Block of Buffalo Avenue to Be Renamed in Honor of Joan Maynard

Community activist and preservationist Joan Maynard, the driving force behind the creation of Brooklyn’s remarkable Weeksville Heritage Center, will not be forgotten.

City Council Member Robert Cornegy and the trustees of Weeksville have arranged to co-name a block of Buffalo Avenue after Maynard, who died in 2006. They are holding a “street co-naming ceremony” to celebrate, followed by a private reception, on Saturday, October 14.

Maynard was a native Brooklynite, artist and preservationist. She was an early advocate for the historic Hunterfly Road houses, remnants of the once flourishing free black community of Weeksville founded by James Weeks in the 1830s.

By the 20th century the historic community had been swallowed up by the surrounding neighborhoods. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the story of Weeksville and its importance to Brooklyn history began to reemerge.

In 1968, Maynard founded the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford Stuyvesant History to support the restoration of the houses. The organization later became the Weeksville Heritage Society and she served as its executive director for 25 years.

The ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. at the Weeksville Heritage Center at 158 Buffalo Avenue. For more information or to RSVP, click here.

Related Stories

• The Inspiring Story of Weeksville, One of America’s First Free Black Communities
• Weeksville Heritage Center Celebrates New Museum Building
• Historic Weeksville Houses Restored, Reopened

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