Mapping The African American Past (maap)

235 W. Broadway One day in the mid-1800s, 28 men, women, and children snuck into New York City.

Across from the Meal Market, where enslaved workers could be hired or bought, was the Tontine Coffee House, home of the New York Stock Exchange.

One Wall Street A gang of black men labored as long as daylight allowed, digging a three-foot-deep trench from the East River all the way across Manhattan Island to the Hudson River.

Kenneth Jackson, Jacques Barzun Professor in History and the Social Sciences, Columbia University, discusses Wall Street.

1698 Bergen Street Far from the bustle and racism of Manhattan, on what was then the outskirts of Brooklyn, free blacks built a community called Weeksville.

Kenneth Jackson, Jacques Barzun Professor in History and the Social Sciences, Columbia University, discusses Weeksville.

Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue, Brooklyn Many slaves brought the tradition of African outdoor ceremonies to the Caribbean. However, once enslaved, they were prohibited from holding public celebrations despite their slaveholders' engagement in street parades like Mardi Gras.The Harlem permit was revoked in 1964 due to a violent riot. Five years later, a committee organized by Trinidadian Carlos Lezama obtained another permit for a parade on Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn. The parade has been held there ever since, beginning at Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue and ending at Grand Army Plaza.

245 Park Drive, Mastic Beach, Long Island William Floyd, the first son of Nicoll and Tabitha Floyd, was born on the south shore of Long Island in 1734. His father purchased the Mastic Beach property in 1724 building the Old Mastic house to serve as the family’s home.

245 Park Drive, Mastic Beach, Long Island William Floyd, the first son of Nicoll and Tabitha Floyd, was born on the south shore of Long Island in 1734. His father purchased the Mastic Beach property in 1724 building the Old Mastic house to serve as the family’s home.