Living Landscape: Mapping Community Stories Within Upper Manhattan’s History

FAIN: ZPP-283417-22

Morris-Jumel Mansion, Inc. (New York, NY 10032-5360)
Megan Byrnes (Project Director: May 2021 to June 2024)

Production of a series of short, illustrated essays and audio-visual resources to contextualize the original site of the Morris-Jumel property within American history.

Morris-Jumel Mansion’s “Living Landscape” illustrated essay project uses the geographical lens of the former boundary lines of the Morris and Jumel Estates (about 50 blocks of today’s Washington Heights and Harlem neighborhoods in Manhattan) to frame stories from the land’s original inhabitants, the Lenape people, members of the African American community, and today’s Dominican-American community. Together, these stories combine with those of Morris-Jumel Mansion, the oldest remaining house in Manhattan, to represent a microcosm of American history, weaving together the strands of migration, colonization, enslavement, urbanization, and the ever-changing meanings of American identity and citizenship. The museum will work alongside three key partners to develop a essays and audio-visual resources relating to key topics that are central to telling the stories of the surrounding landscape and evolution of America.