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[Last name, First name], Oral history interview conducted by [Interviewer’s First name Last name], [Month DD, YYYY], [Title of Collection], [Call #]; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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DK Holland
Oral history interview conducted by Alexis Taines Coe
March 01, 2010
Call number: 2008.031.5.010
0:01 - Introductions; finding Clinton Hill home; finding Pratt for lecture; finding community at Society for Clinton Hill party; area history; home's history, renovation, over-sized for her; finding nearby home and getting a tenant
9:12 - Issues with new home; evicting tenants; home's history as tack barn; changes in storefront; Board of Society for C.H., Rogen Brown, and addressing Fort Greene/Clinton Hill contact; nook of Wallabout; starting newsletter
18:07 - "The Hill" as link for communities; sharing "Hill" archives; dividing paper's workload among 3; 1st issue's topics of history, changes; murders, riot, crack in C.H.
26:58 - Steps to renewal; home improvement; residential turnover; showcase homes; linking to Ft. Greene; meeting neighbors; priced out residents; parties helped social fabric
35:52 - How social functions evolved; print vs. website of "Hill;" viewing site; organizing "Garden District," tours; less organized community efforts
45:56 - Organizing consistently & efficiently; area's business improvement districts, extent of revitilization; Park Slope Food Coop work and adopting for Clinton Hill, forming committees
56:03 - Solidifying group & financing to establish coop; stabilizing committees; promoting agenda of sustainability online; localism
64:26 - 2010 & past examples of safety, security in area, nearly getting mugged; squatters; community effort at safety
73:34 - Notoriety of area park; safety committee activity with councilperson; 2nd homes; supporting businesses for community health; pursuit of bookstore; groundwork for coop
81:59 - Contrasts of bookstores; taking stock of area institutions, amenities; tearing up stigma of public housing; diversity of incomes; grandchild's & other public schools' potential; dogwalkers; concern over gentrifying
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with DK Holland
Born in 1947, Deborah "DK" Holland was a Manhattan resident until 1983. She was teaching a graphic design class at Pratt Institute then, and was wooed to the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn because of the value for housing stock at the time and the welcoming sense of community within the social gatherings of the Society for Clinton Hill. She renovated the home she bought there, but soon found it too large for a single person. She relocated to a home that had been a tack barn on Adelphi Street at Lafayette Avenue. The property also included a corner storefront that, in 2017, housed the restaurant Olea. Holland built on the Society's community values and, in 1984, started a newsletter with neighbors titled "The Hill, the Journal of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Wallabout." It had also become a website by 2010, but ceased publication that same year. Holland co-founded the Greene Hill Food Co-op, a long gestating organization that opened its doors in 2011. In 2017, she had co-founded the education-focused non-profit Inquiring Minds. More of her biographical details can be found at dkholland.com
In this interview, "DK" Holland focuses mainly on her life in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. She chronicles her experiences with homes there; her neighbors' as well as her own. Holland discusses her involvement with the Board of the Society for Clinton Hill, and the efforts between her, Abigail Golde, and Rogen Brown in getting a newsletter into circulation for Clinton Hill, and the nearby Fort Greene and Wallabout neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Holland surveys the changes in her area; from a crime-ridden era to more recent times when fine dining and a food co-op are becoming staples. In her eyes, it's neighborliness and home restoration that have strengthened the community. Other tools that Holland emphasizes are organizing sustainably and patronizing businesses. Interview conducted by Alexis Taines Coe.
The Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Our neighbors series features a broad range of narrators. Most are not well-known public figures but are well-known to their neighbors. This ongoing, extensive series focuses on Brooklyn history and the experiences of these narrators document national and international history as well. The interviews include people from diverse backgrounds making observations or sharing recollections about the growth and condition of several neighborhoods within Brooklyn. Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, and Fort Greene were heavily represented as of 2017. The oldest narrator in this collection was born in 1927.
Citation
Holland, DK, Oral history interview conducted by Alexis Taines Coe, March 01, 2010, Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Our neighbors, 2008.031.5.010; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- Brown, Rogen S.
- Golde, Abigail
- Greene Hill Food Coop (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Hill (Newsletter)
- Holland, DK
- Olea (Restaurant)
- Pratt Institute
- Society for Clinton Hill
Topics
- Architecture
- Business enterprises
- Community organizing
- Crime
- Gentrification
- Housing
- Markets
- Neighborhoods
- Newsletters
- Public schools
- Restaurants
- Women in community development
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Clinton Hill (New York, N.Y.)
- Fort Greene (New York, N.Y.)
- Wallabout (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Our neighbors