NEW MUSEUM EXHIBIT at THE BRICK ACADEMY SLAVERY IN OUR OWN BACKYARD

The Brick Academy Museum is open to the public 2-4 PM the first Sunday of each month.
 
Most of us enjoy the beauty and history of the Somerset Hills without giving much thought to the enslaved African-Americans who were brought here by force. Many of us don’t even realize that slavery was a bulwark of New Jersey’s economy well into the 19 the century. In fact, New Jersey had more enslaved African-Americans than any other Northern State except New
York.
This exhibit takes you back to a time when the horrors of slavery—the buying, selling and enslavement of
human beings, the tearing apart of families—was very much a part of life in the Somerset Hills, our own
backyard.
 
Some highlights:
  • Did Rev. Robert Finley, who built the Brick Academy, own slaves?
  • The American Colonization Society, which Finley founded, was a character in which book published in 1852?
  • What was the name of the ship Commodore Robert Stockton commanded when he bought the land in West Africa that became Liberia?
  • Caspar Berger, a stone mason from Germany, purchased enslaved African-American Samuel Sutphin in 1776. What was their agreement?
  • Which church did Cuffy Barnet, the “Black Lamington Saint,” attend?
  • How many black cemeteries are there in Bedminster?