Black in Nineteenth-Century Brooklyn

In 1838, just eleven years after New York State abolished slavery, a free Black man named James Weeks made his first purchase of land in Brooklyn. In the same year, Green-Wood Cemetery was established as one of the first rural cemeteries in the United States.

This tour begins with a survey of the many prominent Black New Yorkers and abolitionists laid to rest at the Cemetery, including Margaret Pine (1778–1857), the last woman to have lived as a slave in New York, Susan Smith McKinney Steward (1847–1918), whose family owned land in Weeksville and who became first black female doctor in the state, and the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1959–1988), among many others. Then we head to Weeksville Heritage Center in Crown Heights to learn about its history (one of America’s largest free Black communities prior to the Civil War) through the stories of its residents.

$35 for members of Green-Wood and BHS / $40 for non-members

Green-Wood trolley tours are fully accessible and ADA compliant. In order to accommodate a wheelchair or other mobility device on the trolley, advance arrangements must be made. Please call (718) 210-3080, ext. 1. Please note that portions of the tour take place outside the trolley and may require exiting the vehicle on multiple occasions. Please contact the Historic Fund for more information.

This trolley tour begins and ends at Green-Wood. A box lunch will be provided. Please email events@green-wood.com with any food allergies. Check-in will take place by the Gothic Arch at our Main Entrance at 5th Avenue and 25th Street.

Trolley tours are run rain or shine, with the exception of dangerous conditions as determined by Green-Wood. Click here for our inclement weather policy.