From eddie murphy movies. So, of course, everyone who lived in brooklyn were vampires, and if you wanted to find the clean, you would go to queens, of course. , we are going to export more about flushing, queens, is community, its microcosm of world religions. Before we begin, just a little bit about our author. Has lang r. Scott hanson a phd from the university of chicago. He is but most of his adult life thinking about pluralism in the world, but most of it from the neighborhood of flushing, queens, in new york city of course. He has studied acting and the university, sunni, the university of pennsylvania. Inis currently a lecturer history at the university of pennsylvania. He has studied at the the universityy, of pennsylvania. Ladies and german, please join ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming ruth tonight. Cott hanson [applause] all right. Good evening and welcome. That i should add tonights talk will be filmed by American History tv on cspan3. So, during the question and answer session later, you, too, can be part of history and posterity. [laughter] all set. All right . Turn it up somewhere . We are good. Ok. All right. Thats good. All right. Thanks so much. All right. Thank you so much for taking to talk aboutere the history of the town of lushing, queens, a town that has perhaps the most religiously Diverse Community in the world. You can see on the slide, there are over 200 different places of worship, densely packed in a two and a half square mile radius in the downtown area of flushing. There are 70 hindu temples, six sikhgogues, for mosques, n2 taoistgs, two temples. There is nowhere else in the world you see quite this religious diversity and i will explain some of the factors that diversity. In july fromout the University Press and you will be able to purchase a copy of the book afterwards if you would like for 20. Write up here with the director ,f the fordham University Press fred. So, today is another holiday of sorts. The flushing remonstrance of 1627. Theater 69 years ago, during the , whencolonial period flushing was called part of long 15 englishmenwhen applied to the governor for the pleasure of settling on land tribe,ed from the indian the charter they were granted to establish a town was one of the most liberal arrangements for any settlement in colonial america by or on behalf of any government. The grant seemed to offer almost complete religious freedom. It said, we do give and grant to have and enjoy liberty of conscience according to the custom and manner of holland, without molestation or disservice service from any magistrate or magistrates or any ministerlesiastical that may extend jurisdiction over them. So, hollands custom and manner therding to religion was most lenient attitude of all of the european nations. But flushings charter did not extend to the rest of the colony and they would learn that the charter was a loosely defined concept. The Dutch Reformed Church was the official state religion and the government have the power to forbid assemblies of faith. They could disagree with the dutch reformed, but only if they kept silence about it outside their own homes and if that led to no visible actions in society. The governor did little to enforce these limitations during his incumbency and the presence of a diverse population speaking 18 languages gave rise to a variety of religious groups. 1647 with a new director general, the liberty enjoyed by jeopardized. He was a strict calvinist, and under pressure from churchmen in holland and in the colony, he began persecuting groups that arrived in the colony, including juice and lutherans. Including jews and lutherans. He wrote to him saying jews may exercise in a houses. When several boisterous quakers andved, he jailed them issued proclamations on placards throughout the county, banning all public worship except that of the dutch reform. These were mild punishments compared to what the quakers would face after their arrival in 1687. Quakersgly called because the preachers were seen as boisterous and bold, making their listeners quake with the fear of god, the friends had few friends among the dutch establishment. Embedded the director for bid quakers. One was brutally tortured until his sister intervened. Some in flushing had attended nearby quaker meetings and had become converts by 6057, but forced to meet secretly in the woods. Their plight became a town cause. 16 57,s after christmas, 30 people of different faiths gathered from the general votes of the inhabitants banded together, including the town clerk and sheriff, to sign the flushing remonstrance enter my him of the to remind charter. None were quakers except perhaps one. They believed in the religious freedom of people and extending quakers,of liberty to in addition to anyone else, including presbyterians, baptists, as well as jews, turks, and egyptians. To follow andas enforce a strict interpretation of the law as he interpreted it. The remonstrance did not move him in the least, and he jailed those that he suspected as leaders. , john brownlater began to welcome friends to meet at his newly built house on sunday for first day. He was a merchant from derby sure, england who had migrated, first to boston with his father. That with the puritans in the Massachusetts Bay colony, movingme a friend after to flushing. Jamaica soonn learned of the meetings and a scout came to arrest found and taken to jail. The director was unable to get him to pay a fine or prevent him from holding meetings. He banished him from the colony, sending a letter to his superiors in amsterdam. Bound eventually made its way to amsterdam and pleaded his own case. They were persuaded by his appeal and let him return. And they also sent a letter to rebuke the director for his intolerance of religious dissent and restored liberty of conscience in flushing, if not colony. Re he eventually made his way back to his family january 30, 1664. To put this a bit more in , this is something that was created for the church centenary, the 300 41st anniversary, and it gives you some sense of the history and origins of the documents and the people that i have been describing. Englishugust 27, the rested control of New Amsterdam from the dutch. Changed ands name was anglicized into flushing. In a letter to the new governor nicholls, the dutch strongly advised him not to make any alteration in their Church Government or introduce any new form of worship among them. The result was a remarkable , but stillontinuity influenced by what they had created. Flushing would later claim to be the birthplace of religious freedom in america, and to some extent, they would be right. In a very limited colonial context, flushing does appear to be the first town to have and end liberty of conscious liberty of conscience, as religious freedom was called them. Taken togetherr with the remonstrance and there was no charter in his time, but the liberty of conscience charter did not extend to the rest of the colony, nor was it reinstated in flushing until 1669. Part of is often historical tugs of war over who was first. In rhode island, for instance, similar claims are made on behalf of the portsmouth compound of 1788. The town of providence was founded by Roger Williams in 7036. And while a Royal Charter was established, the religious experiments were not officially granted until a second revised charter of rhode island was granted in 1663, several months after the successful case to the dutch west india company. Of 1630 two,arter as well as an act concerning religion in 1649 and the act of toleration favored catholics. The charter for the province of pennsylvania also came later, in 1681. Bay colony andts connecticut lagged further behind many socalled heretics escaped to join other colonies if they did not suffer inate similar to those the salem witch trials in the 16 90s. Jefferson, who was apparently moved by what he wrote of as the poor quakers and wrote about how sister states long subsided without establishment at all did not write his statute of religious freedom until 1787. What there is no evidence that the remonstrance was read by jefferson or james madison, the evolution of the sequence of events in new york does appear to have made an impression on the minds of the founding fathers. Despite its significance, the flushingse and history largely faded from memory until the early 19th century, when on some of the comprehensive histories of new written. Some churches story and took note and began to include references to the remonstrance and found in their surveys of religion in america as early as 1898. The dominant narratives of American History and religion, at least until the late 20s century, stressed the primary importance of legacy of new england puritanism and settlements along the coast in general. Flushing ships the attention to the middle atlantic colony of new netherland, and its long experiment with pluralism that is perhaps more relevant today. To focus on the history that is more recent the history of new york and the broader history noteligion in america did reach a wide enough audience to make flushing wellknown. This would change when flushing was direct into the international spotlight as it celebrated a series of anniversaries that coincided 193940 worlds fair in flushing world park, the end world war ii, and the height of the cold war. So, here you see a picture of mayor laguardia in the living room of found house, making a radio broadcast for wnyc, marking the 300th anniversary of the founding of flushing. The house wasr, dedicated as a Historical Society and the National Shrine to religious freedom. In 1957, during the height of say you war, went to are not religious could get you labeled as a communist and perhaps you might lose your job or reputation or whatnot, religion became something that more americans sought to display, right . Church, temple attendance soared. We dont know to what extent it was genuine, but we do know there was an increase. ,erhaps for that reason flushings history was resurrected again for the anniversary of the remonstrance. Here it is arriving in city wall the mayorll with receiving it with a very nervous Security Guard on the right. It was on display. It would go on display more recently at the Flushing Library also in 2008 for the 350thed 50th anniversary. I think a lot of people would like to see it come back to queens, but the state archives is holding tightly on to it for redevelopment. Also, if you look at the top right, this commemorative envelope, you can see a special three cent stamp was issued by the u. S. Postal service, where it says the flushing remonstrance, religious freedom in america. If you look sometimes on ebay, you can find old sheets of this. I tried to buy most of them, so good luck. I use them for special occasions, for makeup stamps. It was very much in the public eye. Sent a wire to commemorate the events of 57 as well. Of 1957 as well. This may not look familiar to you right here, but these were the infamous corona ashdowns in what became known as flushing park. If you read the great gatsby, you probably remember one passage where fitzgerald talked about a mountain of ashes in queens. What was once the ugliest site , robert moses, the ,amous parks commissioner decided to make it into one of the most beautiful places in new york. In the 1930s, 19 40s, this was turned into this. Arguably, one of the most famous and important worlds fairs in American History, perhaps besides the chicago worlds fair of 1893. Here, you see the famous trilawn. Many of you are perhaps more familiar with the yunis fear of the 19641965 fair, but this of the making 641965 fair, but this preceded it. After the fair, one of the buildings that came the unsrary office of the General Assembly from 1947 until my 253. 1953. In an historic vote in may 1953, the u. N. Decided to create the state of israel. Many people i have talked to in , one of the rabbis in flushing, said, you know, israel was born in queens. The 1960s, 1970s, flushing, along with many other urban areas, began to fall on hard times to some extent. There was this phenomena and that sociologists refer to as white flight and just urban as then general population began to shift more to the suburbs in the postwar era. This was one of the pictures of theater r keogh rko in its heyday well, not its heyday, but the early 1970s. If you have visited flushing, youre probably more familiar pictures like this. It has been boarded up for some time and its just a tremendous eyesore. A symbol of that urban decay and blight in the 1960s and 1970s. So, what also began to happen though in the late, mid to 60s, as part of the Great Society of johnson,b. Something that he inherited from president kennedy, he sought to reform the nation will Immigration Laws. Pass the immigration act of 1965, something that is sometimes forgotten in discussions of the civil rights acts, the Voting Rights act, and so forth. It was the first bit of the doorsn to open up to the u. S. For the First Time Since the 1920s. Before 1965 you have protestants, catholics, jews, blacks, that after 1965 you begin to see the diversification, every variety christian protestant you can think of. I think a lot of people also, when they think of queens during think back tohaps references to pop culture. Tv shows like all in the family, archie bunker, the loudmouth, but lovable bigot, similar to someone else who was born in Jamaica Estates, forget thatseems to area. F this diverse sorry for editorializing there. But i cant help it. Another shot of of the worlds fair, the famous image of the unisphere. The family pictured is a family i interviewed during the course of the book. On the far right, the woman there with the little girl, who would later grow up to be the founder of one of the most popular dance parties here in new york city since the late 1990s. She grew up in flushing, and that is a picture she shared with me from the 1970s. This is how i initially came to study flushing. I had just finished a masters degree in religion from Columbia University in a was looking for something to do, when one of my professors told me about this harvardarch project at called the pluralism project, which are just started. They were looking for researchers to go around the country and document how the countrys religious landscape had begun to change in the wake makingimmigration act of 55. I was asked to cover new york city. Tall order, right . So, i spent a long time going around to different boroughs and spent a long time in queens and brooklyn, but ended up spending the most time in queens, and especially on the number seven line to flushing. , the diversity that i showed earlier and was just struck by that, i wondered, how could that have happened . What are the factors that led to that . What does it mean . What does it mean to live in the neighborhood like this that is so diverse, that has such a concentrated amount of religious pluralism . Perhaps like nowhere else. While doing that, i also learned about the colonial history i told you about as well. , i realizeded that i probably had a good project of my own turned into a dissertation in chicago and i came back every summer and ultimately moved into flushing after i finished my graduate work there and lived on bound street. For two and a half years. And right across the street from bound house and the queens Historical Society and did a lot of archival work, but also lots oral history, because when you are documenting immigrant communities, that is your only source. Also a lot of participant observation. My weekends were quite dizzy, as you might example, starting on fridays at the local mosque, services,ocal shabbat and then of course, churches on sunday. I visited just about every place in flushing, all times of day trying toand really do as not if he. So, im a historian, but i also ethnographic work as well. The book is a fusion of those teedo things. The first half is supposed to be history, but the more recent material is more ethnographic literature. So, the question i came to ask, diversity is one thing, but thats not very interesting. What do you do with that. What kinds of questions do you ask . College professors who is probably the most senior scholar in america had me read a k by a jesuit deal it theologian, and he asked them with his famous books from that hee we hold these truths, asked how much pluralism and what kind of pluralism can a Pluralist Society stand question mark and conversely, how much unity does a Pluralist Society need to be a Pluralist Society at all . I thought that was a brilliant quotation and one that spoke to 1960sc concerns of the as they began to open up to a more pluralistic view of the world. I also thought, wow. Thats even more relevant today. So that became my guiding question. So, what i ultimately found, my answer to that question, my thesis or argument, in my years of studying flushing, it seemed as if flushing had absorbed a tremendous amount of diversity and still came out ok. Momentsre were isolated of hostility, bias crimes, hate crimes, graffiti, vandalism, these sorts of things, that those were fairly isolate. There was no overt religious warfare on the streets like you see in some parts of the world northern ireland, cashmere, gaza, and so forth, right . You did not see that in the streets of flushing. That is the good news. An area experiencing rapid diversification and demographic change will turn out ok. There will be bumps along the way and challenges to be sure, but those are the possibilities of pluralism. At the same time, i also found there are limits as well. There are linguistic limits in terms of language, signage for instance has sometimes been seen as a problem. ,here have been moments when there was one incident when the nypd local precinct 109th was called for some kind of crime. And they could not find the store because the sign was in korean only. There are some issues they are sometimes. There are spatial limits as well. It is a small space, as you can see. A lot of people densely packed in this urban area. People tend to be fairly protective of whatever little space they have as city dwellers. That is one of the things different about living in a city, has one of the famous sociologists wrote back in the 1930s in an essay called urbanism as a way of life, when he described the city as a large heterogeneous space. Because of those factors, it can affect, he argued, behavior. It changes how people in cities live in some ways. They tend to be more private. You are on the subway, the bus. What do you do . You hide behind a book or newspaper. This is a good book to hide behind, or your ipad or iphone, or whatever. Just to shield whatever little space you have. If you live in more rural areas, you have more space and you might know your neighbors more. But you are still protective of your space. And urban people in feel, they are more cosmopolitan some ways. They might be more aware of different religious and ethnic and racial groups. But that does not necessarily translate into interaction. Big apartment buildings, you may see people on the elevator but you may not always know them. Passing every day, you might say hello. Would you invite them over for dinner . Do you let them borrow your keys to water your plants while you work on . Maybe, it happens sometimes. I think in general, people tend to be more private as a result of that. That is another sort of limit of interaction in terms of living in a diverse urban area. Of course, there are also structural limits of race and ethnicity and class. You cannot ignore those factors. I will show you some more slides that will help better illustrate what im talking about. But finally, there are also theological limits as well. There are those who would rather convert others to their religion than get on the interfaith bandwagon and talk about religious privileges and parlor pluralism and so forth. If you believe your neighbor is damped, you are not going to want to talk to them or engage them. I discovered that in interviews as well. Aboutian pastors talking the devil in churches nearby. There is a great deal of ignorance and so forth. Those are the possibilities and limits of pluralism as i see it, the good news and bad news if you will. You a bit morew about how flushing turned out this way. To do this, i thought i would start with a couple of graphs and pie charts. You see the population of flushing was quite small circa 1910. So, the subway extended out to flushing. You begin to see more people commuting and choosing to live in flushing and commuting into the city to work. 193940, you have the worlds fair of 193940. The u. N. General assembly, the second worlds fair, 196465. And the immigration act of 1965 with things taking off from their. Data if you look at census from this time, you can begin to see how it changed racially and by ethnicity. This is using the terms of the day that the senses used cens us used. [indiscernible] r. Scott hanson the flushing population by race, 1950, the white population about 80,000. The black population, 2000. Other nonwhite, about 250. 1960, it does not change much. By 1980, you see asian introduced as a category in the census. 1990 and finally 2000. Populatione asian had finally outnumbered the white population. This was something in the census some10, you may remember cover stories that predicted whites would become a minority by 2050. Is aing was a precursor precursor to some of these changes happening nationally. Data presented in a line this is the same data presented in a line graph. It is also helpful to look at population density maps. You see because intrusion of people in the downtown you see the population of people in the downtown area. It is less populated on the periphery. If you break it down by race, by 2000 the white population had essentially moved to the periphery. The hispanic populations intermingled. The black population is segregated in a few areas. The asian population is in the center of downtown. Most people who visit flushing, depending on what part you visit, some say flushing is chinese. If you go to union street, flushing is korean. Down further on main street, flushing is indian. It depends on where you go. Map of all is the the different places of worship. Here are all the different christian denominations broken down. I will not read all of those. It is quite inclusive of many different denominations. Here are the synagogues. Interesting to see how they are spatially organized. Worship, i places of dont know how helpful that is or not. It gives you some sense of where they have located. Some more pie charts. Hispanic origin was added to the census as a category. The cuban and mexican population begins to grow. Earlyt, in 1959 to 1960s, fidel castro sent his 20 for a few at ps years while he was leading the revolution in the caribbean. Come byicans begin to 1980. By 2000, a much more diverse population as well. People of hispanic origin tend to be catholic. However, there are a number of evangelical protestants as well growing in flushing as well. Population by age and asian origin. Here you see 1980, mostly chinese, korean, and asian indian. There was an earlier japanese population that faded for the most part by the 1980s. Finally, 2000, you see the three predominant groups. So, i would like to move now from data and charts and such to a few more pictures. You have to start with the Friends Meeting house, the oldest place in continual use in new york city. Used in 1694, still being for the same purposes. An amazing structure that is still active today. The numbers are not quite as large as they were in the 17th century, but still an active congregation. The secondplace of worship in flushing is st. Georges Episcopal Church on main street. A constant sort of drone of airplanes. Initially, there are other pictures of st. Georges not surrounded by so much urban hustle and bustle. The third oldest place of worship, the african methodist Episcopal Church from 1811. Shortly after the creation of the a. M. E. Denomination in philadelphia, a branch was started here in flushing. There have long been a black community in flushing since the 1690s. Church by thehe 1950s was surrounded by a parking lot. Previously, the area around the church was an historic black neighborhood with many and blackily homes businesses and whatnot. In the early 1950s in the name of urban redevelopment and revitalization and imminent domain, it was decided a parking lot would be built in circling the church. More recently, you may have heard in the news, the congregation has temporally been moved to a church in jamaica and an even Larger Development is going up there. I think this along with several housing projects in flushing, where not all but a number of African Americans have through history been forced to live, illustrates one of the issues of race and segregation in the area that continue today. Next, in the early to mid 19th century, st. Michaels Roman Catholic church as Irish Catholics begin to pour into the , thein 1830s to 1850s first Catholic Church in flushing was built. Nowadays, it has a spanish and chinese congregation as well. It is one of several multiethnic congregation churches in the city. The bound Street Community church initially was dutch reformed. It has beautiful stained glass tiffany windows. It was recently made into a National Historic site. It is now a Taiwanese Church of christ congregation. Unitariane Universalist Church a bit north of downtown flushing. Church, whichist i will show you the sign, the closeup of the sign later. It is a consciously Multiethnic Church that has embraced the diversity of the neighborhood in a major way and has been studied throughout the country as an effective model of multiethnic condor patient congregation success. This is the oldest synagogue in queens, the temple of prayer established in 1900. A conservative synagogue. 1920s, the flushing free synagogue, a reformed synagogue. Beautiful building. And the Jewish Center, and orthodox synagogue on bound street with folks walking to services or Rosh Hashanah if i remember correctly. After 1965, you begin to see the religious landscape of flushing begin to change. This is the living room of a , not in Jamaica Estates far from our president elect. He is a south indian immigrant who worked for the u. N. In january of 1970, net with several other indian hindus to found the Hindu Temple Society of north america. And shortly after this, they purchased a defunct Russian Orthodox church and converted the innards into a hindu temple of sorts. A common practice among many immigrant communities, adaptive reuse of the building for different purposes. Eventually, funds were gathered to build this, the first traditional south indian hindu temple in the western hemisphere. Consecrated on july 4, 1977. This picture was taken in the mid1990s. And has takenrown up more space on bound street. It is a remarkable structure. For the annual birthday see really, you colorful parade procession through the streets of flushing. Here you have a chariot being pulled by a white pickup truck passing the Jewish Center. Over here, another hindu temple right across the street. The procession, the parade draws lots of people, about 10,000 people each year to flushing. Sometimes, neighbors are very welcoming. In this case, you see a woman sharing her front porch with indian women and their children. Around cherryner is the north indian hindu center. The previous temple was primarily south indian. Because it was the first hindu temple in america, they had to cater to many different groups within the subcontinent. Ultimately, more specialization took place and you see the north indian hindu temple here. Across the street from the Jewish Center is this hindu temple i was referring to, which is a west indian hindu sect. And this is their leader who was there for devotional prayers at dawn. Across the street from temple a of prayer is the sikh temple being built in the early to mid1990s. You can see it is across the street from the synagogue. I show pictures a lot because you almost have to see the juxtaposition of all these different places of worship to understand visually how compact all of these places are and what that means, but it feels and looks like. What it feels and looks like. Here is another modest one in a storefront. It is no longer there. But you can see it was located next to a chinese evangelical bookstore with interesting graffiti. Jesus is lord as if maybe to Say Something to the neighbors. I am not quite sure, but interesting contrast. A few blocks away is the oldest mosque in queens. The Muslim Center of new york. This picture was taken during friday prayers as before going back to their cars and so forth. You see a flurry of activity around or after lunchtime when people go back to work. Course, on the dome of the mosque, you see the common saying. Very common islamic saying. It takes on interesting new meaning in such a diverse place as flushing. At least, it could be interpreted that way. This is another mosque on the other side of flushing, an afghan mosque. It received 24 7 Police Protection for two weeks after 9 11. Here is another view of it from the side. You see how the religious architecture mixes with the residential nature of the neighborhood. And another mosque you might miss in a converted house. Is a memorial the weekend after 9 11 in front of Flushing Library, which as you may know, is the busiest branch in the nations busiest system. Very sleek, modern looking building. Also in north flushing, you see remnants of the japanese population in flushing. This is the Mission Center in a converted house. Temple looksist somewhat like the guggenheim. A beautiful structure. The you see something of chinese christian population, an Evangelical Church across the street from the sikh one i was talking about earlier. Another chinese Evangelical Church serving also as a school. A chinese it is temple in a house you might miss as well if you did not know to look for it. And a much larger one off of main street. Temple inzen buddhist the little india part of flushing on main street by queens Botanical Garden. They are removing graffiti right there, one of the perils of urban life. A large chinese buddhist missionary center in north flushing as well. This one is interesting. This is the Shaolin Temple by the Long Island Railroad station a block away. In the front, it is a buddhist double. In the back, it is a Martial Arts Training Center run by a 37th generation kung fu master from shaolin who trained the actors on crouching tiger. Tai chi in the park in front of the queens Historical Society. The Lunar New Year parade going along the largely korean section on union street. Then gong right outside Flushing Library. This is one of the largest Korean Churches in flushing, the Korean Presbyterian Church of queens, 3500 members. It is considered a more church, one of several in queens megachurch, one of several in queens. It is hard to get a sense of the size of it without seeing it in person. Another Korean Church in a converted office building. Another fairly large Korean Church on the western side of town or eastern side. A somewhat smaller one, another Korean Church in a converted house. This one is fascinating. Here you have one Korean Church in the front and another in the garage in the back. Tiny congregation. Here you see in that same commercial district i was talking about earlier on union street the church of the risen christ. In a commercial district. This is more in college point, but the Korean Church next to an auto supply place and a gentlemans club. The sacred and the profane. Temple,a buddhist korean buddhist temple. Churchatin evangelical at the end of bound street which shares space with a korean congregation. Here you have mormons fresh from zingo, utah, missionarie and looking for souls on the streets of flushing who are fluent in korean, chinese, and spanish. Jehovahs witnesses by the subway exit selling or giving away copies of the watchtower. Chinese evangelicals in front of Flushing Library with jesus loves you vests. A korean evangelical missionary outside of a bakery. And i draw to a close to some extent with the pictures and slides with the beginnings of an Interfaith Movement in flushing in the 1990s and early 2000s between the pastor of the Baptist Church and the Korean Church next door. There was a multicultural, the first multicultural festival in 2001. I should add that was also a group that started right after the howard beach incident in the 1980s and lasted until shortly after 9 11, so there have been efforts at interfaith involvement and engagement in flushing. It has accelerated in recent years with more interested and cynically engaged residents of flushing as well. Festivals, of the the multicultural festival i was describing. Mrs. A picture of the this is a picture of the sign from the first Baptist Church. Conscious embrace of the diversity of flushing that has led to there being a very vital and very alive church. Those congregations that do not choose to do that often end up being dying congregations. First baptist has become a model studied by a lot of pastors around the country. Finally, the future of flushing, children. I did not interview many children for the book, but i spoke to some administrators and principals at some of the Public Schools and so forth. It is there you are beginning to see in the second and Third Generation immigrant communities more engagement with the local community as they become more active politically as well and get to know each other better as well. This is a diagram i have in the book that i dont want to get too bogged down in right now. In my attempt to map out different responses to religious diversity over time that i came up with, i will go through it a bit. Religious diversity here, you either have interaction or no interaction. Those who choose not to interact at all with little religious diversity i labeled reclusive. Those who do interact can cooperate or conflict. In the case of conflict, intolerance can lead to passive or active intolerance. I include proselytism as a form of active intolerance. It may seem strong and judgmental, but you are essentially negating someones belief to forward your own. And then of course, more overt intolerance, nativism or xenophobia, active hostility. Hate crimes and whatnot. On the other end of the spectrum, corporation, active and passive tolerance. Inclusive is a inclusive is a, say you are a christian and would like to get to know your hindu neighbor, but it is really kind of surface. You are still just understanding them from within your own belief system and not necessarily accepting theirs as the truth or equally valid truth. Interfaith on the other side of the spectrum for a more active engagement with religious diversity that can be transformative sometimes. I wont spend much more time on that. That is my own way of trying to map out what this looks like theoretically. Map of all thehe different places of worship. Here, some of you may be wondering, so what . How does this relate to the rest of america . Is flushing an extreme case is only unique to new york city . Can we extrapolate from this and apply any of the things weve learned here to the rest of the country and other areas expensing demographic change experiencing demographic change . Microcosm may be an extreme case but the story does run parallel to the larger american story and reflects something that to some extent is happening or will happen almost everywhere. Predominantly in christian communitys around the country have not had reason to think much about religious realism before. This is changing almost everywhere could there are some been are areas that have void of religious diversity where groups are largely unknown to most locals. To be sure, new york city is different from most places in america. And flushing, even more so. As i discuss in the book, urban areas are fundamentally different from suburban and rural areas. This can give rise to different forms of religious life and behavior. It is hard to find a community in america now that does not have at least some level of diversity. Even if the town is primarily white and protestant, chances are the families are descendents of various european nationalities and denominations that did not always get along. In areas where one would least expect to find diversity, there are examples of people who have overcome challenges and learned to live together. Undocumented immigrants have come to iowa. Refugees have settled in lincoln, nebraska. Some neighborhoods and become what i call microcosms of world religion. When voltaire was exiled and lived in london for several years in the early 1730s, he compared the Catholic Churchs power in france to more diverse societies and concluded if there one religion, despotism would be charitable. If there were only two, they would destroy each other. If there is one religion like the Catholic Church for most of european history, there is no other game in town. If there were two religions like you see in the holy land and they seekd so forth, to destroy each other sometimes or v for power and territoryi e. If there are a multitude, they live in peace and happiness he concluded. Similar to what madison wrote about in the federalist papers. He talks about something similar happening because of the size of the country and the republican principles. Withcas long experiment religious freedom and immigration and pluralism continues. Communities that undergo rapid change can learn to live with each other despite challenges along the way. During a time when Many Americans unfairly quick islam and hysteriam continues over how to secure u. S. Borders from illegal immigration, it is important to remember the gratian and religious diversity have always been major themes in the nation and especially new yorks history and sources of strength. The people of flushing stood up for the quakers 369 years ago. They also spoke of the law of love, peace, and liberty extending to jews, turks, and egyptians as they are considered sons of adam. And whatever name or form he appears in, we shall be glad to see anything of god in any of them. As the founder of the Interfaith Youth court in chicago has written, flushing belongs in the tradition of imagining america as a beloved community that welcomes the contributions of all people. The story of flushing is more relevant now than ever as it demonstrates at the neighborhood level how pluralism works in a nation emitted to the fundamental right of religious freedom. Bauhaus was dedicated bound house was dedicated. Had no idea how much his words would still ring true in 2016. He said then in his radio broadcast in 1945, bound house belongs to our country because it is typical of american belongs to the world because it is a symbol of what the world is looking for today. Thanks very much. [applause] r. Scott hanson i think we have some time for questions and such. I think you were first in the back. Wait for the mic. Im going to pass around the mic. [indiscernible] r. Scott hanson it sure is. There are a lot of great jazz greats in flushing. That is right. Thanks for coming. I grew up and still live in flushing. My synagogue, flushing Jewish Center, about 15 years ago became a korean synagogue. But the synagogue two blocks away which was the reformed basically now has signs that twice a week, they have korean services. I assume the synagogue becomes a church twice a week. Is that something happening frequently . My second thing is just a comment that when i went to bound house years ago, i learned john bounds farm was so large that basically all of the streets in flushing in that area eacha to q are named for plant john bound had on the farm. I did not know if people knew about that. R. Scott hanson thanks very much for your questions. I did not mention in my talk, but flushing has a rich cultural history as well. The parsons nurseries famous injuring the revolutionary and many plants led to and trees that ended up being spread all over the country. That started in flushing. The bound family did have a very large estate subdivided and subdivided. Your first question the horticultural history lives on in the Botanical Garden which is a beautiful place. Your first question, yeah, older places of worship like some synagogues that have seen numbers dwindle, they have had to choose whether or not to embrace diversity and welcome sharing their space with other congregations in the offseason as it were or on days it is not being used or share their parking lot. It has led to interesting collaborations where people have come together to do that and mutually beneficial. Yeah. I grew up in flushing believing the flushing front up youras room or you cannot go out this weekend. I had a question about one of the synagogues my parents belonged to. Temple beth shalom while it was being built used the masonic temple which i think was just over the border in bayside. I wonder if it is still standing. My second question is, right around the corner from where i live, there was a church called, i think was presbyterian, called Little Church around the corner. There was an understanding in the neighborhood it was used for a while as a Surveillance Center by the f. B. I. For mafia activity. I wonder if you came across that story. Also, do you know anything about the Masonic Center i hope is still standing. R. Scott hanson right. That is a funny story about the remonstrance. Aboutot certain actually the rest of your questions. There are so many different places of worship that have changed hands sometimes. 2001,dy largely ended in 911. It was going to end in 2000, but 9 11 happened. Not to laugh, but i had to go back to the drawing board and add that final chapter. Otherhave a number of interesting stories in the room this evening. Jump to school, jack, mitchell from the queens Historical Society might be able to answer a few. You might need a microphone, jack. Masonic temples were not religions. They were businesses or organizations with secret rituals. If you have never been there, the manhattan one is on 23rd street. It is open and they give you chores. It is a very interesting place. Flushing had one but there was a much larger one in bayside. Both buildings are still there. In flushing one was occupied for many years by a Korean Church called the Charlotte Church shiloh church. They bought the bayside one. That congregation has moved to bayside near 30 5th avenue. They are trying to sell the building in flushing. Templesof the masonic [indiscernible] what did you say . The bound Street Community church became a new york city landmark two weeks ago. Nationalaid historic site. R. Scott hanson on a similar note, to add to what the historian said, i sit also note because today is the anniversary of the flushing remonstrance, the congresswoman of flushing has sponsored a bill in congress that was passed and signed by president obama called the flushing remonstrance study act to make bound house and Friends Meeting house and the area around it as part of the National Park system. There have been Community Meetings about it as well. It looks promising that it is getting some real attention. Thank you for a wonderful lecture. I live in flushing unbound and cherry on bound and cherry. Speaking of conflict and murders, there has been a conflict, 2008, amazing to me between chinese communists and noncommunists. There was a demonstration on main street. I think it is interesting. R. Scott hanson i was not aware of that. There have been incidents of Gang Activity periodically in the 1990s that still goes on to some extent. I was not aware that communists and noncommunists conflict. [indiscernible] r. Scott hanson interesting. Thank you. All, any of these groups have special time once in a while when they give a summary of the beliefs particular to their religion that the public is invited . Secondly, is there any organized effort to bring the different religious groups together . You said there is something multicultural. R. Scott hanson yes, there have been some efforts at interfaith over the last 20 or 30 years. Some of them have been successful. Some not so successful. They tend to be jordan mainly by crisis they tend to be driven mainly by crises. 9 11, the howard beach incident. Recently in the last 10 or 15 years, that has grown. The flushing chamber of commerce, the current president of that and others have tried to make that a much more active presence and something sustained. That is the challenge for interfaith organizations in america. They often do not have any beyond or structure several wellmeaning and wellintentioned people. It tends to happen at the leadership level. For instance, the large into temple unbound street, partially because they were among the first, they have been very good at welcoming people and being very patient and answering questions and sponsoring, being part of these types of discussions. The large hindu temple on bound street. The hindu temple of north america on bound between sherry cherry and franklin. Dr. Hanson, you have got to come back to flushing. We will show you what kinds of cooperation are happening now. It is really coming together. First of all, there is something called Chinese New Year which they celebrate in chinatown. The largest Chinese Community is in flushing, but we do not celebrate Chinese New Year. We celebrate Lunar New Year which is celebrated by many asian cultures. Probably at least 100,000 people will watch that on february 4. On the first sunday of every month at the quaker Meeting House on northern boulevard, there is an interfaith breakfast and meeting in the style of the quaker meetings where people from different faiths come together and talk about things, whatever is on their mind. Twice a year now, there is an interface march. In the process of those marches, four or five different houses of worship are visited and explanations are given about that worship by the people who are the leaders of that. Usually, they throw in some food as well. , and is also once a year interfaith i cant remember. , itmentioned john cho was founded first for businesses but all the cultural and religious organizations are welcome to join it and many have. It also tends to bring people together. There are a lot of things. People have been using the term diversity was quote for 30 years. I got tired of it because i think we have progressed beyond that. My turn now for places like flushing and other places in queens is an interwoven tapestry. Think of different strands of thread which may themselves be very different, interwoven to make a tapestry or picture which can be loose or tight. But it is way beyond just clumps of this or that. R. Scott hanson thank you, jack. Metaphorsa variety of in history for diversity. Melting pot is not to act or appropriate because it suggests the melting away of different ethnic traditions and differences. I like the interwoven tapestry. Mosaic is another one used. I am aware of some of the interfaith efforts and very encouraged by that. And hopeful it will caps on and last caps on and last caps tch on and last. I would like to ask whether the census data charts and maps are in the book or some were just for this presentation. R. Scott hanson thank you. They were reformulated as tables in the back of the book. There are two other factors i was wondering if you thought may have influenced the evolution of flushing. One is the aging out of the existing population in the 1970s and 1980s where they were moving to florida or the hereafter. Is, i dontctor know about in other places in the country, but in new york allowsesidential zoning the construction and use of religious facilities. R. Scott hanson thank you so much for reminding me of that. Im it to bring that up i meant to bring that up. To white flight leading to a lot of vacant commercial and residential space in downtown flushing bought up by immigrants after 1955, there also ao 65, there was zoning law from 1961 that said as long as buildings met Fire Department code, you could open up a socalled Community Facility in a residential neighborhood. That could be interpreted to be a place of worship. In the 1960s, that meant in terms of parking you have to have a parking space for every church pew. Mosques,temples and you dont have church pews. People sit on the floor. It has led to a problem in some places in terms of parking issues and space. It has led to over 100 Korean Churches in flushing as well. That is the most numerous example in flushing. The loophole in the outdated zoning law of 1951 was a topic in the late 1990s. Eventually, the former city councilman of flushing who became the city controller running for mayor addressed this. Well. A senator has as i believe in 2004, they were able to revise this to some extent. Yes, i just wanted to say i went to Queens College way back when, when it was jewish and white. I go to the Alumni Association in certain classes were invited to the graduation from the past. One with my class one was my class. There were over 53 nationalities represented at this years graduation. Many of the people graduating were the first person in their family to graduate. There were thousands of people watching the graduation. , they cameked out and took our picture. Some came over and kissed us. It was a nice thing to see how important education was to this great mass of people from all of these different countries. Flushing has really changed. R. Scott hanson it sure has. I think that is the same reason the Flushing Library is used so much by the immigrant community as well, so active, so busy. In the back there. I want to remind all of you we do have several copies of the book for sale up here for 20 afterwards if you are interested in the copy later. Hello. European so we have a horrible accident, ok . We are doing research about minorities here and we are working on modeling in the Afghan Community. You showed the Afghan Community. We were wondering. Some years ago, there was a problem between the Protestant Community accusing the Muslim Community of being connected with the taliban, of being connected also with the dissemination of taliban media. I was wondering. During your lecture, he said when there is one religion there is [indiscernible] religions,are more they can get peace. How about these small minorities in which there is one religion but there are divisions between those between that people . What is happening for instance in the Afghan Community of flushing . Are there still problems over there . Suspiciontill the about the dissemination of taliban communities from one part of the afghan communities . R. Scott hanson thank you. Yes. When i interviewed the imam from that mosque, it was 60s before 9 11, six days before believe it or not. I called him immediately on 9 11 and asked what was going on, are you ok . What is the general mood at the mosque . He said of course, it was very somber. The sermon they gave that day mentioned a number of parts of long n that stress is peace and religion of one that sought the understanding and bringing together of different groups. I was aware of the different factions at the mosque. That is always a problem in any religious center, the struggle for power and politics and leadership and so forth. It was not surprising to me there was ethnic conflict and debate at the mosque then. I am not so sure where it stands now. But i was aware there was a fraction of people who did sympathize with the taliban, even back then. They were a minority, but yes. This was on 30 3rd avenue, an afghan mosque. Yeah. Used to live in massachusetts. City, we have flushing, queens. In boston, we have quincy. My question is coming back to gods. s topic, city of i tell you what. Went to one synagogue all welcome, the model of that place. I participated once. I am not jewish. My question is, hinduism has no beginning and no end. It was never created and therefore cannot be destroyed. As aenter of hindus timeless, space was god who manifests espy or consciousness and the most perfect form. Form as aut from that myriad of gods and goddesses to bless the people, inspired the scriptures, and uplift humanity in general. Hinduism is the greatest religion in the world. I did not write that. How would you place this model amongst any other religion and beliefs coming back to new york city . R. Scott hanson ok. Could you remind me what the title of the book was again . Money. I am not familiar with that book. It sounds like it was a fairly opinionated piece about hinduism. I would have to look at it more carefully to understand what the author was talking about. You are going to find people who ofim the absolute truth their religion over others. I think what was interesting to me in the course of my research is that i met so many different people from every different religious tradition who all spoke with equal matter of fact belief about the truth of their religions. I sat there taking notes and nodding my head as they talked in every or their guru instance. For me, as someone who grew up as a recent lutheran missouri and now Unitarian Universalist and the father of two boys who are half indian, it was really interesting to have that experience in the course of my research and to be somewhat transformed by it. I am not sure if that answers your question, but i hope so in a way. [indiscernible] written in 1988. R. Scott hanson ok. Thank you. I will look it up. Thank you. Please tell us the background of the Immigration Law passed in 1955. And also at the time, did other countries pass a law like that . Second of all, just looking at flushing, if you are a nonnew yorker, it might be a negative thing. It sort of looks like the rest of new york did not want those nationalities so they put them all in one place as if they built a high wall around flushing so those people cannot get out. And populate the rest of new york. R. Scott hanson interesting. I am not sure i follow you. Can you repeat that . Say new as if lets york city did not want all of those different nationalities living anyplace but flushing. They wanted to keep them together. They would not come to manhattan, they would not go to brooklyn. They would not go to long island. R. Scott hanson i think if you look around manhattan, you still see quite a bit of diversity. If you read another book with a similar title as mine by a more famous author who wrote the book city of god, interesting novel largely about the Upper West Side and does not scratch the surface of the diversity of the city. I did not think. But you certainly can find mosques and buddhist temples throughout manhattan as well. It is certainly here, too. It is just more concentrated in places like queens and brooklyn because these have become the new ethnic meccas. It is the new Lower East Side of the late 20th century, like brooklyn. I think that is why you see more of it. Much as in flushing. But in jackson heights, really all over the city. Immigration law. Countries andr similar Immigration Laws, i am not certain about that. It started as legislation that john f. Kennedy sought to pass after writing nation of immigrants in the 1950s. L. B. J. Passed it as part of the Great Society and other legislation in 1965. Celler act ifrt you want to look it up. I am not sure who has the microphone. In flushing, now they are in manhattan near union square. They were true buddhism in the flushing area. They were excommunicated by the priests in 1991. They are no more in flushing. R. Scott hanson ok. I was not aware of that. That shows me, step away for a bit of time, and things keep changing. Considered heretical religion now. Pilgrimage go to the to japan. They cannot go over there. R. Scott hanson interesting. The true buddhist temple, the flushing temple, they can go to japan for pilgrimage now. R. Scott hanson interesting. I think that illustrate something about a sect, a small group that starts out as a branch or a faction of a larger religious group that, you know, over time either becomes part of the mainstream or doesnt. But it was headed by he made a lot of trouble or something. Y were exhumed indicated excommunicated 1991. So they settled down in manhattan now. Ok, thank you. I will have to follow that up. Anyone else . It was previously talked about masonic rituals and iremonies in all of this, wonder if it has to do with astral theology and esotericism how it canthis, and work as a general, universal ritual without segregation . Because diversity comes from god, our creator, and i believe diversity helps you evolve and be aware of different species, different readings. I get a pic please myself, since i was 13. I am 37. Im a catholic. Myself, a few pennies since i was 13. I have met a few mystics from different religions. They have something in common, which is a good purpose for helping people, unconditionally. It is like in their dna, Something Like this. Its just natural. Believe it assimilates the soul. And to help everyone of all collectively. But my point is, in your view, i went to see how you feel about the masonic rituals and what distinguishes that from the rest . Mr. Hanson from the rest of other religions . I see. Well, the masonic order and masonry in general is something to, some would say the 13th century in england s in europeanod but it a bit later, involved people in a guild, masons, bricklayers, and so forth, right . It infused the idea of alchemy and even magic, and certainly a fascination with numbers and math. And ultimately evolved into a kind of fraternity of sorts in many countries, it involved initiations and rituals and symbols. The most famous eating the compass that you see being the compass that you see on the back of many cars. That is probably the most ubiquitous one as well. Still alive and well. If you want to know more, you just need to watch the movie national treasure, starring nicolas cage. No, thats a funny pop culture reference. Will not sure i would call it a religion per se, but more of fraternity with certain rituals that bring people and bind people together. Yet, that is true. That is part of it as well. I cant say i know as much about that as im sure you do. [indiscernible] [indiscernible] communicating on different levels. [indiscernible] mr. Hanson that sounds like a personal quest and journey in some ways. I want to thank you for an outstanding presentation. From flushing, and i live in briarwood, queens after college. I would like to thank you for , thehotos of the ministers africanamerican ministers. I would like to ask you and if theyn the audience have been to flushing for their culinary treats, because there are so many. Mr. Hanson yes, i think adventurous new york diners have discovered flushing and cleans queens as a foodie destination, and maybe they go , theye dim sum and kimchi happen to see a hindu temple and ask a few more questions about the colonial history. But yes, it is certainly a food the africanAmerican History there, i have only touched on it now that there is more detail in the book, but as i said, he goes back to the 17th century, the very rich history that i got in the pictures of macedonia that came from the churchs stony and the Church Historian of macedonia, and his wife, who were very helpful, and i also met the pastor at abyssinia before he passed as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, but also architecture. I think there is great architecture. Mr. Hanson yeah, you know, architecture of course has been to the point of debate and controversy among some. In the course of my research, some said, i hindu temple just is not planned and whether architecture here. And you know, there were discussions in the Community Boards and block associations and such to that effect. But and so, its interesting to me how the old guard of flushing can be on one hand proud of the history of religious freedom and tolerance and then grumble about the changes, you know . I found that as well. But theres also another side that embraces it. So. Thank you all for coming. For coming. L this book is for sale. Thank you, scott, for a wonderful lecture. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] interested in American History tv . Visit our website, www. Cspan. Org history. Can sera coming schedule or watch a program. Rode to the white house, lectures and history, and more at www. Cspan. Org history. Long, American History tv is joining our Comcast Cable is to showcase the history of fresno, california. To learn more about the cities on our current tour, visit www. Cspan. Org citiestour. We continue now with our look at the history of fresno. Mr. Ebert when i was a kid, the only books they had were books on the american west. Since i have always been a nonfiction person, i got, i Read Everything i could the