The Lost Legacy of Weeksville

Between Bergen Street and Buffalo Avenue, in the crown heights region of Brooklyn, New York City, there lies a group of four colonial homes that seem as if they were picked up and placed in the middle of this urban metropolis. These rustic dwellings lay fenced off from the rest of the neighborhood, connected to a modern limestone building, and stick out like a sore thumb amidst the brick residential houses in the surrounding area. It’s hard to imagine that these suburban looking homes were actually the standard design for city residences over a hundred years ago. As it turns out, these antique homes are the pride and joy of the Weeksville Heritage Center. Weeksville Heritage is dedicated to the preservation of the History of Weeksville, New York, the second largest African- American community in the pre-civil-war era. Named after the only founder who actually lived in the community, James Weeks, the Weeks community existed as a predominantly African American and self-sufficient community.  Shortly after the Dutch abandoned the region, James Weeks established the commune in 1838. Weeks’ intentions were to give African Americans, who faced tremendous opposition against their right to freedom, a refuge and foundation for status through the community. In the era of the Fugitive Slave act and New York City Draft Riots, Weeksville created a community where blacks were isolated, sheltered, and safe from the high racial tension incited via labor competition, and anti-war sentiments. The settlement consisted of five hundred families, most of whom farmed their own food and produced their own essentials. Weeksville developed their own school, the Colored School #2; their own church, the Berean Baptist Church; their own newspaper, “The Freedman’s Torchlight”; their own orphan asylum; and an insurance agency. Eventually the region diversified and began to blend with the rest of the city.

Historian James Hurley and Dr. Barbara Jackson rediscovered or re-recognized the village of Weeksville for its historical significance in the history of New York. With the help of some grassroots movements, Hurley and Barbara prevented the demolition of Weeksville and began to document it’s rich history. The main lobby of the museum holds large reprints of writings and articles originally published in Weeksville. One poster’s headline read “Maxims To Guide A Young Man.” and details the ways in which the Weeksville prepared their youth for the oppressive world outside their community. Other big picture frames included tools to learn to read. Starting with the most basic 3 letter words and moving on to linking together sentences with slightly bigger words. These words like “freedom, slave, emancipation, abolition, and hope” were the most important words to a community of freedmen.

The Weeksville heritage museum offers guided tours and workshops, which spread knowledge about the community that flourished there. The museum offers a tour of the preserved homes in Weeksville, known as the Hunterfly Road Houses. The atmosphere of Weeksville is recreated within these homes through preserved, as well as replicated pieces of furniture. The first room is the center of the house, and a multipurpose room. Citizens of Weeksville both cooked, entertained, and on the coldest nights slept within these quarters. The room also contained a Pot Belly stove used to cook meals and heat the house. Homes were lit by oil lamp and candles when finances permitted it. Small rooms contained even smaller beds, stuffed with straw. Most of the residences lacked any sort of plumbing system, and in-turn families were forced to carry water to their house from a community well. Through the exhibits and their wonderful tour guides, one can experience what life was like for the average Weeksville citizen. A taxing, yet tolerable existence compared to that of some of their enslaved ancestors.

The history of the Weeksville community is inherently linked to the history  of New York City, the history of African Americans , and American history as a whole. A visit to the Weeksville Heritage Museum is a beneficial experience for anyone interested in any one of these studies. The legacy of activism, leadership, unity, and charitable foundations which constructed the Weeksville African American sanctuary, are echoed through the actions of modern citizens faced with the task of preserving the site. The history of this historical community, which had been nearly lost to time, is extremely inspiring, yet unfortunately unbeknownst to far too many American citizens.