WikiTakesPhotos: Exploring Staten Island, Long Island City, Harlem and Prospect Park
In early June, with the support of Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Wikimedia NYC hosted a fun WikiTakesPhotos event at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, bringing together Girl Scouts of Greater New York and Take9 for an afternoon of free knowledge, photography and pizza.
We kicked off with a picnic and a quick intro to Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons before handing cameras over to the Girl Scouts for a walk through Prospect Park — documenting things that should be accessible to everyone.
Starting near the Lincoln Statue by the Concert Grove Pavilion, we made our way through the park capturing images destined for Wikimedia Commons, the free image library.
A highlight of the afternoon was a stop at the historic Lefferts House, where curators gave us a tour through the history of what was once a 300-acre plantation that relied on the forced labor of enslaved Africans, whose stories belong in the public record.
After the event, every participant went home with instructions for uploading their photos to Wikimedia Commons.
A huge thank you to Amira Dhalla from Take9 for joining us and handing out swag.
