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In conjunction with a current exhibit, the Brooklyn Historical Society blog is featuring a series of blog posts called “The Emancipation Proclamation: Americans Respond.” Learn more here.
This week, BHS opens a major long-term exhibition, "Brooklyn Abolitionists/In Pursuit of Freedom." The exhibition, part of a public history partnership with Weeksville Heritage Center and Irondale Ensemble Project, explores the unsung heroes of Brooklyn’s anti-slavery movement.
Among those unsung heroes was a man named Junius C. Morel. Born in North Carolina, Morel lived and worked in Philadelphia before moving to the Weeksville section of Brooklyn. He served as principal of Colored School Number 2 in Weeksville while maintaining an active career as a writer and journalist.
In 1863, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Morel was serving as a correspondent for the Christian Recorder, a black abolitionist newspaper based in Philadelphia. In the January 10, 1863 issue, Morel shared his experiences in Brooklyn on New Year's Day, when the Proclamation went into effect.
Morel interwove his elegant, poetic prose with his experiences that day, from his visit to Bridge Street African Methodist Episcopal Church (one of the oldest black congregations in Brooklyn) to his run-in with a reporter from "the dirtiest of all dirty sheets of this country, the Brooklyn Eagle."
Morel captured the sense of joy and hope that permeated his community that day in his closing sentences:
You can learn more about the remarkable men and women who built Brooklyn's abolitionist movement at pursuitoffreedom.org.
Junius C. Morel, To the Christian Recorder, the Christian Recorder, January 10, 1863.
This week, BHS opens a major long-term exhibition, "Brooklyn Abolitionists/In Pursuit of Freedom." The exhibition, part of a public history partnership with Weeksville Heritage Center and Irondale Ensemble Project, explores the unsung heroes of Brooklyn’s anti-slavery movement.
Among those unsung heroes was a man named Junius C. Morel. Born in North Carolina, Morel lived and worked in Philadelphia before moving to the Weeksville section of Brooklyn. He served as principal of Colored School Number 2 in Weeksville while maintaining an active career as a writer and journalist.
In 1863, when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Morel was serving as a correspondent for the Christian Recorder, a black abolitionist newspaper based in Philadelphia. In the January 10, 1863 issue, Morel shared his experiences in Brooklyn on New Year's Day, when the Proclamation went into effect.
The new year burst upon us with emotions untold by mortal tongues. Happy day- pregnant with the destiny of coming generations; hence the anxiety felt by all classes to hear and read the proclamation of freedom to the groaning millions. All seemed to hold their breath in awful suspense till near noon, when the lightning flashed forth a light, which shall shine on the pathway of mankind to the latest generations.
Morel interwove his elegant, poetic prose with his experiences that day, from his visit to Bridge Street African Methodist Episcopal Church (one of the oldest black congregations in Brooklyn) to his run-in with a reporter from "the dirtiest of all dirty sheets of this country, the Brooklyn Eagle."
Morel captured the sense of joy and hope that permeated his community that day in his closing sentences:
Your correspondent having seen the old year out, and the new dawn bright and hopeful bearing on it the hopes and fears of four millions of black men, and the destiny of twenty-six millions of white, with their posterity, I draw the curtain and watch for the next piece in the drama, when I will relate the various parts played by both wise and foolish, when the scene shall change again, anon. JUNIUS.
You can learn more about the remarkable men and women who built Brooklyn's abolitionist movement at pursuitoffreedom.org.
Junius C. Morel, To the Christian Recorder, the Christian Recorder, January 10, 1863.
This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.
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