Bedford-Stuyvesant, the district that made history by electing the first black woman to the U.S. Congress (Shirley Chisholm),
Bed-Stuy comprises roughly 2,000 acres and houses 400,000 people, making it among the 30 largest American cities.
Bedford-Stuyvesant, generally referred to as Bed-Stuy, is the larger of New York City's two major black communities. It is bordered by Flushing Avenue on the north, Broadway and Saratoga Avenue on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south and Classon Avenue on the west. Bed-Stuy is in Brooklyn Community District 3.
History
The neighborhood name is derived from the joining of two 19th-century middle-income communities: Bedford to the west and Stuyvesant Heights to the east. The woodlands of Bedford were purchased in the mid-1600s by the Dutch West Indies Company from the Canarsee Indians, and the land was used as a farming village inhabited by Dutch farmers and black slaves.
Over the years, farmland was gradually divided into housing lots. By 1873, the population had reached 14,000, and included Irish, Germans, Jews, Scots, Dutch and free blacks. Further growth was spurred in the 1880s by the opening of the elevated railway and then the Brooklyn Bridge; by 1920, the population had grown to 45,000.
In 1936, the subway system reached Bedford-Stuyvesant. Soon thereafter, blacks, including recent Caribbean immigrants, became the dominant group of residents. In 1968, the area's residents elected Shirley Chisolm, the first black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress.
Interesting trivia about Bedford-Stuyvesant:
• Originally formed by the merger of two communities: Bedford and Stuyvesant Heights
• Filming location for, Do the Right Thing, (1989) and Dave Chapelle's Block Party (2005)
• Well-known residents have included: Shirley Chishom, first black woman elected to Congress; Jackie Robinson, baseball great; Randy Weston, jazz pianist; Eubie Blake, musician; and Floyd Patterson, world heavy weight champion boxer.
• Home to one of the oldest free black communities in the U.S. , Weeksville, founded by African American freedmen in 1838.
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