Having the opportunity to be an artist-in-residence at Historic Richmond Town is really a dream come true for me. HRT is the stage for some of my fondest memories. There was the time I was attacked by a cantankerous goose along the old mill wall when I was 5; I remember distinctly understanding the importance of electricity in the modern home because houses that I’d take tours of on campus did not: I was like 10 and a slow learner; as I entered my pre and early teen years, I spent three summers in the apprentice program, not only learning skills and crafts I use today as a teaching-artist in NYC schools, but forming a permanent notch in the space of my soul or consciousness that’s only reserved for remarkable, informative, character-shaping, experiences and places. I’ve done a bunch of stuff during those days since I was a young person roaming Richmond Town in mid-19th century clothes, but I feel like my experiences here have informed all of them. 

GHOST TALES: A VARIETY SHOW

Last year, during the Tavern Terrace concert series, I was lucky enough to get a chance to produce my own show. When I was approached with the idea, I asked if I could run a variety show that would consist of comedy, storytelling, and music. I wanted to contribute to contemporary culture on Staten Island by having some of my professional musician, comedy, and writer friends come on the show to workshop their stuff, while letting newer talent have a chance to showcase their hard work.   I also wanted to have a format that had some remnants of the past in it, so the variety show perfectly fit that criteria. I decided on the name of “Ghost Tales” because I feel like anytime we tell a story or a joke, or share a part of ourselves with an audience, we’re leaving a piece of our former selves there with the crowd: a ghost of our former selves, our past identities: I’ll stop now before I start sounding like a freshman who just finished their first philosophy class. While “Ghost Tales” is comedic and focused on the present, it doesn’t mean we don’t dip into the paranormal and supernatural world each show. In fact, we’ve been visited by ghosts of Richmond Town’s past (including the school master of the Voorlezer’s house and Polly Bodine), we’ve had paranormal specialists give tutorials on how to talk to spirits in your house, and several live tarot readings mid-show.  As a person who is traditionally unhappy with any of their artistic work, I can say wholeheartedly that this is something I’m proud of. 

RICHMOND COUNTY FIELD RECORDING SOCIETY

The way I write “Ghost Tales” is by researching interesting events in Staten Island history. Then I try to find funny anecdotes in those stories. Finally, I use that “thing” as the theme of each show.  During my research I came across perhaps the most bizarre find I’ve ever had in my over two-decades of spending much of my free time researching events and people that I felt were important to me and lost by time. During one of these research binges, I came across the Richmond County Field Recording Society, which was a cultural and civic group that operated -- often dysfunctionally -- from around 1888 -1997 here on Staten Island and in parts of South Brooklyn. The group conducted paranormal investigations, seances, alternative archeology studies (often on property they didn’t have permits to dig on) and reported about these events in a bi-monthly journal titled “Journal of Anomalous Events of Staten Island.” 

The more I thought about the group, the more I realized they were a fascinating thing to spend time researching and making work around: they deserved my time. I asked several esteemable local historians if they had heard of the group --  almost always I either got a shrug, as if not to mention that name, or an unknowing nod. Then, as if an act of serendipity, I found 5 boxes and several bound books labeled RCFRS. Inside were over 80 original galley copies of their journals and over 60 cassette tapes with odd descriptions like “Airfield Crash” and “Sunday Seance.” As I started to listen to the tapes and read the journals I began to think about how things come full circle, about how I wound up at Richmond Town doing Ghost Tales, how these boxes fell in my lap. It was at that moment I decided to re-issue the journals and put together those field recordings and release them as a podcast. I feel like it’s my obligation as a student of history, as someone who has internalized the underlying message and values of Richmond Town, that you preserve the past so the voices of the people who came before us in our community do not get lost. Releasing these journals and tapes by this group I am still struggling to make sense is my attempt to preserve and add our collective history as Staten Islanders. I hope you read and listen along and help me piece the puzzle together. You can purchase Re-Issue #1, which is the February 1974 copy, or subscribe at www.rcfrs.com.