Brooklyn Public Library

A young boy points to the portrait he made.

On three consecutive Fridays in January, 25 brilliant fifth-graders from PS 3 in Brooklyn trooped to the Brooklyn Public Library to participate in Memory Project workshops. Working with black and white pastels and upside-down, they made portraits of Holocaust victims and then learned their stories. At home, they interviewed people in their own families about life-changing experiences. The following Friday, they used the upside-down technique to make portraits of family members. Finally, in a writing workshop led by Sheila Higginson, they polished their stories, made labels and created an exhibit of photographs, portraits and stories that bring Holocaust and personal history to light.

Each Saturday a group of remarkable adults came to the Library and did the same activities.On Sunday, January 31, proud parents, siblings, colleagues and friends braved the icy streets of the snowiest winter on record here in New York, and found warmth, refreshments and emotion at the exhibit of the students’ and adults' work in the Library’s beautiful wood-paneled Trustees Room.

You can see the portraits photos of the participants here. Thanks to their teachers, Lynda Costaglioa and Lynette McCord, to Sheila Higginson, and to the Brooklyn Public Library staff: Nick Higgins, Brenta Bentt-Peters, Kay Badalamenti, Tierra Blanchard and everyone else who participated and helped create history and memories this January.