Crisis Decade (1850 – 1860)

…d always remain in the abstract – a violation that could not be committed against them. But it did not deter pastors with anti-slavery convictions denouncing the law at the pulpit. Brooklyn, the “City of Churches”, so called because of the disproportionate number of churches to people, entered a war of words. Richard S. Storrs. ca. 1865. Portrait collection. M1975.190.1. Brooklyn Historical Society. Church Debates on the Fugitive Slave Law “Is th…

Timeline

…tly of Dutch, English, and African descent, lived and worked on the county’s large farms. Not all were free. In 1738, 25% of Kings County’s residents were held in slavery. In 1790, this number had risen to 30%. On average, 60% of white families were slaveholders; in outer areas, such as the town of Flatbush, this number was as high as 74%. Kings County was a slaveholding capital in New York State. Slaveholding families that became wealthy during…

Abolitionist Biographies

…in Ohio, Beecher became the inaugural pastor of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights. The church was founded in 1847 by a group of Brooklyn Heights residents who held anti-slavery views. By the 1850s, Beecher had gained a national reputation for his commitment to abolitionism, theatrical preaching style, and ability to fundraise for anti-slavery causes. He assisted in the emancipation of a number of young women and his congregation raised money f…

Games

…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 established the Freedman’s Bureau.The Brooklyn Branch, which opened in 1866, assists, educates, and aids free people living in Brooklyn. Peter Croger Peter Croger, one of the founders and trustees of the first African-American chu…

A Gradual Emancipation (1783 – 1827)

…tly of Dutch, English, and African descent, lived and worked on the county’s large farms. Not all were free. In 1738, 25% of Kings County’s residents were held in slavery. In 1790, this number had risen to 30%. On average, 60% of white families were slaveholders; in outer areas, such as the town of Flatbush, this number was as high as 74%. Kings County was a slaveholding capital in New York State. Slaveholding families that became wealthy during…

About the Project

…rams, an extensive on-line curriculum, an original theater piece by Irondale Ensemble Project, a website (pursuitoffreedom.org), walking tours and a memorial to Brooklyn Abolitionists that will be part of the new Willoughby Square Park when it opens in 2016. In Pursuit of Freedom Project Credits Executive Directors Brooklyn Historical Society, Deborah Schwartz Irondale Ensemble Project, Terry Greiss Weeksville Heritage Center, Pamela Green In Pur…

Walking Tours

…rification and a changing waterfront that mix remnants of its industrial past with modern luxury condos. But in 1838, Williamsburg was merely a village or small independent town within Bushwick (one of six towns in Kings County). It quickly transformed from a village to a town to a city before it was finally absorbed by Brooklyn in 1855. During this growth, it was home to a number of German immigrants and the second largest African American commu…

Abolitionist Brooklyn (1828 – 1849)

…abolitionists were a radical minority who had established the American Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia in 1833 with headquarters in Manhattan. It was the first movement in American history in which men and women, black and white, came together with mutual purpose – to end slavery immediately and demand political and legal equality for all Americans. In July 1834, anti-abolition riots flared across Manhattan. In response, a number of white a…