Manhattan Strip Clubs: A village struggling with past looks to the future
… You cannot rule out Brooklyn,” he said, “because slaves were crossing the Mississippi from St. Louis and were hiding in and under the church up the street. Some stayed, some went on to Canada.”
Brooklyn, located directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis on Illinois Route 3 in St. Clair County, was a natural starting point for runaway slaves. If those slaves avoided patrols waiting on the Illinois side, Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church was their first stop.
McShan, 75, isn’t recounting the history because February is African-American History Month. In addition to serving as the church secretary, he also founded the Lovejoy Alumni Association to work with area schools and children. He believes the town can reclaim its heritage. Sitting in his office at 702 Washington Ave., McShan remembers when Brooklyn thrived as a small community, before there were deteriorating houses, burned-out buildings and a reliance on money from strip clubs in the village budget.