US Department of Education Resources

…ivil War in Pennsylvania: The African American Experience (Heinz History Center, 2013), groundbreaking research displayed in the exhibit and online microsite, scholarly lectures at the museum or through our partnership with the Center for African American Urban Studies and the Economy (CAUSE) at Carnegie Mellon University, an online curriculum guide for teachers and educators, a film series at and in collaboration with Carnegie Library Homewood B…

Crisis Decade (1850 – 1860)

…iam 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 Sugar R…

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…