'Bed-Stuy Forever' Archives Images, Stories From Historic Neighborhood

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Faith Robinson's inspiration is her Bed-Stuy mom.

Robinson, 27, has spent more than a year archiving a neighborhood that has been home to her family since her mom first arrived in Bed-Stuy, from North Carolina, in the 1960s, the archivist told Patch.

"She would just share stories of what Bed-Stuy was like back then," Robinson, a teaching assistant, said.

After seeing other NYC archival Instagram accounts, Robinson decided to make one for Bed-Stuy, spending the last year-plus delving through archives and books in libraries with the mission of sharing and preserving the stories of her neighborhood.

Called Bed-Stuy Forever, the page shows a mix of black-and-white and color photographs, along with some short documentary videos Robinson made, ranging from over 100 years ago to the late 1990s.

Robinson describes it as "a love letter to my neighborhood," and seeks to present a more intimate history through pictures, short films and interviews with longtime residents.

One of her guides through history has been historian Wilhelmena Rhodes Kelly's book on Bed-Stuy. Turns out, Kelly went to the same church that Robinson belongs to, Bridge Street Church,

"I've just been going to the library, getting books, getting pictures," she said, "I want to go deeper than social media."

In addition to hitting the books, Robinson has also been hitting up her neighbors to see if they could share their own stories and personal image collections.

"I've been kind of going around my neighborhood and asking my neighbors that they are willing to share archives," she said, noting that she has several upcoming interviews.

Robinson accepts submissions. Anyone interested in contributing to the archive can contact Robinson through her Instagram page.

Eventually, Robinson hopes to turn Bed-Stuy Forever into a stand-alone website, filled with photos and oral histories for people to explore on their own. But her ultimate goal is to go even closer to home and make a documentary film about her own Madison Street block.

"There's a few black families left who own brownstones on this block," Robinson said.

Those residents include one neighbor whose late husband was the first black man to own an ice cream parlor in the neighborhood.

"Everyone knows about the famous people who lived here," Robinson said. "But I really do want to focus on just getting the more intimate stories."

You can find the Bed-Stuy Forever Instagram page here.