Bedford Stuyvesant

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Private House
Address: 421 Franklin Avenue
Cross Streets: Monroe and Madison Streets
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year Built: 1860’s
Architectural Style: Second Empire
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: No

The story: In 1876, a woman named Mary Gould was up before a judge in Brooklyn criminal court for stealing a lace shawl from Mr. H. C. Webb from his house at 421 Franklin Avenue, a large Second Empire house in the Bedford section, between Madison and Monroe Street. Mr. Webb was an elegantly bearded man in his 50’s, obviously of means, as he appeared in court wearing a diamond cross and carrying a gold handled cane. He lived in the house with his daughter, and had offered a home to Miss Gould to be a companion to them. This was just the first of many interesting events to take place in this home, now tucked away between apartment buildings and row houses, on what was until recently, a rather forgotten part of Franklin Avenue. (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former St. Peter Claver School, now the Brooklyn Waldorf School
Address: 11-19 Claver Place
Cross Streets: Corner Jefferson Avenue
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year Built: 1931
Architectural Style: Art Deco
Architect: Henry V. Murphy. Refitting by Rogers Marvel Architects.
Other Buildings by Architect: Garage/ house at 152 Berkeley Pl, w/ Edward H. Lehmann, first four buildings of St. John’s University, Queens.
Landmarked: No, but should be

The story: The Irish have St. Patrick; black Catholics all over the world have St. Peter Claver. He is the patron saint of slaves, of Colombia and African-Americans. Pedro Claver Corbero was a Jesuit priest, born in 1580, who made it his mission to minister to the thousands of African captives who were brought into the harbors of Cartagena, Colombia, to be sold as slaves. He visited them in the stinking slave ships and in the holding cells on land, offering them food, what medicine he was able to administer, and whatever hope and encouragement he could offer. He also made it his life’s work to try to end the slave trade, and for 40 years, ministered to Africans brought to the New World, learning their culture and customs, caring for them as people, something very few others did at the time. Although he was never able to end slavery, his work and advocacy made conditions more humane, and he was known as the “Saint of Cartagena.” He died in 1654, and was canonized by the Church in 1888.

In 1921, St. Peter Claver Catholic Church was established on what was then Ormond Place, now Peter Claver Place, in Bedford Stuyvesant. It was the first Catholic church in Brooklyn established for an African American congregation, the brainchild of Rev. Bernard Quinn, its first pastor, and the Colored Catholic Club. Their first home was on Schermerhorn Street, in borrowed church space; and soon a new church was found, the current Peter Claver church, which has become a monument to black Catholic history. A school was soon founded, with classes held in nearby brownstone buildings. In 1931, this brand new and very modern school was built. (more…)

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: former Brooklyn College of Pharmacy, now Brooklyn Tabernacle Deliverance Center
Address: 600 Lafayette Avenue
Cross Streets: Nostrand and Marcy Avenues
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year Built: 1928-29
Architectural Style: Collegiate Gothic
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: No, but wouldn’t be a bad idea, along with its predecessor around the corner.

The story: The Kings County Pharmaceutical Association was founded in 1877. In 1880, they announced that one of the goals of the organization was “the establishment and maintenance of a college of pharmacy wherein the theoretical and practical principles of pharmacy may be taught and the degree of graduate in pharmacy and doctor of pharmacy may be conferred.” To that end, the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy was founded in 1886. By 1895, they were housed at 305 and 329 Franklin Avenue, and were still growing, necessitating the building of a new college facility on Nostrand Avenue, in 1903. This building, at 265 Nostrand, is a former BOTD, and more information on this is available here.

A career in pharmacy was, and still is, a growing field, and a popular profession, and it soon became clear that the new building was not large enough for all of the classes and students. Prohibition also fueled the school’s popularity in the 1920s, which makes sense if you think about it. The College also had been in negotiations to merge with Long Island University, and in 1928, that announcement was made. It was also announced that a new College of Pharmacy building would be built around the corner form the old, and in 1929, this handsome school opened, now an official part of LIU. (more…)