Ciera Browne
Pedagogies of Site Fellowship | Field Notes
The included text is an excerpt from a project that will be presented at Dia Chelsea on June 7th, 2025.
“My great grandmother, like many of these workers, was a Lithuanian immigrant herself brought to the United States as a baby. Working in Domino was a means of supporting her family as well as their home on Grand Street, a mere five minutes walk away. As previously described, Helen was a piece-worker, responsible for individually placing Domino sugar tablets in boxes to be shipped. Misshapen pieces that could not be sold were brought home as a treat for her children. She performed this role for years, until 1961 when Domino began laying off employees as the company shifted towards automation. Domino offered its employees buy-outs which my great grandmother took advantage of. While one may believe this would be a massive set-back to a family supporting five children, my great grandmother was able to take advantage of this buyout. With the funds she opened her own successful luncheonette on the ground floor of her family’s home where she would prepare home cooked meals for the local factory workers in the neighborhood. Helen could not completely run the luncheonette on her own, she relied upon the help of her family, including her husband and some of her children. One of those children was my grandmother, Teri.
Truly, it is Teri’s story that I will be sharing with you today, as she is the one whom I am closest to and who has gratefully passed down her stories of her childhood in Brooklyn. It is from her that I am able to learn about my great grandmother, learn of our family, and of the place where our legacy, and her early memories live.
After years of hearing my granny Teri’s stories of growing up in Williamsburg, I only saw it as natural to revisit, and reconnect with her old neighborhood. Before our visit we decided to map out the sites that she considered landmarks of her early years. Upon our arrival, we visited these sites only to realize they were no longer there. The schools, parks, stores, factories, movie theatres, homes, and neighbors she had known appeared to seemingly wash away. In its place we found luxury stores, highrise apartments, uptight restaurants, and even a surf shop. We witnessed a world that’s working class past had been scraped away and replaced with wealth and white walls.”
Photo of Teri Reichwein, Age 5. Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 1959.
Courtesy of Ciera Browne
Skeleton of the Refinery. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 2025. Photo: Ciera Browne
Field Notes from the Fellows share provisional mappings, poetic fragments, visual fieldnotes, and digital captures generated by participants of the Pedagogies of Site Fellowship ahead of their culminating event on June 7, 2025 at Dia Chelsea. To learn more about the program and event, please visit the Dia website.