Hart Island: Discovery of an Unknown Territory [Illustrated] (Hardcover)

Synopsis
This is the story of Hart Island, the Bronx, in the Long Island Sound, commonly referred to as "Potter's Field". Well-known New York-based photographer, Joel Sternfeld has created a series of colour photographs, which are complemented by installations of artist Melinda Hunt. The book represents a discovery, a documentation of an unknown territory right in front of the doors of New York City. After the purchase of the island, approximately one mile long and one-eighth to one-third of a mile wide, by the City in 1868, Hart Island has served as a cemetery, a charity hospital for women, an insane asylum, and a jail. During World War II the Island was turned over to the Navy. Later it served for housing of male derelicts, as a NIKE missile base for the US Army, for a narcotic rehabiliation programme, and finally as a cemetery again. Today, the inmate work details are bussed from Rikers Island to perform the burials, disinterments and maintenance of the Island. Since 1869, more than 750,000 burials have been performed. Hart Island is not open to the public.

From the Author
Hart Island: New York City's Potter's Field
Hart Island is located in the Long Island Sound between Great Neck, Long Island and the Bronx. Since the end of the Civil War, three quarters of a million people have been buried on Hart Island. Most of the Hart Island burials are anonymous, mass graves. Fifty percent are children under five. They are conducted each weekday by young men who are bused in from the city prison on Riker's Island.Hart Island represents the ultimate melting pot where individual lives are blended beyond recognition. It is also the flip-side of the American Dream where immigrants, victims of epidemics, poverty, mental illness and substance abuse are buried in shallow trenches. Preserved on Hart Island is a system of burials dating back to the British colony when the Almshouse was located at City Hall Park and African Americans were buried outside the city walls.Hart Island contains color photographs by Joel Sternfeld taken during an 18 month period beginning in 1991. It includes writings by inmates who worked on the burials, archival records and a brief history of the island. The book is a commemoration of the unmarked potter's fields in Manhattan as well as the inaccessable public burial ground on Hart Island.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, beautiful and sublime., 20 Feb 1999 By A Customer If I was a better writer I would find better words than haunting, beautiful and sublime for this incredible book. If I could, I would PAY people to read it. (On the condition that they give me the money back if they agree that it's as good as I say it is!) It gives a lovely, painful and unforgetable look at how forgetable we can be. The shots of the bleachers from Ebbets Field! Broke my heart. I can't stop looking at these images. I can't stop trying to read the records of the people buried there that surround the photographs in the front. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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