BY CRAIG HUBERT
In 2019, the Weeksville Heritage
Center was in danger of
closing. Situated on land that
was once part of one of the
largest free Black communities
in the United States in the
nineteenth century, the institution
was in trouble due to
rising operating costs and issues
with fundraising.
Through crowdfunding,
the group was able to raise
nearly $300,000 to stay temporarily
afl oat. More was needed.
In March 2020, right as the
pandemic was forcing most of
New York City into lockdown,
Weeksville was added to the
city’s Cultural Institutions
Group, which opened up access
to additional funding from the
city and sparked a renewed focus
within the nonprofi t.
But part of that renewed focus
also stemmed from the increasingly
vocal conversations
about our relationship to race
in the United States. In May
2020, the murder of George
Floyd by a white police offi cer
in Minneapolis set off a chain
reaction of protests throughout
the entire country. Questions
that once remained in
the background were being
brought to the surface, questions
that Weeksville was appropriately
positioned to address.
COURIER L 22 IFE, JAN. 7–13, 2022
“Really, if we look at the
history of Weeksville, it’s
uniquely situated to address
the issues we’re dealing with
right now — race, equity, social
justice,” says Raymond
Codrington, an anthropologist
and arts administrator who
joined the institution as president
and chief executive offi cer
in April. “Those are the tenets
under which Weeksville was
created. It’s not even an update
of the story. It’s just telling the
story.”
Founded by and named after
James Weeks in the 1830s
as a free Black community in
an area now known as Crown
Heights, by the 1850s Weeksville
had about 500 residents,
along with churches, schools
and businesses. The community
even had its own newspaper,
called The Freedman’s
Torchlight. But post-Civil War,
as the modern street grid and
real estate development expanded
across Brooklyn — including
the construction of the
Kingsborough Houses, located
right across the street, in 1941
— Weeksville began to slowly
disappear. By the 1960s, it had
largely been forgotten.
But in 1968, the discovery of
four historic homes on Hunterfl
y Road led to a newfound resurgence
of interest in Weeksville.
Historian James Hurley,
BROOKLYN
along with Joseph Haynes
and students from Pratt, who
found the homes during a research
project, helped organize
local groups around saving
the houses, which were in
danger of being demolished.
In 1970, the four homes (one
burned down in the 1990s,
later to be reconstructed) were
designated as landmarks by
the Landmarks Preservation
Commission.
Their work also led to the
eventual formation of the Society
for the Preservation
of Weeksville and Bedford
Stuyvesant History. Under the
leadership of Joan Maynard,
an artist, community activist
and preservationist, the group,
which later became the Weeksville
Heritage Society, helped
bring continued attention to
the existence of the homes and
their planned restoration.
“She was a one-woman dynamo,”
writes Judith Wellman
in “Brooklyn’s Promised
Land: The Free Black Community
of Weeksville, New York,”
published by NYU Press in
2014. “She gave slide shows to
local schoolchildren and community
groups, directed tours
and organized programs. Most
of all, she raised money, continually.”
Until her retirement in 2001,
Maynard and others worked
tirelessly, often against all
odds, to make sure the Hunterfl
y Road houses were restored.
Under the leadership of
Pam Green, who took over for
Maynard, an award-winning
modern museum building was
constructed on the center’s
grounds and opened in 2014,
allowing the institution to expand
its programs, add offi ces
and provide more space for
events and exhibitions.
“This historically signifi
cant site is the kind of
place any artist conducting
our kind of research-driven
work dreams of,” says Mendi
+ Keith Obadike, who previously
served as artists-in-residence
at Weeksville with their
2018 project, ‘Utopias: Seeking
For A City,’ which was installed
in one of the Hunterfl
y Road houses. During the
run of their installation, they
asked viewers to leave a comment
on the idea of utopia. “So
many people took the opportunity
to say what a special place
Weekville was and is.”
And the future continues to
look bright for the Weeksville
Heritage Center. During a recent
conversation at the organization’s
offi ces, Codrington,
who previously headed
up East Harlem’s Hi-ARTS,
talked about the importance
of the center and how, as a historic
site, the organization is
equipped not only to respond
to the present moment but
think about the future.
“We don’t want to lose anybody,”
he says, “but we defi -
nitely want to push the boundaries.”
A version of this story fi rst
appeared in Brooklyn Paper’s
sister publication, Brownstoner.
To read Codrington’s interview,
visit either Brownstoner.com or
BrooklynPapercom.
BY CATE CORCORAN
In the tradition of landscape
architecture, Lightscape
adds light, music and
sound to the Brooklyn Botanic
Garden to choreograph a series
of after-dark experiences
along a winding path.
Walking under a sequence
of sculptural chandeliers of
light at the beginning feels a
bit like entering Narnia. Highlights
include the White Peonies,
Winter Cathedral, and
s’mores and hot chocolate at
the Fire Garden.
First launched in London
in 2014, Lightscape has sold out
year after year across its locations
in the United Kingdom
and Chicago. Brooklyn Botanic
Garden is Lightscape’s
only venue on America’s East
Coast.
The festival closes this
weekend, with last viewings
scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 9.
Lightscape at Brooklyn Botanic
Garden, 990 Washington
Ave. near Eastern Parkway in
Crown Heights, $34 admission
for adults. For more information,
visit www.bbg.org/lightscape.
Home for history
Last chance for Botanic Garden show
Weeksville Heritage Center looks to the future
Before lights out!
The Lightscape exhibit. Brooklyn Botanic Garden
The Hunterfl y Road houses in 2018. Photo by Susan De Vries
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/Brownstoner.com
