US Department of Education Resources

…torical Society, Irondale Ensemble Project and Weeksville Heritage Center, this project, the first of its kind, comprises original scholarly research; a series of exhibitions at the three partner sites, a curriculum for teachers and their students, grades 4-12; an original theater piece that premiered at the Irondale Theater in May of 2012; a new website; a public memorial in downtown Brooklyn to honor the anti-slavery movement in Brooklyn; walki…

Crisis Decade (1850 – 1860)

…William Havemeyer, a German immigrant, opened a sugar refining business in Manhattan. Sugar was still a luxury commodity enjoyed by the city’s elite. By 1857, changes in technology allowed sugar to be cheaply produced. The Havemeyers relocated their business to Williamsburg, where they began to store and refine sugar on site and thereby retain more profit. By the late 19th century, Havemeyer joined with several other magnates to establish the Su…

Abolitionist Brooklyn (1828 – 1849)

…color. In the ten years that followed, the brothers and their neighbors cemented Williamsburg’s reputation as a site of anti-slavery activism. They collectively shaped its public spaces to reflect their ideals. The result was the creation of the public West India Emancipation Day celebrations, an African school, and a mobilized black community. A map of the village of Williamsburgh, Kings County, N.Y. Isaac Vieth. 1845. B A-[1845].Fl. Brooklyn Hi…