Weeksville Heritage Center

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Weeksville Heritage Center (WHC) is an historic house museum. Walk in tours of the historic houses are Tuesday-Friday at 3:00 PM.

Our mission is to connect Black history, art, and culture through the legacy of one of America’s most significant free Black communities. Weeksville Heritage Center is a multi-dimensional museum that celebrates the history of Weeksville, one of the first free African American communities in the country, established in 1838. Located in Central Brooklyn, the mission of Weeksville Heritage Center is to document, preserve and interpret the history of free African, Caribbean, and African American communities in Weeksville, Brooklyn, and beyond to create and inspire innovative, contemporary uses of history through research, education, the arts, and civic engagement. Drawing inspiration from the history of the community, WHC is known for the guided tours of its Hunterfly Road historic homes, public programs such as the Garden Party Concert Series, Brilliant Corners Jazz Concert, Farmers Market, Emancipation Day Celebrations, Vaudeville Family Day, ongoing oral history projects, and so much more. Our public programming season begins in May/June with our annual jazz concert and weekend farmers market, and culminates in July with musical performances every Saturday, along with film screenings and lecture series. Special events are announced throughout the year. To learn more visit us at www.weeksvillesociety.org.

11/02/2026

Join us Saturday, November 7, at 3 PM to hear stories like this.

“But we accept the sun. We are the sun. Yes, we don’t get no other color more than what we have. So we are the sun. And when you take away the sun, is darkness again. So you see how great we are? When you shine your light you see more of the black.” - Augustus Black, in "Before It’s Gone: Archive to Survive."

The book by Oasa DuVerney () and Mildred Beltré (), creators of the Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine () launches at Weeksville with a panel discussion on art and community engagement as strategies for preserving Black and Brown geographies in Brooklyn.

Register here and learn more: https://bit.ly/4yXYNO1

10/29/2026

Save your seat for Saturday, November 7.

For "Before It’s Gone: Archive to Survive," Oasa DuVerney and Mildred Beltré of the Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine asked neighbors on one Crown Heights block to tell a story about living there. The book collects those stories, along with photographs and artworks.

Join us for a panel discussion and book launch centered on art and community engagement as strategies for preserving Black and Brown geographies in Brooklyn.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4yXYNO1

10/29/2026

Thank you, Brooklyn.

Recently, Weeksville Heritage Center welcomed Jeffrey Zeigler’s We Were Fridays for a full day of workshops, community conversation, and an evening performance that filled the room with music, movement, and memory.

Thank you to Jeffrey Zeigler and the entire VisionIntoArt team for bringing this work to Weeksville. Thank you to every person who showed up, stayed, and made this evening what it was.

We look forward to many more evenings like this one at Weeksville.

Video: ryinbaskin

10/28/2026

Join us this Friday at 6 PM for Weeksville Watch Night: Black Stories, Unbound.

Weeksville Watch Night is an ongoing film and conversation series at Weeksville Heritage Center that brings together filmmakers, artists, historians, and community members to engage Black history, political struggle, cultural memory, and collective care through cinema and dialogue.

Now playing: the trailer for The Unveiling of God / A Love Letter to My Forefathers directed by Nia June

Free and open to the public. Reserve your seat: https://bit.ly/4iAmdTL

Curated by DeShuna Elisa Spencer / Black Indie Creatives Coalition (BICC) + kweliTV
Teaser for The Unveiling of God / A Love Letter to My Forefathers, directed by Nia June. Video used with permission.

10/26/2026

Join us this Friday at 6 PM for Weeksville Watch Night: Black Stories, Unbound.

Curated by DeShuna Elisa Spencer (), Black Stories, Unbound brings together four short films spanning thriller, documentary, romance, and experimental film. Each, in its own way, pushes against the boundaries too often placed around Black lives and Black storytelling.

Now playing: the trailer for How to Sue the Klan

The evening concludes with a 30-minute post-screening fireside conversation between DeShuna Elisa Spencer and Princess Adenike (), writer, producer, and actress, "A Stranger’s Waltz."

Free and open to the public. Link in bio to reserve your seat.

Curated by DeShuna Elisa Spencer / Black Indie Creatives Coalition (BICC) + kweliTV
Teaser for How to Sue the Klan, directed by John Beder. Video courtesy of Civil Productions and Brooklyn Media.

10/23/2026

A haunting vision of Flint, Michigan.

A young Black father fights to save the life of his young zombie daughter. His attempt to bring her back becomes a torturous journey that forces him to question his own existence in Flint, Michigan.

"Negroland" is one of four short films curated by DeShuna Elisa Spencer for Weeksville Watch Night: Black Stories, Unbound, an evening of cinema and dialogue built around collective care.

Friday, October 30. 6-9 PM

Reserve your seat: https://bit.ly/4iAmdTL

Curated by DeShuna Elisa Spencer / Black Indie Creatives Coalition (BICC) + kweliTV

Video: Trailer for Negroland, directed by Jewel McPherson. Video used with permission.

10/23/2026

There is no single Black story.

Join us Friday, October 30, at 6 PM for Black Stories, Unbound, a Weeksville Watch Night featuring four short films exploring memory, identity, justice, and love.

Curated by DeShuna Elisa Spencer, Founder & CEO of kweliTV and the Black Indie Creatives Coalition, the evening concludes with a conversation featuring Spencer and Princess Adenike, writer, producer, and actress for "A Stranger's Waltz."

Always free. RSVP at the link in our bio.

Film stills: Negroland, used with permission. How to Sue the Klan, courtesy of Civil Productions and Brooklyn Media. A Stranger’s Waltz, courtesy of Amona Media & Communications. The Unveiling of God / A Love Letter to My Forefathers, used with permission.

10/22/2026

What does it take to preserve the stories of a changing Brooklyn neighborhood?

Over two years, artists Oasa DuVerney and Mildred Beltré, co-creators of Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine (BHAM), gathered stories, photographs, and artwork from longtime residents of a single block in Crown Heights. Their new book, "Before It’s Gone: Archive to Survive," documents the people and histories that shape a community, preserving them for future generations.

Join Weeksville Heritage Center and the Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine () on Saturday, November 7, from 2 to 6 PM for a book launch and panel discussion exploring the role of art and community in preserving Black and Brown geographies across Brooklyn.

Free. Register here: https://bit.ly/4yXYNO1

Artist photo: Scott Dolan

10/21/2026

The Green Market at Weeksville has been one of our favorite parts of this season.

Thank you to every vendor, instructor, and community member who showed up and made each Saturday what it was, including , , , , , , , Bee U NYC, Grandmaster Lumumba Hernandez, and so many more.

One more this Saturday. October 24, 12-5 PM.

Drop a comment and tell us your favorite moment from the market this season.

We hope to see you this weekend! Let us know you're coming with an RSVP: https://bit.ly/4s2DE2q

Address

158 Buffalo Avenue
New York, NY
11213

Telephone

+17187565250

Website

http://www.weeksvillesociety.org/

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