V. Ingersoll II.
Ingersoll, who served as
Brooklyn’s top pol from 1934 to
1940, won the honor following
an online vote hosted by library
leaders, who suggested his surname
and four other possible
names as new monikers for the
statue that formerly nested atop
the old Brooklyn Daily Eagle
building Downtown.
Losing names included
“Emily,” for Brooklyn Bridge
builder Emily Warren Roebling,
and “Dodger,” a nod to
Kings County’s former baseball
borough when it moved to Los
Angeles back in 1957.
about the historic statue’s renaming,
accused the library of shamelessly
borough’s journalistic past for
its own marketing purposes.
said Ed Weintrob, Brooklyn
Paper’s Publisher Emeritus,
who now publishes the Jewish
Star. “I’m not sure what else to
BY COLIN MIXSON
It’s a bird rebranded!
A historic eagle statue
named after the newspaper
whose offi ces it once perched
atop just received a new name
from bookworms at the Brooklyn
Public Library, who rechristened
the sculpture now
sitting inside a local reading
room after former beep Raymond
Ingersoll.
Ingersoll strongly advocated
for the borough’s library
system during his two terms
in the People’s House, and
helped its leaders raise funds
to complete the construction
of its majestic Central Branch
in Prospect Heights, where the
eagle now resides — making
the tribute even more fi tting,
according to his grandson.
“The extended family of former
Borough President Raymond
V. Ingersoll is honored
that Ingersoll the eagle will
soar in the Brooklyn Public Library
as an inspiring tribute to
my grandfather’s legacy of service
to the borough,” said Raymond
club that betrayed the
Not everyone is thrilled
however, and one legendary
Kings County newsman
reproposing a relic of the
“It’s a violation of history,”
say, it’s a stupid idea.”
The borough’s chief bookworms
the Brooklyn Historical Society
gifted the eagle statue to the
library, where it sat on loan
since 1997.
Decades ago, the onetime
mascot of the Brooklyn Daily
Eagle — which bears no relationship
of the same name — perched
atop the newspaper’s old Washington
its demolition in 1955, when
the statue was handed off to the
Long Island Historical Society,
which is now the Brooklyn Historical
The copper-cast creature
then dwelt in the lobby of the
society’s Pierrepont Street
headquarters in Brooklyn
Heights until the 1960s, before
being loaned to the Brooklyn
Museum from 1966 to 1987,
and then loaned to the Central
Branch a decade later, where
it has roosted ever since.
They whip their hair back and
forth: The Urban Bush Women will
examine beauty, race, and identity
through the lens of hair at “Hair
and Other Stories,” opening at Bric
Arts Media on Jan. 31. Hayim Heron
Dance-theater show looks at race, identity, and hair
HBy Julianne McShane air! Flow it, show it — long as
God can grow it!
A troupe of artists will comb
through the hairy subjects of beauty,
race, and identity, as expressed through
hairdos and hair don’ts. The interactive
dance and theater performance “Hair
and Other Stories,” opening at Bric Arts
Media on Jan. 31, will examine beauty
norms and their connection to racism,
classism, and other social scourges,
according to one of the show’s choreographers.
“We’re looking at the standards of
beauty, who defines the standard of
beauty, what is considered good hair,
what is considered bad hair, and why,”
said Samantha Spies. “We’re looking at
Mane
event
systems and institutions that are upholding
this oppression.”
Spies and other members of the Urban
Bush Women were inspired by “Hair
Stories,” a 2001 production by the group
that focused on black women’s hair. The
new production features the manes of
people of all genders and backgrounds,
but — like the 2001 show — will weave
together personal stories, movement, and
multimedia elements, Spies said.
The show will start with local artists
and hairdressers sharing their own
hair-focused stories and leading conversations
with audience members, according
to Spies. The hour-long pre-show
elements are meant to mimic the intimate
conversations that happen in black
homes and hair parlors, she said.
“In Black American culture, we have
this thing that’s ‘kitchen talk’ — there
are things that you talk about in the
kitchen with your people, with your
folks, that you’re not talking about in
the living room, or with invited guests.
We’re inviting the guests to be a part of
this kitchen talk with us,” she said.
The performers will lead audience
members through call-and-response
activities, and prompt visitors to share
their own ideas about what is beautiful
and their impressions of race in
America, Spies said.
“It is participatory — we are asking
the audience to go on the journey with
us, not to think that they’re coming in as
spectators, but that they’re coming in as
co-conspirators,” she said.
Discussing ideas of beauty can lead
audience members into a broader conversation
about topics that they might
not discuss or consider in their daily
lives, said the choreographer.
“The root of it is, if we look at beauty,
then we have to look at all of the other
things that are connected and in relationship
to beauty,” Spies said. “It hopefully
will open up a discussion that may not
be happening otherwise and that gives
someone experiencing it a little bit of a
curiosity.”
“Hair and Other Stories” at Bric
House Ballroom (647 Fulton St. at
Ashland Place in Fort Greene, www.
bricartsmedia.org). Jan. 31–Feb. 2
and Feb. 7–9 at 8 pm. $25 ($20 in
advance).
Police Blotter ..........................8
Now on Brownstoner .......... 16
Standing O ............................ 24
Letters .................................... 32
The Right View ....................34
Person of the Year ............. 35
COURIER L 2 IFE, JAN. 18–24, 2019 DT
announced the renaming
contest months after
in October permanently
to the current periodical
Street headquarters until
Society.
This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2019 by Brooklyn Courier Life
LLC. The content of this newspaper is protected by Federal copyright law. This newspaper, its advertisements, articles and photographs may not be reproduced, either in whole
or part, without permission in writing from the publisher except brief portions for purposes of review or commentary consistent with the law. Postmaster, send address changes to
Brooklyn Courier Life LLC, One MetroTech North, 10th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Mail:
Courier Life,
1 Metrotech Center North
10th Floor, Brooklyn,
N.Y. 11201
General Phone:
(718) 260-2500
News Fax:
(718) 260-2592
News E-Mail:
editorial@schnepsmedia.com
Display Ad Phone:
(718) 260-8302
Display Ad E-Mail:
jstern@schnepsmedia.com
Display Ad Fax:
(718) 260-2579
Classified Phone:
(718) 260-2555
Classified Fax:
(718) 260-2549
Classified E-Mail:
classified@schnepsmedia.com
It’s one for the books
Library renames historic eagle statue after former boro prez
NEW NAME: Library leaders renamed the Brooklyn Eagle statue inside
the Central branch after its late benefactor, former Borough President
Ingersoll. Gregg Richards
Having a
Balk!
Park Slope’s gilded Grand Prospect
Hall will transform into a
sea of writhing bodies on Jan.
18 and 19, when it once again
hosts the Golden Festival, a
two-day event organized by
members of local 12-piece band
Zlatne Uste, where attendees
bust a move in traditional Balkan
line dances while grooving
to folk music from southeastern
Europe. Last year’s dance
fl oor got so crowded that one
attendee called it “mosh-able.”
For more on the 2019 festival,
see 24-Seven.
File photo by Jason Speakman
INSIDE
Your entertainment
guide Page 47
HOW TO REACH US
/bricartsmedia.org
link
link
link
/www.bricartsmedia.org
link
link
link