Brooklyn, Illinois, community leaders and ISAS researchers are working to document and preserve important landmarks of this early African-American settlement. Cooperative efforts between ISAS researchers Miranda Yancey-Bailey and Dr. Joseph Galloy and Brooklyn community leaders such as Roberta Thompson Foster have led to the inclusion of the Quinn A.M.E. chapel in Brooklyn into the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, sponsored by the National Park Service.

Brooklyn’s location directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis made it an important location in the Underground Railroad in the early-mid 19th century. A number of Brooklyn residents—Priscilla “Mother” Baltimore, William Paul Quinn, and Thomas Osborn—were instrumental in assisting former slaves to freedom.

Learn more about Brooklyn, Illinois, in this video.