As Black History Month winds down, we’re taking a moment to reflect on Downtown Brooklyn’s deep-rooted ties to the Abolitionist movement. A hub for anti-slavery activism, the neighborhood was home to courageous leaders and significant locations. Let’s look back at this powerful history and honor the legacy of those who fought for freedom.

Beginning in the early 1800s, free Black people living in what is now Downtown Brooklyn decided to form their own congregation at Sands Street Methodist Church, which stood at the corner of High and Jay Streets. This was in direct response to being charged admission to sit in a segregated section of the same church. In 1818, the local Black community raised enough money to build the Bridge Street Methodist Church, Brooklyn’s first independent Black church, located at today’s Brooklyn Commons Park at 311 Bridge St.1  The church went on to host notable figures such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, and was a critical stop of the Underground Railroad.2  Today, it is a designated landmark.

The Old Bridge Street Church, today a designated landmark and NYU’s Wunsch Building. Photo: NYU Tandon School of Engineering

During the 1810s, prominent Abolitionists, Peter Croger, Benjamin Croger, and Joseph Smith, established the African Woolman Benevolent Society on Jay Street, a mutual aid organization that provided both free and runaway Blacks with financial support.3

Just south of Willoughby Avenue on Bridge Street lived active Abolitionists Reverend James Gloucester and his wife Elizabeth Gloucester, the wealthiest Black woman of the time. During the height of the Abolitionist Movement, they established the Colored Orphan’s Asylum in 1836, founded the anti-slavery church Siloam Presbyterian in 1849, and continuously donated money to anti-slavery causes.4 At what is today 75 Hicks St., American Congregationalist and abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, considered the most famous man in America at the time, founded Plymouth Church in 1847.5

In 1860, five years before President Lincoln abolished slavery, the area saw the formation of the American Freedmen’s Friend Society. It consisted of shops and homes along Myrtle Avenue on the plot of land that is now MetroTech. Its mission after the Civil War was to aid newly emancipated people, assisting them in finding homes, job skills, and employment.6


The home of Thomas and Harriet Truesdell, photographed in 1910. Photo: New York Historical Society

At the still standing 227 Duffield Street, lived Thomas and Harriet Truesdell, well-known agents of Abolitionist efforts such as the founding of the New England Anti-Slavery Society and the housing of Black freedom seekers. Due to harsh penalties, this activity was dangerous and kept highly secretive, making it difficult to document or verify.7 In 2021, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission honored this legacy with an official landmark designation, ensuring the history is never forgotten.

Today, Downtown Brooklyn continues to honor this powerful history with Abolitionist Place, a green space that opened in the heart of the neighborhood in 2024. In 2019, the former Willoughby Square Park was renamed Abolitionist Place. The park stands as a tribute to the neighborhood’s legacy of resistance and resilience, ensuring that the stories of those who fought for freedom continue to inspire future generations.


Abolitionist Place in Downtown Brooklyn, 2024.

WORKS CITED

1. NYU Tandon School of Engineering. (n.d.). Wunsch Hall: A building steeped in history. NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Link.
2. Peters, S. (2021, April 19). NYC & the Underground Railroad | African American Historical Sites. New York City Tourism + Conventions.
3. Brooklyn walking tours. (n.d.). Link.
4. Harris, R. L. (1979). Early Black Benevolent Societies, 1780-1830. The Massachusetts Review, 20(3), 603–625.
5. Our history. Plymouth Church. (n.d.). Link.
6. Kanakamedala, P. (2024). Brooklynites: The Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough. NYU Press.
7. NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (2021, February 2). Designation Report: Harriet and Thomas Truesdell House.