My English professor was called for jury duty (unluckily for her) but because she had to cancel class on my birthday, I got to enjoy this fabulous field trip and learn a whole lot about the Battle of Brooklyn — the momentous August 1776 defeat in which the Continental Army was driven out of Long Island and Manhattan completely, so that lower New York became the Royal Army’s fortress for the remaining 7 years of the American War for Independence. Hence so many spies here.

Outnumbered 6 to 1, the majority of the Patriots only escaped across the Gowanus Creek (in whose marshland this house once stood) and later on to New Jersey because the Maryland 400 held off the onslaught. 256 of these brave souls gave their lives in the process, and probably sleep now in the swirling sediments beneath a changing, breathing Brooklyn near this spot — a region alive with new travellers swept to New York by opportunity, circumstance, and overseas wars, much as many of these young soldiers’ families probably were then. Every year on August 27th — the date of the battle — people from Maryland and other states gather here to honor these early American soldiers’ sacrifice for their fellow servicemen.

Every day now the Old Stone House watches over the 1,000+ children who arrive to play on its grounds, which are wreathed in playgrounds, gardens, and turf fields thanks to the museum’s dedicated staff and volunteers. The grounds and loft also serve as a meeting space for artists and political advocacy groups from both sides of the aisle.

I’m so honored to have been included in this exploration and discussion of such a vital community space, one whose stone walls hold the silent imprints of three centuries’ struggles and bonds forged.

“You’re alive, so alive…”

— Taylor Swift, “Marjorie”