Hattie Carthan — Black-Owned Brooklyn

When you walk down one of Central Brooklyn’s iconic tree-lined streets, don’t forget that many of those magical green canopies owe thanks to the revolutionary work of a Black woman: environmentalist and community organizing legend Hattie Carthan.

Born in 1900 in Virginia and raised on Long Island, Ms. Carthan moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant in 1953, settling in a picturesque, tree-lined block on Vernon Ave. Yet 10 years later, few of those trees remained. In 1964 Carthan organized neighbors to form the T&T Vernon Avenue Block Association, which threw block parties to raise money for planting trees. By 1966, she founded the Bedford-Stuyvesant Beautification Committee — leading a coalition of block associations that planted more than 1,500 ginkgos, sycamores and honey locusts throughout Central Brooklyn that remain to this day.

Newspapers nationwide championed Carthan’s cause in 1970, as she attempted to save a 40-foot Magnolia grandiflora from being demolished by apartment developers. She not only saved the century-old tree by securing its landmark status; at age 72, she also founded the Magnolia Tree Earth Center in the brownstones behind it to “foster urban beautification, earth stewardship, and community sustainability.”

Along with the Magnolia Tree Earth Center, today the Hattie Carthan Community Garden and Market carries on her legacy. Founded in 1991, the garden operates three farmer’s markets, food justice workshops and an herbal apothecary. “The legacy is deep,” says Yonnette Fleming, an urban farmer and vice president of the garden, on the grassroots environmentalism practiced by her community at 363-365 Clifton Place, at the corner of Marcy Ave. “Hattie laid the groundwork and the foundational template for all to follow.”

Celebrate Earth Day with an afternoon of events next Saturday, April 24, 2021 at the Hattie Carthan Community Garden. Details at hattiecarthancommunitymarket.com —By Mai Perkins