Welcome,
At your fingertips is an adventure into a period of Brooklyn's history that has remained unexplored until now. From 1783 to 1865, Brooklyn transformed from an agricultural slaveholding capital to the third largest city in the United States. Its growth was the backdrop for pursuits of freedom, equality, and social justice for African Americans—a struggle that was carried out by the city's residents, both black and white. Three of Brooklyn's leading cultural and educational institutions—Brooklyn Historical Society, Weeksville Heritage Center, and Irondale Ensemble Project_have come together to tell the story in the course of three parts that begins at the end of the American Revolution and ends at the beginning of Reconstruction.

From archives in Brooklyn and all over the United States come photographs and publications that have never been seen by the general public. Newspapers, diaries, personal letters, pamphlets, city directories, census records, and broadsides have yielded a treasure trove of information about people and places you may never have heard about. We present them to you now in an interactive site that will show you their faces, tell you their stories, and let you walk where they walked. You may have thought you knew about the abolition movement and the fight for racial equality in Brooklyn, but prepare to have your preconceptions altered.

Join us In Pursuit of Freedom.