"If you want to identify what a human community needs to be anywhere in the world, Weeksville would be an excellent model" - Marcia Goldman, former President of Board of Trustees "Everyplace has a Weeksville, where ordinary people came first and labored to create a more hospitable living setting for their loved ones." - Joan Maynard, founder of Weeksville Heritage Center

Tell us your story/detailed overview

Document. Preserve. Interpret. Weeksville Heritage Center is an historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn that uses education, arts and a social justice lens to preserve, document and inspire engagement with the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, and the Historic Hunterfly Road Houses. Inspired by the self-determination of Weeksville’s historic free Black community, the Center’s expansion of knowledge is grounded on existing intellectual and material resources of Weeksville’s history—research, documentation, and the archival and object collections, including Weeksville’s invaluable architectural resources, the Hunterfly Road Houses. With the development of the 5th of July Resource Center, Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC) advances its mission to make its collections, archives, and oral histories available to the community at large including the scholarly community, teachers, students, and the general public. Weeksville Heritage Center is a significant American historic site, with a rare extant example of an independent African-American community organized by African-American entrepreneurs and land investors. Weeksville became the second-largest known independent African-American community in pre-Civil War America. Comprising a deeply engaged community, Weeksville residents established one of the first African-American newspapers, advocated for abolition, and provided safe haven during the violent draft riots of the Civil War era. In the late 1960s, Weeksville was all but forgotten until a small group of community activists rediscovered four dilapidated houses that stood as residential remnants of historic Weeksville. The Historic Hunterfly Road Houses, as they are known today, are New York City landmarks and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Neighborhood

Crown Heights

Any need to know/rules & guidelines

We truly appreciate your presence in our community, and your support means the world to us. As a café, we’re grateful when you savor our delicious offerings and share your appreciation through generous tips. Your kindness helps us keep our mission alive. Here are other tidbits for you: Events: https://www.weeksvillesociety.org/events/ Embrace your place—this is where you truly belong!

Website

https://www.weeksvillesociety.org