WEEKSVILLE, BROOKLYN

'Weeksville' was a village founded by African American freedmen on Long Island, New York in the area of what is now the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. It was named after 'James Weeks', an African American freedman who purchased land there in 1838. The land was purchased from another African American freedman, Henry C. Thompson.
The village was established by a group of African American land investors and political activists. By the 1850s, it had more than 500 residents from all over the East Coast (as well as two people born in Africa). Almost 40 percent of them were southern-born. Almost one-third of the men over 21 owned land. It had a school, two churches, and in the 1860s became the national headquarters of the African Civilization Society and the Howard Orphan Asylum.
In 2005, the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant History was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. [1] [2]

Contents

External links

External links

★ Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant History

★ Weeksville Heritage Center

★ Brooklyn Heritage Tour