Abolitionist Brooklyn (1828 – 1849)

…and asked for government protection. The African survivors were taken to New London, CT, imprisoned and charged with piracy and murder. Brooklyn abolitionists Simeon Jocelyn, a Williamsburg resident, and Lewis Tappan, a Brooklyn Heights resident, worked closely with the African prisoners, and after a high-profile court case, they were freed. Later, Jocelyn and others, formed the American Missionary Association, an organization dedicated to abolit…

A Gradual Emancipation (1783 – 1827)

…ion through running away, manumission and self-purchase, – the legal mediation carried by an anti-slavery organization called the New-York Manumission Society, – a grassroots campaign for equality initiated by Brooklyn’s free black community. Their work was frequently met with hostility from Brooklyn’s landowners and farmers whose wealth was built on slavery. [Slave bill of sale]. 1825. John Ditmars and Jacob Duryee slave bill of sale…

Crisis Decade (1850 – 1860)

…yn expanded, many white Brooklynites pushed for greater police protection. Yet, for the most part, the creation of a city police force represented a threat to black Brooklynites who were unprotected by local, state and federal laws. In 1842, Edward Saxton was accused of being a fugitive from Mobile, AL. His captor, J.C. Gantz presented a Brooklyn Court with an affidavit claiming that Saxton had forged his freedom papers. Officer Barkaloo and Gant…

Timeline

…ion through running away, manumission and self-purchase, – the legal mediation carried by an anti-slavery organization called the New-York Manumission Society, – a grassroots campaign for equality initiated by Brooklyn’s free black community. Their work was frequently met with hostility from Brooklyn’s landowners and farmers whose wealth was built on slavery. 1810 [Cover of Constitution of the Brooklyn African Woolman Benevolent Socie…

Games

…raft riots, African-Americans sought refuge at Turn Verein Hall, protected by German immigrants who were allied with antislavery Republicans. James Hamlet Williamsburg resident, James Hamlet, was kidnapped and accused of being a fugitive who ran away from his enslaver Mary Brown in Baltimore. Manhattan and Brooklyn abolitionists rallied together to raise the $800 needed for Hamlet’s release. The Freedman’s Bureau After the Civil War, Congress est…

For Educators

…Anti-Slavery Activism (1785-1834) Explores Kings County, a “slaveholding capital” in the aftermath of the American Revolution. New York State’s 1799 gradual emancipation law signaled the slow death of slavery. Against this backdrop, a small but significant free black community lived in the village of Brooklyn –located within the same named town of Brooklyn. Here they chartered a path of self-reliance and self-determinatio…

About the Project

In Pursuit of Freedom is a multifaceted public history initiative that explores the everyday heroes of Brooklyn’s anti-slavery movement. This public history project is a partnership of Brooklyn Historical Society, Weeksville Heritage Center and Irondale Ensemble Project. The project includes exhibits, public programs, an extensive on-line curriculum, an original theater piece by Irondale Ensemble Project, a website (pursuitoffreedom.org), walki…

Abolitionist Biographies

…h Star, The Christian Recorder and other local and national abolitionist journals. He was a key Brooklyn member of the Committee of Thirteen, a New York organization dedicated to aiding freedom seekers and thwarting the colonization movement. Morel’s wife, Caroline Richards, was an abolitionist and activist in the local Underground Railroad. After Caroline died in 1838, Morel married a woman named Sarah (born in 1835). Sarah Morel worked with Eli…

US Department of Education Resources

…eries at and in collaboration with Carnegie Library Homewood Branch, and an urban garden project in partnership with Pittsburgh Park Conservancy at Frick Environmental Center that features foods, plants, and flora related to African American foodways and the Underground Railroad. For more information please see: heinzhistorycenter.org The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center’s project, Legacies of the Underground Railroad, will involve a…

Walking Tours

…w call DUMBO and Vinegar Hill. At the end of the American Revolution, this was the town of Brooklyn. It was one of six agricultural towns in Kings County until it was incorporated as the city of Brooklyn in 1834. ↗ Open map in new window DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN In the early 19th century, this area was the village of Brooklyn, located within the town of the same name. It was the heart of the burgeoning city. Brooklyn’s anti-slavery pioneers — free Afric…