Dolores McCullough, James Hurley

Description

Connection to Weeksville: Both founders and early active members of the Weeksville Society. James Hurley and Dolores McCullough first met at Central Brooklyn Neighborhood College, where Jim was teaching classes on local Brooklyn History. Jim had recently returned from studying at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS), in London. He had become disillusioned with his scholarship there, so he returned to America in 1965, settling in Central Brooklyn. He recalls that on the ship he took back to the United States, he met the peace activist Rev. William Sloane Coffin, who further influenced Jim to become involved in social and political movements. Once he moved to Brooklyn, he began working with the Albany Houses, the public housing complex located near the remnants of Weeksville and the future Weeksville Gardens Projects. Jim worked in a settlement house connected to the Albany Houses. He was referred to this position by one of the librarians at the Brooklyn Public Library’s historical division: however, Jim did not feel that he was apt as a tenant organizer. Challenged by his work with the Albany Houses, he decided to move closer to the area, settling at Park Place between Brooklyn and New York Avenues. He recalls the neighborhood as being “multi-racial”, and quickly joined a community rights organization, the Parkway Stuyvesant Council, where he wrote historical articles for the newsletter. Jim’s interest in New York City history came from his experience as a guide for the Museum of the City of New York. There,...

Record Contributed By

Weeksville Heritage Center