BK Live 2/12/14: Brooklyn Historical Society Brooklyn Abolitionists segment from Brooklyn Independent Media on Vimeo.

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‘Brooklyn Abolitionists’ Reveals a Surprising History

By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN JAN. 16, 2014

Heroic terra-cotta busts of Columbus, Franklin, Shakespeare, Gutenberg, Beethoven and Michelangelo gaze down from the lovingly restored 1881 facade of the Brooklyn Historical Society, reminding the approaching visitor of what the place was once meant to represent. The founders of the society — which is now celebrating its 150th anniversary — conceived of its building in Brooklyn Heights as a repository of history that would aspire to the greatest achievements of European civilization. And why not? Brooklyn was the third-largest city in the United States, the architect was George B. Post (who later designed the New York Stock Exchange), and the society’s founders were among the elite.

But in recent years, like many societies with similar heritages and collections, the Brooklyn Historical Society, emerging from years of eclipse, has been reconstituting and redefining itself, probing polemically at the world that gave it birth, testing the fissures in its own conceptual foundations.

It is partly in that light that an exhibition that opened on Wednesday —“Brooklyn Abolitionists/In Pursuit of Freedom” — might be understood. We are offered a very different roster of representative figures from those who grace the building, including James W. C. Pennington, who escaped slavery in Maryland in 1827, came to live in Brooklyn and became a distinguished preacher and abolitionist; Willis Augustus Hodges (1815-1890), a free black man who lived in Williamsburg, where he started an influential abolitionist newspaper; and Elizabeth Gloucester, a black abolitionist, who invested in Brooklyn real estate and died one of the richest women in the United States in 1883.

To read more, click http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/arts/design/brooklyn-abolitionists-reveals-a-surprising-history.html

Brooklyn Historical Society to Present Exhibition on Abolitionists

Brooklyn emerged as a growing commercial city in the early 19th century, at the same time that black and white residents began organizing associations, schools, and churches to advocate for the rights of black Brooklynites. Yet as a pre-eminent port storing goods like cotton, tobacco, and sugar – commodities harvested by slave labor – Brooklyn’s economic growth was intrinsically tied to the institution of slavery even though the practice of slavery ended there in 1827. In Pursuit of Freedom spotlights the paradox of a growing city whose economy was built on inequality but whose residents fought tirelessly for equal rights in ways that continue to be resonant today.

Dramatically presented with interactive components, In Pursuit of Freedom paints a vivid picture of 19th century Brooklyn richly illustrated with landscape paintings, letters, sermons, advertisements, and historic maps. Visitors will become acquainted with little-known anti-slavery activists including William Wilson (aka Ethiop), James and Elizabeth Gloucester, William and Willis Hodges, James Pennington, and Sylvanus Smith, one of the original land investors in the free black community of Weeksville. Their stories raise questions about racial equality in education, fair and equal treatment under the law and the political and economic significance of owning property—all issues that remain relevant in the struggle for social justice.

In Pursuit of Freedom: Brooklyn Abolitionists is one element of a much larger project which builds on five years of original research conducted by historian and curator, Prithi Kanakamedala. Offered in partnership with Weeksville Heritage Society, and Irondale Ensemble Project, there will be additional exhibits, public programs, an extensive on-line curriculum, an original theater piece – Color Between the Lines – developed by Irondale, walking tours, a website (pursuitoffreedom.org) and a memorial to Brooklyn Abolitionists which will be part of the new Willoughby Square Park when it opens in 2015.

Digital Curriculum
Caption: A page from the In Pursuit of Freedom digital curriculum. This free, primary source-rich curriculum for grades 5 to 12 is available at www.pursuitoffreedom.org. Other exhibit-related education offerings include on-site school tours, in-class workshops, and professional development for teachers.

Join Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Eric Foner and BHS Public Historian Julie Golia as they discuss one of the most prominent artifacts in BHS’s collection: the Emancipation Proclamation. A document that continues to resonate 150 years after its signing, the Emancipation Proclamation has profoundly influenced the social and political landscape of our country and has had a evolving role in our collective American consciousness. Offered in connection with BHS’ exhibition of our original copy of this foundational document.