Ms. Rosella's House

On Monday April 19th, we went over to Rosella LaFontaine's house on Park Place to interview her. She lives in a huge house. The house is so beautiful. She has been living in Crown Heights and the house for 60 years. She was the first person we have interviewed that has been living in Crown Heights for 60 years.

While interviewing her, she talked about the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. She said they were about to close the museum in the neighborhood. Some people (herself included) didn’t want to close the museum so they protested the closing to keep the museum open. Their wish came true and the museum still stands in Crown Heights on 145 Brooklyn Avenue. The Brooklyn Children's Museum was founded in 1899. It used to be in two large mansions. It was the first museum created just for kids in the United States. Its success inspired the creation of similar museums in other places.

Ms. Lillian Pelham and Ms. Rosella LaFontaine

Ms. Lillian Pelham stopped by for a visit during our interview with Rosella. She has been living in Crown Heights for 45 years and is also one of Rosella's best friends. She was a nurse and then she was a teacher at Samuel J. Tilden High school. She told us about her book called Wisdom in the Air, Wisdom Everywhere. She was inspired to write the book because she wanted to pass on wisdom to teenagers. In addition, she bakes chocolates and they are delicious. We are going to interview her too so she can tell us her history.