LPC Releases Audio Tour of Brooklyn's Abolitionist History to Mark Juneteenth

In time for Juneteenth celebrations, the Landmarks Preservation Commission launched a new interactive audio tour exploring Brooklyn’s significant role in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad. Created by Kamau Studios and Black Gotham Experience, “More Than a Brook: Brooklyn Abolitionist Heritage Walk” leads listeners on a 4.5-mile walk with 19 stops in Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, and Fort Greene.

Included are landmarked sites like Plymouth Church, the Friends Meeting House, the Eagle Warehouse and Storage Company Building, and 227 Abolitionist Place-Duffield Street, the home of Harriet and Thomas Truesdell. The tour is arranged in three parts, referred to as theaters. Theater I delves into the early 1820s, Theater II spans 1828 to 1855, and Theater III includes the Civil War and its aftermath from 1855 to 1920. Historic figures whose stories are told in the narrative include Dr. Susan Smith McKinney-Steward, Elizabeth Gloucester, and Henry Ward Beecher.

Each stop along the way has an audio recording and walking directions are included to make sure listeners find each site or view being discussed. The tour is accessible online and includes interactive maps that mark each stop and also show the historic districts in the borough. If you just want to listen to the audio files they are all available via Sound Cloud.

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