53) Cleaning abandoned lot in 1979 -- (1:05) Joining the 1100 Block Bergen Street Association -- (1:20) Original members -- (2:03) The neighborhood's beauty in the 1970s -- (3:20) Clearing five lots to create the garden -- (4:00) Describing the garden -- (5:30) Garden activities -- (6:28) Surprise birthday party -- (7:40) Private ownership of the lots -- (8:14) Joining Brooklyn Queens Land Trust in 2015 and transferring the deeds -- (10:12) Increasing garden visibility – (11:05) Rewards from working in the Garden -- (12:25) Requirements and hard work of being a gardener -- (12:41) Needing help as she ages -- (13:30) Challenges -- (15:18) Designing a sitting area, Rabbi volunteering to fix the benches -- (18:09) The need to bring youth into the garden for the future.
NoteAudio interview conducted on August 10, 2016, by Domica Roberts at 1100 Bergen Street Community Garden. Collected through Our Streets, Our Stories, an oral history project of Brooklyn Public Library. This interview stems from a shared partnership with Brooklyn Public Library and Brooklyn Queens Land Trust under the name of Our Gardens, Our Stories.
SubjectNineteen seventies ; Community gardens ; Community development--New York (State)--Brooklyn ; Citizens’ associations ; Gardening ; Brooklyn Children's Museum ; Trust for Public Land (U.S.) ; Deeds ; Older people ; Youth development
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TitleOral history interview conducted with Hazel Hurley on 2016 August 10.