Released November 13, 2008
Brooklyn, Illinois, the first majority-black town in the United States to incorporate, is digging deep into its past to uncover the rich history that many hope will place it on the National Register of Historic Places.
Brooklyn is located just north of East St. Louis on the Mississippi River. The Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP), a joint program between the University of Illinois and the Department of Transportation, has been working in the area for many years at the nearby Janey B. Goode site. Now, archaeologists from ITARP have made preliminary "shovel tests" in key areas of Brooklyn to find the archaeological deposits that will provide clear evidence of Afro-American occupation during the early 1800's.
Brooklyn was first established in 1829 by Priscilla Baltimore, an anti-slavery activist and former slave. Baltimore, along with 11 other families, established the small town as a haven for free black Americans, as well as a refuge for escaped slaves.
"We found traces of human occupation that lasted from as early as 1830 to about 1850 in some cases," said Joseph Galloy, a U of I cultural resource archaeologist who works with ITARP. "In other places we found pretty clear evidence of people living there between 1850 and 1870. From an archaeological perspective, what we did was very successful."
Galloy said the project began as a community outreach project. "We've been digging at the Janey B. Goode site for years," said Galloy, "and we wanted to give something back to the people of this community. So I worked with the mayor's office to get permission from the residents to do the shovel tests. Mayor [Nathaniel] O'Bannon, and everyone we worked with, was incredibly helpful and enthusiastic about what we were doing.
"The initial stage of this project was designed to prove that these deposits are there," Galloy continued. "Hopefully, this will enable us to nominate the town to the National Register."
Ideally, said Galloy, they would like to take the project further and provide details of everyday life from that time period.
That's good news to Roberta Obadan, president of the Historical Society of Brooklyn. Obadan and Ronnie Steele, another Brooklyn native, established the Society in 2007.
"The cost of research and obtaining documents pertaining to our history has been funded by members [of the historical society], but we've received so much help from ITARP in researching our history," said Obadan. "They've provided us with a tremendous amount of service in our restoration and preservation efforts. They found documents and information that has helped us piece together the biography of Mother Priscilla Baltimore, as well as the location of her unmarked grave, and we've initiated a project to purchase a grave marker for her.
"We also hope to restore the entire cemetery, if we can get it cleared," Obadan continued. "ITARP has volunteered to come in and do the probing and scanning for the lost graves. ITARP has respect for the people of Brooklyn, and they are giving back to the community."
Tom Emerson, the director of ITARP, said, "It's all about bringing archaeology to the people. So often we do these studies and then we leave. The town doesn't have anything to show for it."
Emerson said their first goal is to get enough information to nominate the town to the National Register. "But we're also working with the Department of Anthropology on an educational grant. That would provide the opportunity to bring older school children into the project. It would give them the chance to learn about their history and interact in an archaeological environment."
Emerson sees the Brooklyn project as more than another archaeological dig. He believes it is an opportunity to give back to the people of Illinois.
"That ought to be one of our top priorities," Emerson concluded. "They're paying our salaries, so let's do something practical for them."
Funding for the project has been provided by ITARP and U of I Extension.
--30--
http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news4556.html
Contacts: Thomas Emerson, (217) 244-4244, teee@illinois.edu
Leanne Lucas, (217) 244-9085, llucas@uiuc.edu
