Charlie Turtle/History Lesson

As you might know, I play a lot in Fort Greene Park. What you might not know is that there is a lot of history to my little playground and play space! In the days of the American Revolutionary War it was a site of defense against the British, (then called Fort Putnam), led by General Nathanial Greene. During the Battle of Long Island, the Continental Army surrendered the fort.

Then the  British held thousands of Revolutionary captives on prison ships anchored in the East River, just a few block from FG Park. Almost 12,000 men and  women died aboard the ships from starvation, overcrowding and disease, and they were buried along the shallows of the shores. 

Later my park was the first public park in Brooklyn!  It was officially designated for use as a public park after locals, who had been enjoying it as one already, and newspaper editor Walt Whitman (yeah, that guy!) rallied for support for the project from the pages of the local newspaper, the Brooklyn Eagle. (Where Whitman was editor.) By 1867, Frederick Omsted and Calvert Vaux, the very men who designed Central Park and later Prospect Park, began designing the new Fort Greene Park, as well as the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument.

If you know my park, you know this monument. It is a high column, topped with a big bronze urn. From its base you can see stunning views of Manhattan, and it was erected to honor those who died as prisoners in the bay. These days, the concrete base is full of people exercising, sitting, scooting, doing yoga, kissing, fighting, playing. They might not know that underneath are the remains of the prisoners from those ships, who were moved there in 1873. (Here's a more in-depth link regarding that...http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/nyregion/when-memorials-outlast-the-sentiment-behind-them.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

I know that it is weird to talk about all of this in a post, but we really just found out today about the little visitor's center near the monument which tells you all about the history of the park. It also has some cool artifacts like ball bearings and buttons from soldiers coats that have been found there over the years. But best of all, it has a box turtle named...CHARLIE.  Oh, and a box full of Madigascar cockroaches! Anyway, cool stuff. The more you know, right?