A historical center in New York is in danger of closing down if it doesn’t raise enough money by July.
The Weeksville Heritage Center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, is struggling to keep its doors open, reports Brownstoner.
“Rising operating costs and the challenging fundraising environment for black cultural institutions have put all the work we do in jeopardy,” organization president Rob Fields wrote in an email. “We might have to shut our doors in July. It’s that serious.”
The center is located on land once occupied by the people of Weeksville, a town founded by former dock worker James Weeks in 1838. The town was almost forgotten until historians found the site and founded the center in 1968. The Hunterfly Houses, which date back to the 1800s, are part of the facility. In 2013, the city of New York spent $34 million to erect a museum, according to a 2014 article from The New Yorker.
A year later, Weeksville was in financial trouble.
The center laid off half of its staff after they had issues securing donors during the recession. Weeksville launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $200,000 to keep the center open until September.
“We will use that time to engage in a critical, much-needed strategic planning process to develop an operational and funding model that’s much more appropriate for the non-profit landscape we find ourselves in now,” reads the campaign page. “Our goal is to come out of this planning with a clear path to sustainability and to ensure that we never find ourselves in this financially vulnerable position again.”
The Wire star Michael K. Williams encouraged the public to donate in a promotional video.
“The work they do there preserves and shares an important site of black freedom, black empowerment and black self-determination,” said Williams.
“I was so incredibly inspired when I learned about the history, the institutions and the community that Black people built long before The Civil War and the Emancipation. But all that history is in jeopardy, y’all.”
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams also supports the fundraiser, according to Brooklyn Reader.
“The Weeksville Heritage Center is an important part of our collective history, which is why it’s been so difficult to see the struggles they’ve faced in recent years,” Adams said in a statement. “
Organizations like Weeksville do not benefit from the major endowments and PR attention that have long supported other cultural institutions along Museum Mile and other more affluent communities. It’s heartening to see hundreds of New Yorkers coming together to help Weeksville in its hour of need. Ultimately, a long-term sustainable funding strategy must be implemented to keep the organization going into the coming decades, and my administration stands ready to assist as best we are able. Brooklyn’s Black history must be preserved, promoted and well patronized.”
The crowdfunding campaign raised more than $46,000.
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