Submitted by Donna Cartelli, Executive Director, Bowne House, Nov 29, 2007 13:13

The Flushing Remonstrance, written 350 years ago, is the first time (as far as I am aware) of anyone in the America stood up for the rights of others. None of the thirty men who signed this important document were Quakers, and yet they took their chances and stood up to Peter Stuyvesant. On behalf of the Bowne House-- which is inextricably linked to this fascinating and little known piece of our nation's history through John Bowne's own courageous stand on behalf of the Quakers--and the Flushing community, would like to invite your readers to come and see this magnificent document on display at the Queens Library's Flushing branch. It will be there for a month starting December 6, thanks to the New York State Archives. This document, too fragile to be on permanent display has only seen the light of day a handful of times this past century.

Since March 2007, Bowne House has been searching for the descendants of the 30 families who signed the Flushing Remonstrance. We have so far heard back from 250 people who descend from at least one of the signers. Next week about 50 will make trips across the country from as far away as California and Oregon in order to celebrate the anniversary. Those that cannot make it have spread the word about this important aspect of our heritage, one that was later codified in the First Amendment of the Constitution, to their families. I got an email yesterday from a woman in the middle of the country who told me that her grandson's 7th grade class was doing a reenactment of the events! Religious freedom and tolderance is nothing to take for granted so we thank Jay Akasie for writing about the historic diversity of this vibrant and chock-full-of-history community during this important anniversary.

We hope your readers will visit www.bownehouse.org for more information about the Flushing Remonstrance; Bowne House is at the early stages of creating a space on its website for the dissemination of information about the Flushing Remonstrance, the signers in addition to the Bowne family. Also visit www.flushingremonstrance.info for the public events planned to mark the anniversary.

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