A house museum has a new message: New York also had slavery

Before the restoration, the Lefferts house was mainly aimed at families; children could plant potatoes, harvest flax, play with reproduced artifacts, and see how linen was woven. Although the museum began acknowledging that the Leffertses owned slaves more than 20 years ago, it could not be determined who, for example, might have sewn the fine linen garments the family wore. (A reproduction of an early 1800s men’s shirt is in the house.)

“The point of view now,” Carrasco said, speaking of future exhibits and visitor information, “is this a person who was owned by the Leffertses, who lived here in Brooklyn, and who is probably buried in the Flatbush African Burial Ground.”

ReImagine Lefferts and its partners, including the Flatbush African Burial Ground Coalition and the Weeksville Heritage Center, envision the museum becoming a community center as well, hosting speaker panels, symposia, and gatherings on neighborhood issues. The initiative is too survey city residents to ask what they would like to see in the house, with a view to installing new exhibits in 2024. To still make the museum welcoming to families, Monaco said, the exhibits will not focus on the suffering of oppressed people , but on “their legacy and the resilience of their stories.”

Shanna Sabiowho sits on the board of the cemetery coalition and is an advisor to ReImagine Lefferts, said an installation could ask young visitors to think about what they could have done to help at the time Isaacan enslaved man who escaped from the Lefferts ranch after less than three months, taking with him relatives enslaved nearby.

“Allowing people to see themselves as possible actors in shaping history,” Sabio said, can “make history more personal.”

Another project consultant, George Stonefish, a Lenape elder and organizer, would like the museum to learn how much the Dutch inhabitants depended on the indigenous people for their livelihood. He has suggested planting the so-called three sisters—corn, squash, and beans—in the Lefferts Garden and inviting the public to the museum for powwows and craft demonstrations that highlight Lenape culture.