Crisis Decade (1850 – 1860)

…nvented an innovative brush for whitewashing, painting and varnishing. Previously brushes had fixed handles so that the entire brush had to be thrown away once the bristles had worn out. The brush was also adjustable and could be angled to make the work easier. Murrows faced challenges in promoting his invention. He was not permitted to showcase it at the American Institute Fair in 1853 (a precursor to the World Fair), so it was exhibited by a wh…

Civil War & Beyond (1861 – 1867)

…y. They often competed for the same low paying, low-skilled jobs. During the Civil War, the Irish came to fear that fugitives and newly emancipated men and women would arrive in Brooklyn and take the few jobs available, exacerbating hostilities. In the summer of 1862 Irish mobs attacked men and women at the Tobacco Factory on Sedgwick Street in Brooklyn. The Tobacco Factory Riots foreboded Manhattan’s Draft Riots that erupted a year later. Few co…

Abolitionist Brooklyn (1828 – 1849)

…n Society. Teacher’s Manual Section 2: Lesson 9 Critics often demonized abolitionists in the press, by arguing that they promoted miscegenation, or interracial relationships, a sexual perversity in their eyes. In doing so they belittled the abolition movement which represented the first time that Americans crossed race and gender lines to work with mutual political purpose. Prints such as E. W. Clay’s “Fruits of Amalgamation” reflected the contem…

US Department of Education Resources

…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; walking tours of Brooklyn’s abolitionists’ and URR sites; and a series of public programs scheduled for the next five years. Legacy of Slavery in Maryland preserves and promotes expe…