History
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Brooklyn, Illinois, the oldest black town in America and the first incorporated black town in America, had its origins in the northern part of the present town. Despite black code laws meant to discourage African-American settlements in Illinois, Brooklyn's oral history recounts the founding of a freedom village around 1829. Priscilla "Mother" Baltimore led members of 11 other African-American families, some of whom were free people of color and others who were fugitive slaves. They settled on a high patch of ground along the Mississippi River across from St. Louis. While the Illinois shore teemed with slave-catchers, Brooklyn's black residents kept watch for fugitives who safely crossed the Mississippi, and then helped them on their journey north on the Underground Railroad. Brooklyn is the only remaining early African-American settlement out of three established in Southern Illinois before the Civil War, and its survival despite formidable odds reflects the resiliency of its people and hope for the future.
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East St. Louis, Illinois · United States
