Tompkins Square: Legacy of Rebellion, 150 Years of Protest and Resistance on New York’s Lower East Side

Saturday, September 7th   2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Tompkins Square Library
331 E 10th St, New York, NY 10009
Phone: (212) 228-4747

For September the society’s speaker series will be presenting, “Tompkins Square: Legacy of Rebellion, 150 Years of Protest and Resistance on New York’s Lower East Side.”

Tompkins Square, a focal point of popular resistance in the neighborhood since the 1850’s, will be our topic for this afternoon.

With the arrival of the famous urban ‘grid’ coming to the Lower East Side in the 1830’s, the development of this neighborhood as a working class immigrant (Germans, Irish, Italians, Slavs, Jews) enclave was not always tranquil. Cycles of protests and riots in the park followed by its closure and “renovation” by the city to break up this popular resistance will be presented. Some of the highlights discussed will be the 1857 depression,  the 1863 draft riots,  the 1874 depression, and the 1877 rally in support of the national railway strike, along with the city’s final destruction of the park to convert it into a drill ground for state militia in the 1870’s.
Fortunately for us this was followed by the successful neighborhood campaign for the park’s restoration in the 1880’s. This special presentation will conclude with the observation of how this cycle continued into the 20th century.

Our distinguished speaker for this presentation is Mr. Bill Weinberg.
Mr. Weinberg is an award winning 30-year veteran journalist and author, former WBAI producer, and organic historian. He leads walking tours of the Lower East Side for the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS)

Open to society members and the general public.
ADMISSION IS FREE.