Published by Koharu on 20 Oct 2009 at 04:46 pm
Walking Tour (Oct 20th)
The walking tour was an interesting and educational experience. While we walked, we were allowed a glimpse of the world that raised Whitman and procured some of the greatest revolutionary thinkers in American history.
We visited the Plymouth Church near where Whitman lived and where he and key figures in history like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Beecher Stowe attended mass.
The front of Plymouth Church
The Plymouth Church is a New York Landmark
Then we moved on to the Brooklyn Promenade where Abraham Lincoln himself once said “There may be finer views than this in the world, but I don’t believe it.” While the landscape is notably different than what Lincoln saw during his time in New York, the impact is the same. When you know where to look, New York can be breathtakingly beautiful.
A view from the Brooklyn Promenade.
Part of the Manhattan Skyline.
A view from the Brooklyn Promenade.
Even today, there are still water taxis.
The modern day ferry.
Even from a distance, the Brooklyn Bridge is an impressive structure- you don’t need to be close up to see all the detail and hard work that went into a bridge that decades after its construction, still stands solid.
The Brooklyn Bridge from a distance.
The Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan Bridge in the background.
After that we made our way over to the Eagle Warehouse, a now residential building that once housed the ‘Brooklyn Eagle’ where Whitman worked as an editor. Whitman used to look out his second floor window at Manhattan street. The street below it is still cobble-stoned.
Below Whitman's old window, the street is still cobblestoned.
Standing on the uneven stone, I couldn’t imagine how people drove carriages or even walked on the streets without falling over.
It's as bumpy as it looks.
The last stop on out tour was the Fulton pier. Or outside of if at least. The pier was closed for filming today- go figure. That aside, we read the first 4 sections of “Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry while taking in the sights and sounds of Old Fulton Street.
I didn’t just learn about Whitman today, I gained a greater appriciation for the borough I live in.
techwhit on 20 Oct 2009 at 9:57 pm #
Your images are incredible! Today’s tour of Whitman’s Brooklyn was illuminating.
Koharu on 20 Oct 2009 at 10:16 pm #
Thanks ^-^. And yeah it was- I never knew that Lincoln attended church so close to home. It’s great learning new things about a borough I’ve been in all my life.
Matthew Gold on 20 Oct 2009 at 11:25 pm #
Great post! Thanks so much for putting it up and posting your responses to the tour. I agree that the visit to Plymouth Church was profoundly moving. It’s always amazing to be in a space that was inhabited in the past by figures who continue to influence us today. And that, in a nutshell, is what “Looking for Whitman” is about.
Two notes: I wish that we could view larger versions of these photos. You might think about uploading them to Flickr, which would also allow you to geo-tag them by adding them to our group and our collective flickr map. And the pier was closed for a film production, not an actual political rally. Whether it was sponsored by a real political campaign shooting a commercial or a film/tv production, I don’t know. I do hope that everyone in the class finds time to head down there again, as it is an amazing place to experience.
Matthew Gold on 20 Oct 2009 at 11:29 pm #
By the way, please tag this post “fieldtrip” so that it can be aggregated into the field trip blog. Thanks!
taraw on 22 Oct 2009 at 5:31 pm #
I love that you recreated your field trip through these photographs and explanations. It makes me feel as though I’m taking the field trip with you – and provides an interesting way for the rest of us to look at the NYC Whitman. Great post!