Old Ferry Stairs

William P. Chappel

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Despite its title, this scene depicts the stairs for the New Ferry (est. 1795) that conveyed people, goods, and even livestock to and from Brooklyn. A clue to the site’s identity is the appearance at the far right of the two Catherine Market buildings that open onto Front Street. In the early 1800s, the environs of the market also served as a space for enslaved blacks from around the region to compete in dances or "break-downs" atop boards called "shingles" in exchange for money or food. The choreography of these performances would influence later forms of African American dance.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art