Emily Vieyra-Haley ’22: Bringing American History to Life

Mention Flushing, NY, and most people think of Mets baseball at Citifield, the U.S. Open tennis tournament, or the neighborhood’s flavorful Asian cuisines. 

Not Emily Vieyra-Haley ’22, an adjunct faculty member who works on credits for prior learning at Empire State University. 

For Vieyra-Haley, Flushing is a bastion of early American history. As a docent at the Bowne House, Vieyra-Haley shares that history, clad in a 19th century dress.  

We spoke to Vieyra-Haley about that history and why the Bowne House deserves special attention this year, as we commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary. 

What got you interested in doing this kind of work?

Like many children of the ‘70s, I grew up on “Little House on the Prairie.” I loved that show and the clothing they wore. 

In 2017, I started volunteering at Old Bethpage Village, a collection of restored 19th century buildings on Long Island. I was a history major at SUNY Binghamton, and volunteering there fit in with that.  

How did you wind up at Bowne House?

SUNY Binghamton was offering a one-week community archaeology dig for the public. My twin sister — who had gone to Binghamton with me — and I decided to do this together. It was a way to honor our mom, who had been an archaeology major at Queens College. I’ve been doing this every year since 2015. 

Doing the dig piqued my interest in going back to school. I found that SUNY Empire was offering an advanced certificate in heritage preservation. The courses taught me that I could become a historical interpreter or a docent, which is an educator. When I saw that Bowne House was looking for a docent, I applied. I went on to get my master’s at SUNY Empire.

Tell us about the Bowne House’s place in our nation’s history. 

John Bowne, an English settler, built the house in 1661 and lived there with his family. In 1662, he was arrested by Governor Peter Stuyvesant for holding Quaker religious meetings at his house. Stuyvesant had banned public worship of all religions except the Dutch Reformed Church, in what was then New Amsterdam. 

Bowne was put in prison, then exiled to England. He took his case to Holland, to the Dutch West India Company. He brought a copy of the town charter, which argued that ‘liberty of conscience’ was protected and tolerated in Flushing. Bowne won his case in court, came back, and continued holding Quaker meetings at his house for 40 more years. This kind of tolerance was later used by the founders to establish freedom of religion, as well as assembly and speech.

I also want to give a shout out to his wife, Hannah, who stayed and maintained the family farm and managed their children. She had been ill when he was arrested. But she persevered and went on to have eight children with him. She became a Quaker minister in her own right. 

Did the Bownes play a role in the Revolutionary War?

It's been a struggle to figure out what they were doing, given they were Quakers and pacifists, who didn’t take sides. We now think they may have been forced to quarter Hessian soldiers for the British. This is new information, and it would have been against the family's will. Because they refused to help either side, they were the victims of a lot of persecution from both sides. 

Tell me about the Bownes and the Underground Railroad.

The Bowne House is the only location in Queens listed on the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. We now have documentation that shows there were people hiding outside the house, perhaps on nursery lands, and in cellars of homes owned by other sons. From there, the Bownes and Parsons (because the family had expanded) got them up to Whitestone in North Queens, onto a boat over Long Island Sound and into Connecticut. It’s a very heart-pounding and exciting story. 

How did the house become a historic site?

The house remained in the family until the 1940s, when sisters Anna and Bertha Parsons, ninth generation descendants of John Bowne, decided to turn the house into a museum. They saw the need for social media in 1940s terms, and they did it by getting New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to do a radio broadcast from the parlor, and the newspapers ran stories about it. 

What made you decide to wear a costume?

I asked for permission to do that when I started and am the only docent who wears a costume here. I now own six dresses, mostly Victorian style, which I bought from a dressmaker in Michigan. I am now trying a new outfitter in Oklahoma. My husband promises to make me a dress one day! I buy my accessories on Etsy. 

I use my dress to inspire an interest in history among visitors. History should be accessible, attainable, and relatable. The costume is a vehicle for that, and you can bring people in who didn't know they had an interest in history. 

(Photo credit: Peter McDermott)