Lucien used the following senses to explore and learn about his culture:
Sight
Touch
Sound
New York City is a gold mine of history, heritage, and culture. I stumbled upon Weeksville after a google search for black history in NYC. As a multi-cultural individual, I realize culture plays an important role in how children make sense of the world. I am black with a hint of Seminole running through my DNA. My husband is Haitian-American – Lucien is everything that we are. It only made sense to allow him to explore and learn a piece of his culture.
“When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him.” ~Ashanti Proverb
Founded in the 19th century by a dock worker from Virginia named James Weeks, Weeksville is one of the first free black communities. Weeks purchased a plot of land in 1838 from Henry C. Thompson, a land investor who was also free. In New York State, slavery ended 11 years prior. Free black men and women began migrating to the area and purchased land. Weeksville became a self-sufficient community with stores, a school, a cemetery, churches and homes. About 500 families lived in Weeksville. Today four houses remain in what is present-day Crown Heights. The homes are known as the Hunterfly Road Houses. A road the indigenous Lenape often traveled until being forced out by the Dutch in the 17th century.
The Hunterfly Road Houses are within the walls of the Weeksville Heritage Center. We went inside of 3 homes, the 4th wasn’t viewable due to a fire some years ago. You aren’t allowed to touch most of the artifacts, but Lucien was allowed to touch a few. Inside of the Johnson home, he was allowed to pretend cook to cook with the cast iron skillet on the wood burning stove and inside the Williams home, he was allowed to pretend to iron and bath. He was excited to see children’s toys in the Williams home. But the dolls which were laid out on the bed creeped him out. His favorite part of the tour was just running free in the yard. He totally enjoyed trying to push a huge boulder in the front yard. He also chased birds and learned what the outhouse was for.
Transportation was the easy part. We took the subway, A or C train to Utica Ave/Fulton Street; the Weeksville Heritage Center is blocks away. As we waited for our train Lucien enjoyed ice cream from a local shop.
He told me he had fun. Who knew culture could be so cool for a 2-year-old.
Ready to explore Weeksville? Here are tips for your visit:
- You can only view inside of the houses if you take a tour, Tuesday – Friday at 3 pm.
- You can also pre-schedule a group tour Tuesday – Thursday.
- You can take photos of the exterior of the homes, but not the interior.
- You are not allowed to touch certain items inside of the houses, make sure to listen to your tour guides directions.
- The tour can be boring for children under 5. Make it fun by allowing them to sit on the big boulder in front of the houses, play a game of chase on the road, walk across the wooden bridge, play “i Spy” or just let them run around – within reason and with constant supervision.
- Bathrooms are available and a seating area with tables.
- Strollers are not permitted in the exhibit area.
- There is no food on premises, but there are a number of restaurants in the area – here’s a list.
Weeksville Heritage Center (Hunterfly Road Houses Exhibit) – Location and Information
- Weeksville Heritage Center is located at 158 Buffalo Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11213
- Admission is $8 for Adults, $6 for Seniors (65+), $6 for Students (with ID) and Residents of zip codes: 11213 & 11233 (with ID) – Suggested donation
- The following passes are accepted – NY PASS (Admission built-in), Cool Culture Pass (Free for families) and Business card/ID for museum professionals.
- There are no age restrictions. Children under 8 are free
More information HERE
