Brooklyn (popularly known as Lovejoy), is a village in St. Clair County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, United States. Located two miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois and three miles northeast of downtown St. Louis,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, it is the oldest town incorporated by

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Its motto is "Founded by Chance, Sustained by Courage." The mayor is Mayor Vera Banks-Glasper. A missionary AME Church was established in the new settlement in 1836. Now known as Quinn's Chapel AME, its congregation is believed to have supported the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

and aided fugitive slaves to freedom, together with members of the Antioch Baptist Church established in 1838. An early interracial community, it suffered from structural discrimination; transport lines were routed to bypass and isolate it rather than connecting it, and economic development projects passed over it, and indeed were set up in competition to it. In 2015, the county's state attorney Brendan Kelly described the village as a 'failed state.'

History

According to oral history tradition, by 1829 "Mother" Priscilla Baltimore led a group of eleven families, composed of both fugitive and free African Americans, to flee

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

in St. Louis,

. They crossed the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

to the free state of Illinois, where they established a freedom village in the

American Bottom The American Bottom is the flood plain of the Mississippi River in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois, extending from Alton, Illinois, south to the Kaskaskia River. It is also sometimes called "American Bottoms". The area is about , mo ...

s. "Mother" Baltimore was said to have purchased her freedom as an adult from her master. She also bought the freedom of members of her family. Born in Kentucky, she tracked her white father to Missouri and bought her mother's freedom from him. The earliest black families included Anderson, Sullivan, Singleton, Wilson, Cox, Wyatt, and Carper.Carla W. Garner, "Brooklyn, Illinois (ca. 1823- )"
''Black Past'', accessed 15 January 2015 Miranda Yancey-Bailey, an

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...

working on a 21st-century project in Brooklyn, has found written evidence that Baltimore still lived in St. Louis in the 1830s; the first documentation of her associated with Brooklyn is from 1839. She may have been traveling between these locations for a time.Véronique LaCapra, "Archaeologists Dig For Clues To African-American History In Brooklyn, Ill."
St. Louis Public Radio, 13 October 2014, accessed 15 January 2015 Baltimore had become a Methodist preacher and participated in the religious life of the new settlement.

William Paul Quinn William Paul Quinn (10 April 1788–21 February 1873) was born in India and immigrated to the United States, where he became the fourth bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent black denomination in the United State ...

, then a missionary of the newly formed

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

(AME), visited the settlement in 1836 and helped found the Brooklyn AME church that year. He had been assigned as a missionary that year to what was then called the Northwest, including Indiana and Ohio. Quinn was also active in planting new congregations in Kentucky and Missouri; he later became the fourth bishop of the AME Church. Brooklyn AME Church is thought to be the first AME Church west of the Appalachian Mountains. It is now known as Quinn's Chapel AME Church in his honor. In 1837, five white

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

platted the land and created an unincorporated nearly all-black town. Thomas Osburn was one of them, and he is documented as having lived in the area for decades. Priscilla Baltimore built a house on his former land, which she occupied from 1851 to 1872. In the 1840s and 1850s, the African-American population of the village was about 200. From the beginnings of Brookyln, the ministers of the Quinn Chapel AME Church and Antioch Baptist Church (1838) used their churches as

stations to aid slaves escaping to freedom in Canada. William Paul Quinn and Priscilla Baltimore visited slaves in neighboring towns to inform them of the Underground Railroad's existence, and housed slaves in the churches before sending them to the next station. At one point, Quinn was captured by Missouri slave-catchers while on a missionary tour, but presented himself as a citizen of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and was set free. Both of these church buildings have survived."Brooklyn, Illinois Archeology Project"
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, accessed 31 Oct 2010 On July 8, 1873, Brooklyn was incorporated. By 1880, its population included 371 African-American and 203 European-American residents. In the late 19th century, its residents joined in taking new industrial jobs, commuting to those in East St. Louis and nearby areas. "Blacks who migrated to what became known as Brooklyn were attracted to the possibilities of working in an industrialized settlement that would enjoy race autonomy and self-determinism." In 1886, the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

majority worked to register voters and gained political control of the village. As with most political enterprises, factions developed within the community. Regional capital investment largely bypassed Brooklyn, taking place in the competing East St. Louis, Illinois, which gained the all-important railroad connection. Other white-majority towns also benefited by being part of the network of investment. " most none of the all-Black towns obtained a railroad." The small village soon became all black. In 1891, then-Mayor Evans dedicated the town's new post office with the name Lovejoy (after the abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy, who had been assassinated in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is a p ...

, in 1837). The later high school was also named after him. Around the turn of the 20th century, the high school had a high reputation in the area. Taylor, Joseph. "BROOKLYN, ILLINOIS, STATION ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD." ''Negro History Bulletin'' 4.2 (1940).

20th century

Black autonomy did not automatically yield unity in the village. Tensions ran high with class and color conflicts by the early decades of the twentieth century, and evidence of political corruption. In addition, with the growth in number of young, single male workers, attracted to industrial jobs, the demographics changed and family life in the village declined.Reviews: ''America's First Black Town, Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915'' & ''Strangers in the Land of Paradise: The Creation of an African American Community, Buffalo, New York, 1900-1940''. (Book Reviews/Comptes Rendus)
''Urban History Review'', 1 Mar 2002, accessed 31 Oct 2010 In 1915, two rival gangs attempting to declare themselves police chief had a shootout in front of a grocery store, resulting in three deaths. In 1933, the police chief ran an extortion ring and dissolved the city council at gunpoint, causing the county board of supervisors to replace the entire police force. In 1940, it was reported that the town had fewer than ten white inhabitants, but the most prosperous businesses in the town were all white-owned. Furthermore, the local school had declined in quality. Black residents blamed a sense of fatalism. Brooklyn was unaffected by the

black nationalism Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves aro ...

movement in the 1960s, but in 1972, a small armed group called the United Front migrated from

East St. Louis East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

, professing a desire to create a sort of black nationalist

intentional community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious ...

. The mayor of the city, concerned that functions of city government might be usurped, deputized several men, who used the opportunity to gain social power in the city. Finally, in 1973, the mayor named a police chief in order to disarm the deputies, which resulted in one of them being shot dead after refusing to disarm. The chief was acquitted of murder in 1975. With the decline of industry, from the mid-20th century on and the loss of jobs, Brooklyn has suffered high unemployment and problems similar to those of

. It has struggled with persistent crime, and a limited economy and tax base. A cluster of bars and

strip club A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, and can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style ...

s provide a primary source of revenue in its limited economy. In June 2007, it was reported that three-quarters of Brooklyn's revenue of $380,000 comes through sales tax and a $30,000 licensing fee from the adult clubs.

Archeological and historic research

A state

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

survey was required before construction of the

Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge (known as the New Mississippi River Bridge until its formal naming in 2013 and informally known as the "Stan Span") is a bridge across the Mississippi River in the United States between St. Clair County, ...

between St. Louis and Illinois, which would require realignment of part of Rte. 3 near the village. In 2002, work revealed extensive

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The us ...

artifacts, so many that the researchers named the site "Janey B. Goode" after the popular

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

song, " Johnny B. Goode". This site lies within Brooklyn's incorporated limits but just east of the historical residential part of town. It lies along the southern margin of the Horseshoe Lake meander just north of the East St. Louis

Mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically highe ...

Group of earthworks. By the end of the 2007 field season, the team had excavated 7,000 prehistoric features, making this one of the largest sites ever excavated in the USA. Most of these features are associated with the Late

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

Patrick phase and early Terminal Late Woodland Lloyd phase, approximately from 600 AD to 1200 AD. They suggest a more complex and dense indigenous community than researchers had known lived in the area. In association with its work, the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) (formerly ITARP), a joint project of the state and the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

, conducted outreach with the village of Brooklyn, volunteering to survey some of the areas associated with its early 19th-century history. A team of archaeologists led by Dr. Joseph Galloy found evidence of early Afro-American occupation from 1830 to 1850, as well as material in other areas from 1850 to 1870. This discovery suggests that the remains of Mother Baltimore's Freedom Village survive beneath the surface in Upper Brooklyn. It also means that artifacts and other evidence of the town's founding may be revealed if additional excavations are conducted there in the future. This would enhance the town's historical significance and research potential.Leeanne Lucas, "University of Illinois Probing the Past in America's Oldest Black Incorporated Town"
ACES, University of Illinois, 13 Nov 2008, accessed 31 Oct 2010 Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20120314112952/http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news4556.html on 14 March 2012} Since the turn of the 21st century, residents have rallied around new work related to documentation of the village's rich historical past. They have worked to collect oral histories and personal accounts of the village. In 2007, residents founded the Historical Society Of Brooklyn, Illinois. The historical society, together with the ISAS' Drs. Joseph Galloy, Thomas Emerson and Miranda Yancey; Dr. Chris Fennell of the

, and the

Illinois State Museum The Illinois State Museum features the life, land, people and art of the State of Illinois. The headquarters museum is located on Spring and Edwards Streets, one block southwest of the Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield. There are three satell ...

, is working to preserve the history of Brooklyn. ISAS also helped the historical society to review documents to locate "Mother" Priscilla Baltimore's unmarked grave at

Bellefontaine Cemetery Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine is home to a number of architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as t ...

in St. Louis. In September 2010, the Brooklyn Historical Society installed a gravestone in her honor at the cemetery. In addition, ISAS will assist the village in surveying the Brooklyn cemetery to detect gravesites and try to document the history. Surveys in 2008 revealed that "the archaeological record of Brooklyn lies intact beneath the extensive open spaces of current-day residential parcels." In the summer of 2009, an archaeological field study began to excavate Mother Priscilla Baltimore's freedom village. The results of this collaborative project are expected to yield material that will aid the town in gaining designation for an historic district to be listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The Historical Society of Brooklyn and its collaborators are seeking national designation for three particularly significant sites: the late prehistoric Janey B. Goode archaeological site, identified as 11S1232; Brooklyn's historic cemetery, identified as 11S1233; and Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church. Built in 1836, Quinn Chapel

was the first of that newly formed, independent black denomination to be built west of the Appalachian Mountains, as well as the first in Illinois.Cha-Jua, Sundiata Keita (2000). ''America's First Black Town: Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915''], Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, pp. 35-40 The AME Church was founded as a denomination by free blacks in Philadelphia and its region in 1816.

Geography

Brooklyn, Illinois, is located at . According to the 2010 census, Brooklyn has a total area of , all land.

Government

Brooklyn has an elected city council and mayor. The town has a police department that in 2015 was described by the county prosecutor as having “gone from dysfunctional to nonfunctional.”

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 676 people, 267 households, and 166 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 346 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 0.59%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 98.67%

, 0.15% Native American, and 0.59% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population. There were 267 households, out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 16.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 39.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 36.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 25.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.34. In the village, the population was spread out, with 30.3% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 21.9% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 68.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 60.8 males. The median income for a household in the village was $16,630, and the median income for a family was $30,994. Males had a median income of $24,375 versus $21,108 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the village was $7,944. About 28.2% of families and 48.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 33.5% of those under age 18 and 74.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Brooklyn Unit School District 188 operates public schools.

Notable people

Hamiet Bluiett Hamiet Bluiett (; September 16, 1940 – October 4, 2018) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument was the baritone saxophone, and he was considered one of the finest players of this instrument. A mem ...

, saxophonist (1940–2018) * Prince Joe Henry, Negro league baseball player *

Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...

, blues guitarist (1923–1992)

Bibliography

Cha-Jua, Sundiata Keita (2000). ''America's First Black Town: Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915''
Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002. *"Examining Structural Racism in the Jim Crow Era of Illinois," in ''The Materiality of Freedom: Archaeologies of Post-Emancipation Life,'' edited by Jodi Barnes, pp. 173–189, University of South Carolina Press (2011). *Norman Dwight Harris, ''The History of Negro Servitude In Illinois, and of the Slavery Agitation in That State, 1719-1864'' (Chicago: A.C. McClurg, 1904) *Glennette Tilley Turner, ''The Underground Railroad in Illinois'' (Glen Ellyn, Illinois: Newman Educational Publishing, 2001)

References

External links

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Web portal

Official Website
Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, ''America's First Black Town: Brooklyn, Illinois, 1830-1915''
University of Illinois Press {{authority control Populated places established in 1873 Villages in St. Clair County, Illinois Villages in Illinois Illinois populated places on the Mississippi River Populated places on the Underground Railroad 1837 establishments in Illinois Populated places established by African Americans