Series 4: Days of the Dead in Brooklyn
Scope and Contents
Program Files include correspondence, event-related materials, publicity, funding, and financial information. Also included are research materials, which encompass press clippings, event flyers, and related items about topics explored during the course of the project and to the death and dying traditions of various cultural groups. Audiovisual documentation includes digital photographs, recordings of events, as well as performances of funerary songs and a series of interviews with Brooklyn funeral directors.
Days of the Dead in Brooklyn events included:
Mexican Days of the Dead How to prepare a Mexican Days of the Dead ofrenda, a traditional altar to honor the dead. Sunset Park Library, October 28, 2008.
Mexican Days of the Dead Preparing sugar skulls and paper flowers for an ofrenda. Sunset Park Library, October 29, 2008.
All Soul's Day: Symbols, Stories and Trumpets A gravesite tour of Green-Wood Cemetery and a Haitian rara graveyard procession, November 2, 2008.
Prayers for the Dead Concert highlighting a variety of culturally specific funerary musical traditions, including Jewish, Italian, Buddhist and African-Grenadian. Congregation Beth Elohim, November 23, 2009.
Undertaking Death: A Conversation with Brooklyn Funeral Directors Featuring local undertakers providing insight into the folklore of death and remembrance as practiced in Russian, Polish, Lebanese and Dominican communities. Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza, Dweck Auditorium, May 20, 2009.
Understanding Traditional Arts and Death and Dying , June 16-23, 2009.
Diverse Traditions of Death and Dying in Brooklyn A kick-off symposium/arts demonstration presenting discussion and performance from funeral directors and traditional artists. Brooklyn Historical Society, September 21, 2008.
Ofrenda Altar and Chinese Buddhist Ancestral Altar Dedication Sunset Park Library, November 1, 2008.
Folk Feet 6th Annual Traditional Dance Showcase Trinidadian limbo, Chinese folk dancers, Turkish mevlid, rural Dominican funerary processional, classical Indian dance, Grenadian bongo, South Korean funerary procession, excerpts of Greek Orthodox memorial service hymn. Brooklyn College Center for the Performing Arts, Whitman Theater, March 1, 2009.
Virgin of Sorrows Procession Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Church, Carroll Gardens, April 10, 2009.
Waking the Dead: Afro-Caribbean Funerary Expressions Featuring traditional artists, scholars and funeral directors exploring pan-Caribbean mourning traditions. Brooklyn Public Library Flatbush Branch, April 23, 2009.
Historical Note
Days of the Dead in Brooklyn: Diverse Traditions of Death, Dying and Renewal was a year-long project begun in September 2008 to acquaint the public with traditional arts, rituals and customs used to address the deaths of family and community members in Brooklyn. The project included field research, documentation and 12 public programs (5 concert/performances, 7 lectures/demonstrations/workshops/symposia) held throughout Brooklyn from September 2008-June 2009. Over 1,400 people attended DoDB events and 160 artists participated in the initiative.
The goals for the project were to heighten awareness of traditional arts practices related to death through engaging public programs and field research activities, to bridge the gap between diverse communities and health care systems, and to work toward a model for integrating traditional arts practices relating to death into public programming and health care practices.
Sub-series 4.1: Program Files
Correspondence, 2008-2009, bulk
Notes, 2008-2009, bulk
Audience Contacts, 2008-2009, bulk
Factsheet, Tell Us Your Traditions, 2008-2009, bulk
Kick Off Symposium, 2008
Workshop I: Mexican Days of the Dead, 2008
Workshop II: Mexican Days of the Dead, 2008
Ofredna Altar and Chinese Buddhist Ancestral Altar Dedication, 2008
All Soul's Day "Symbols, Stories and Trumpets" at Green-Wood Cemetery, 2008
Prayers for the Dead, 2008
Folk Feet Dance Showcase, 2009
Virgin of Sorrows Procession, 2009
Waking the Dead, 2009
Undertaking Death, 2009
Understanding Traditional Arts of Death and Dying, 2009
Postcards and Posters, 2008-2009, inclusive
Oversize Posters, 2008
BAC News, 2008-2009, inclusive
Funding, NEA, 2008-2009, inclusive
Funding, NYS Tribute Foundation, 2008-2009, inclusive
Funding Notes, 2008-2009, inclusive
Check Requests and W-9 Forms, Artist Fees, 2008-2009, inclusive
Invoices and Check Requests, Administrative, 2008-2009, inclusive
Unpaid, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Animal and Pet Death, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Artists, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Books, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Cemeteries, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Facing Death, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Funeral Home Directors in Bklyn, History, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Funeral Home Related- Caskets, Hearses, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Ghost Stories, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Gravestones, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Healthcare and Death, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Memorials, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Misc., 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, el Museo del Barrio, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Performance of Death, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Veterans, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Witchcraft and Death, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, African American and Legacy of African Traditions in the South (Gullah People), 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Afro-Caribbean Funeral and Mourning, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Asian, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Asian Display Materials, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Asian Display Materials, 2009
Research, Traditions, Berawan (in Sarawak, Malaysia), 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Buddhist, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Jewish Funeral and Mourning, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Latino / South American, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Middle Eastern, 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Muslim Turkish (Includes Merlid), 2008-2009, inclusive
Research, Traditions, Wiccan, 2008-2009, inclusive
Sub-series 4.2: Audiovisual
Scope and Contents
Events represented in the Audiovisual sub-series include:
Diverse Traditions of Death and Dying in Brooklyn. A kick-off symposium/arts demonstration presenting discussion and performance from funeral directors and traditional artists. Brooklyn Historical Society, September 21, 2008.
Ofrenda Altar and Chinese Buddhist Ancestral Altar Dedication. Sunset Park Library, November 1, 2008.
Folk Feet 6th Annual Traditional Dance Showcase Trinidadian limbo, Chinese folk dancers, Turkish mevlid, rural Dominican funerary processional, classical Indian dance, Grenadian bongo, South Korean funerary procession, excerpts of Greek Orthodox memorial service hymn. Brooklyn College Center for the Performing Arts, Whitman Theater, March 1, 2009.
Virgin of Sorrows Procession. Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Church, Carroll Gardens, April 10, 2009.
Waking the Dead: Afro-Caribbean Funerary Expressions. Featuring traditional artists, scholars and funeral directors exploring pan-Caribbean mourning traditions. Brooklyn Public Library Flatbush Branch, April 23, 2009.
Interviews with funeral directors:
Erham Yildirim
Keith Sento
James Donofrio