Jamaica After Emancipation: Walking Tour

In 1827, the year slavery officially ended in New York State, a free Black man named Wilson Rantous purchased about $250 worth of land in the Village of Jamaica, Long Island. His purpose? To develop a space for the local Black community to come together and prosper through fellowship, education, and civic engagement. Find out more about the life of Wilson Rantous and discover a grassroots movement in the early years of the United States, working toward one of the first Black voting rights conventions in New York State and whose echoes are still felt in the community today.