Exhibitions

Brooklyn Abolitionists Brooklyn Abolitionists This major, long-term exhibit opens on January 15, 2014 and explores the lesser-known heroes of Brooklyn’s anti-slavery movement — ordinary residents, black and white — who shaped their neighborhoods, city and nation with a revolutionary vision of freedom and equality. For opening times and directions please visit brooklynhistory.org Weeksville: Lived Experiences In Pursuit of Freedom…

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…

Funders

…York State Council on the Humanities; with additional funds provided by The Bay and Paul Foundations, New York Community Trust, and Verizon Foundation. In Pursuit of Freedom educational materials have been developed with additional funds provided by the U.S. Department of Education Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural (URR) Program; the National Grid Foundation; Con Edison; New York State Senators Kevin Parker, Martin Malave Dilan, and…

Introduction

…and economics of slavery. While figures such as William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass and John Brown have come to dominate abolitionist narratives, they were joined by countless others who also fought for an end to slavery and whose important contributions have been largely forgotten. In Pursuit of Freedom highlights just a few of these ordinary men and women, black and white who came from all walks of life – educators, homeowners, business…

Glossary

…o purchase their own freedom or be emancipated by slaveholder. Mutual Aid Arrangements made between people of a community to assist each other. Propaganda A technique used to sway people’s opinions, adopt a certain behavior, or perform a particular action. Secession The act of formally withdrawing from a political federation. Temperance Abstinence from alcohol and the belief that it is wrong to drink. Underground Railroad A network of people and…

About the Project

…s 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 Pursuit of Freedom Project Staff Prithi Kanakamedala, Ph.D., Historian and Curator Kate Fermoile, Project Manager  Carol Enseki, Former Project…