A pivotal event in the ending of slavery occurred on December 5, 1860, in Atlantic Basin, Red Hook when the slave ship ERIE was sold at government auction. Its captain and owner, Nathaniel Gordon, was then executed for engaging in the slave...
Outrageous: A narrow escape from slavery at Red Hook Point, 1850
In the summer of 1850, an African-American woman was abducted and brought to Red Hook Point - just below the Atlantic Dock - to be taken by schooner to the South. Suspicious workers in the area were told by the captors that the woman was a...
Black sailor in 1815
Women Workers, Todd Shipyard, ca. 1943
Industries that would have never considerred hiring women for any sort of job quickly changed their tune during WWII. While men were overseas fighting, women of Brooklyn were contributing to the war effort, and their own financial needs, by making...
Growing discrimination against Black sailors, 1903
“The race question is extending itself upon the seas." At the beginning of the 19th Century, one out of five American sailors were black; at the start of the 20th Century, Black sailors in Brooklyn were facing severe job discrimination. The...
Social Isolation and Employment on the Brooklyn Waterfront
Philip Kasinitz and Jan Rosenberg in their paper, Missing the Connection: Social Isolation and Employment on the Brooklyn Waterfront (1996) conclude that: "few local residents hold local jobs in the private sector. A survey of local employers...
“Blacks on the New York Waterfront During the American Revolution”
Blacks were one of the first groups to arrive in Brooklyn during the Dutch colonial period, usually as enslaved people, though there were also freemen. To provide an overview of some early Black history, PortSide commissioned this article by Charles...
1938 Redlining Map of Brooklyn
This map was published in 1938, the same year that PortSide's historic ship MARY A. WHALEN was launched. On this map, Red Hook is mostly in red except for industrial and commercial areas. The practice of 'redlining' is now illegal. ...
Draft Riots, July 1863
The New York City Draft Riots took place between July 13 and July 16 of 1863. The violent insurrection was a reaction to conscription into military service during the Civil War. African Americans became the target of the rioters' anger and an...
Seabring Mill later known as Luquer Mills
The landscape of Red Hook has been dramatically changed by people at least twice in its history. Starting in a major way around 1830, marshland was filled in to make solid land, and the coast line was modified to better suit boats. Nearly...