Document. Preserve. Interpret.

If you want to identify what a human community needs to be - anywhere in our world - Weeksville would be an excellent model.

— Marcia Goldman, Former President, Weeksville 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. The rediscovery and preservation of this local history provides a means of reestablishing a continuity with the past so that children, armed with the knowledge of the contributions of their forebears can gain strength to meet the challenge of the future.

— Joan Maynard, First Executive Director of Weeksville Heritage Center

Our Mission

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.

Our Vision

Our vision is to be a leading authority and resource for the scholarship, exploration and dissemination of the history of Weeksville and other 19th-and early-20th century free Black communities, as well as the modern-day artistic, intellectual and social justice imperatives they exemplify and inspire.  Our work will illuminate a pivotal aspect of Black history; empower our visitors with tools, training and education; celebrate and center Black culture, community and creativity; and spark dialogue and collaborations between local residents, artists, academics and activists that advance us towards a more just and equitable world.