Walkabout: The First Anniversary Gift is Paper

It’s hard to believe, but this post marks the first anniversary of the Walkabout (with Montrose) Column, here on Brownstoner. A year ago, Mr. B asked me to post a once a week column about architectural detail and neighborhood histories.

I don’t think either of us quite knew what we were getting into, as I had only been writing small snippets relating to Crown Heights and Bed Stuy history, on occasional blog comments. Can you imagine, originally, he only wanted one short paragraph! Me??? That lasted for one column.

Writing the column has been a transformational experience for me, coming at a time when my former career was circling the drain, and it opened up possibilities and opportunities that I never would have guessed. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I was in college, I was a research assistant for one of my professors, who was also my senior advisor, and she was instrumental in teaching me a methodology for the research I always loved doing.

Researching Brooklyn’s architectural and social history brought all of my skills back into play. I had always enjoyed the thrill of the academic hunt, and still love the feeling when you find some bit of information that no one else knows, or remembers, that you can bring to light.

I used to haunt the stacks in the university libraries like one of Harry Potter’s ghosts, and still love that library/old book smell. Now I mostly prowl the virtual stacks and archives late into the night, but finding a photo, or a newspaper clipping that relates to something I’m researching, that no one else seems to have cared about in years, is still priceless.

Writing this column has caused me to explore more of Brownstone Brooklyn than I ever had in the years I have lived here. I’ve re-walked the streets I’ve lived on, and the neighborhoods I’ve lived in for twenty-five years, and noticed details that I had never noticed before.

I’ve taken tons of photographs, and have only had three people get upset that I was taking pictures, two of whom welcomed me, when I explained that I was celebrating the wonderful history and architecture of the neighborhood. I’ve explored neighborhoods that I’ve only visited for short periods, and have so many more neighborhoods to explore, just in Brownstone Brooklyn, not even including the other great neighborhoods of the borough.

I’ve made new friends from this blog, who have aided me in the hunt, and share my craziness. In the past year, I’ve also met some of the giants in the field, and have found them to be generous in their time and in sharing our mutual love for Brooklyn, its architecture, and its people. I really am working on a book, several, actually, so there is my paper gift to myself for Walkabout’s anniversary! The rest of you, send money!! : ) Remind me not to procrastinate, and send good thoughts to the publishing gods, when I am ready! I am extremely grateful to Mr. B., the Walkabout readers, and everyone who has helped me along on this new path.

Here are some photographs of some of my favorite detail and architectural goodies from Crown Heights and Bed Stuy, gathered over the past year or more. I’m proud to have contributed, in whatever small way, to the new appreciation people are having for these neighborhoods, and I’m glad their architectural beauty is getting some recognition. I’m looking forward to continuing the search for interesting topics, people and buildings to write about in the coming year.

By the way, after college, I lost touch with my professor, and hadn’t seen her since the late 1970’s. She walked up to me at the Flea last year, where I was a vendor, and said, Excuse me, aren’t you Montrose Morris??? Brownstoner connects, yet again.

[Photos by Suzanne Spellen]