The Lincoln Avenue Cookbook

The Lincoln Avenue Cookbook:

Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity

This project is an outcome of the Harvard Graduate School of Design Option Studio titled Great Migration and Memorial Highway: Culture Heritage as Inspiration in New Rochelle led by Gina Ford and Rhiannon Sinclair.

Designed by Scarlet Rendleman and Colleen Sloan, this project is inspired by, and dedicated to, two community members of New Rochelle, New York: Linda Tarrant-Reid and Walter Brown.

Table of Contents

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Table of Contents

Foreword Chapter 1: Introduction to the Lincoln Corridor

p. 6-7 p. 8 - 21

Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks

p. 22 - 31

Chapter 3: Spring

p. 32 - 41

Chapter 4: Summer

p. 42 - 51

Chapter 5: Fall

p. 52 - 61

Chapter 6: Winter

p. 62 - 71

Call to Action

Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity

p. 72-73

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Foreword This cookbook is for the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood in New Rochelle, New York. The reasons for focusing on this neighborhood are twofold: data driven analysis and, more importantly, the lived experiences of two community advocates, Linda Tarrant-Reid and Walter Brown. This book focuses on issues of inequity, cultural identity, and food insecurity among the black community. Through an analysis of the districts with the highest concentrations of black population paired with low-income density, see figure below, the most critical areas of inequity in New Rochelle are identified, which includes the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood.

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Linda and Walter’s stories of the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood brought to life the importance of the area as a historic black community. Their experiences speak to the displacement of people and businesses of the community by Memorial Highway in the 1960s, after the desegregation case verdict then demolition of Lincoln Elementary School. This cookbook illustrates the rich histories and experiences of Linda and Walter to demonstrate the potential of the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood to be once again a vibrant place for blackowned businesses, community gathering, and cultural celebration through a new urban food system.

Foreword

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Chapter 1: Introduction to the Lincoln Corridor, Food and Culture

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Chapter 1: Introduction

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Community Contributors

Linda started the grow!

Lincoln Park Community Garden and is Executive Director of the Lincoln Park Conservancy.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Walter worked as a social worker at New Rochelle High School for over 20 years is a volunteer coach at the Remington Boys and Girls Club.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

African-American and Caribbean contributions to ‘Soul Food’

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Regional Extents

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Chapter 1: Introduction

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Walter’s Ingredients of Home 1960-70

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Chapter 1: Introduction

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Inequities in Food Access and Health is a National Issue As evident in the experiences of Walter and Linda, the inequities in food access, health and financial well-being are not an anomaly to New Rochelle, but speak to a nationwide crisis. The map, at right, depicts the larger national context of this issue where black majority communities, seen in the pink dot density, tend to face higher rates of food insecurity as well as being concentrated largely in the southern and eastern states facing generally higher rates of obesity and other health risks.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

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The Lincoln Corridor: Past and Present

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Chapter 1: Introduction

Linda’s Recipe for grow! Lincoln Park Community Garden Left: Today, Lincoln Park holds grow! Lincoln Park Community Garden and is adjacent to the Remington Boys and Girls Club, currently under renovation. Also notable is the food bank across the street, which Linda and Walter describe as often having long lines of people waiting outside to receive food.

Right: The existing grow! Lincoln Park Community Garden, is shown as addressing food insecurity, education, sustainability, and community cohesion through many different activities and programs onsite.

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Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks

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Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks

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A Food and Culture Network

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Phasing the Network Over Time

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Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks

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Ingredients for Transforming Space Seen here are potential spatial design ingredients that may be used on a variety of existing site typologies. This list of ingredients is not exhaustive but, rather, is meant to inspire a range of possibilities to rethink spaces in New Rochelle, or even at home. For example, Little Free _____ could be a Little Free Library, a Little Free Food Pantry, a Little Free Recipe Repository, etc. depending on the wants and needs of the community.

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Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks

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Four Sites of Design Potential

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Chapter 2: Planting and Community Frameworks

The remainder of this cookbook is organized into chapters by season. The following framework demonstrates the proposed designs for 4 sites across the New Rochelle Lincoln Corridor area that each chapter explores. These designs utilize some of the spatial ingredients from our framework to reimagine what these spaces may look like in the future.

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Chapter 3: Spring

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Chapter 3: Spring

“To plunge your hands into this rich, dark, healthy soil, and then to actually put your seed in the soil and cover it...and then to water it — it’s an act of love, really...you’re birthing something, and...when whatever you are planting reaches maturity, you’re going to use it to nourish yourself and your family.”

- Linda Tarrant-Reid

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The Spring Schedule

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Chapter 3: Spring

Spring Peach Blooms

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Chapter 3: Spring

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Spring in the Lincoln Park Hub Planting season commences, the weather is warming, people gather in the park.

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Chapter 3: Spring

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The Legacy of Lincoln Elementary School

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Chapter 3: Spring

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Chapter 4: Summer

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Chapter 4: Summer

“The black community would have these big dances and annual galas, all the parents would go to those... our parents were really generous about letting us [the kids] have parties, too...they would make snacks for us...We were very social.”

- Linda Tarrant-Reid

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The Summer Schedule

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Chapter 4: Summer

Summer Peppers

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Chapter 4: Summer

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Summer at Rochelle Park Rochelle Park is used for seasonal events such as barbeques and farmer’s markets.

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History of Social Events

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Chapter 4: Summer

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Chapter 5: Fall

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Chapter 5: Fall

“We would also have pancake-eating contests under “nanny’s” supervision...amongst my cousins which I ALWAYS won!! My highest total was 13.”

- Walter Brown

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The Fall Schedule

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Chapter 5: Fall

Collards in Fall

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Chapter 5: Fall

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Chapter 5: Fall

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Historic Black Churches

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Chapter 5: Fall

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Chapter 6: Winter

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Chapter 6: Winter

“Large meals were prepared during large family gatherings, especially the holidays. My paternal grandmother who emigrated from Jamaica would prepare meals during Christmas and Thanksgiving consisting of turkey, honey-glazed ham, collard greens, string beans, yams, beans and rice...Since I was a finicky eater, Grandma would break protocol and make certain dishes...rice without beans, and stuffing without celery, just for ME!” - Walter Brown

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The Winter Schedule

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Chapter 6: Winter

Witch Hazel in Winter

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Chapter 6: Winter

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History of Entrepreneurship on Lincoln Avenue

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Chapter 6: Winter

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Call to Action There are several organizations and resources in New Rochelle that are working to preserve and promote sustainable, equitable infrastructure, public space, and cultural enrichment and education.

Grow! Lincoln Park Community Garden Phone: (919) 224-4243 E: growlpcg@gmail.com T: @growlincolnpark F: http://www.facebook.com/growlincolnpark New Rochelle Municipal Housing Authority 50 Sickles Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Phone: (914) 636-7050 E: afarrish@nrmha.org

The Lincoln Park Conservancy, Inc. 177A East Main Street #341, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Phone: (914) 224-4243 E: thelincolnparkconservancy@gmail.com T: @the_conservancy F: www.facebook.com/ thelincolnparkconservancy GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/d032d716

New Rochelle Community Action Program 95 Lincoln Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Phone: (914) 636-3050 E: http://www.westcopny.org/community-action-partnerships-2/

Additional information and resources can be found on the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) webpage dedicated to the Lincoln Avenue Corridor of New Rochelle: https://www.tclf.org/sites/default/files/microsites/landslide2021/locations/lincoln.html 72

Sowing the future Lincoln Corridor Recipes for Addressing Food Access and Cultural Continuity

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