PIX11 News: Weeksville Heritage Center In Crown Heights Expands Programs With New Grant

Apr 16, 2025

Cory McGinnis

People sit in rows of chairs facing a speaker at the front of a large, bright room with red walls, wooden floors, and ceiling lights.

PUBLISHED IN: PIX 11 NEWS

The Weeksville Heritage Center in Crown Heights is a special place that helps people learn about important Black history in Brooklyn. Now, with new funding from a $135,000 grant awarded by Brooklyn Org, the center can offer more programs to share this history with even more people.

Brooklyn Org recently announced $1.8 million in grants to 17 nonprofits across Brooklyn that work to advance racial, social, and economic justice. Weeksville Heritage Center is one of the recipients, receiving funds to support its strategic and educational programs.

Dr. Raymond Codrington, president and CEO of Weeksville Heritage Center, highlighted the center’s long history, saying, “Weeksville Heritage Center was founded in 1838.” He explained that grants like this one “really allow us to expand our work. They allow us to think about our future, to dream about our future, and really to make plans.”

The center offers a variety of public programs that blend history, art, and culture, including exhibitions, film screenings, workshops, and musical performances. It also runs educational initiatives focused on teaching themes of emancipation, empowerment, and social justice. These include training workshops for educators and programs for school groups.

A key part of the center’s mission is preserving four historic 19th-century houses known as the Hunterfly Road Houses. Dr. Codrington described them: “They range from the 1800s. And each house represents a different time period, 1860, 1900, and 1930. So when you come back here, it’s really like stepping back in time.”

These homes are part of one of America’s earliest free Black communities, founded in 1838. The center offers guided tours of the houses, which are currently being restored through a city-funded project.

With this new grant, Dr. Codrington says the center plans to expand its programs to better serve Brooklyn’s diverse communities and help people deepen their connection to culture and history. “It’s extremely useful, at a time when funding is really needed for all organizations,” he added.

The Weeksville Heritage Center continues to be a vital place for preserving and celebrating the rich history of Black self-determination and community building in Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Org also awarded: