Eugene Auer Elementary School students sharing their dreams for the future. Photo courtesy MCCSD
Principal Kenneth Gutmann speaking at Eugene Auer Elementary School’s assembly. Photo courtesy MCCSD
Teachers read to the audience. Photo courtesy MCCSD
Students’ “I Have a Dream” worksheet. Photo courtesy MCCSD
In honor of Dr. Martin King, Jr. Day and to kick off Black History Month, Eugene Auer Elementary School hosted an assembly organized by fourth-grade teacher Jeanine Buttino, with the help of principal Kenneth Gutmann.
“Educating our students about Dr. King’s leadership and legacy is a great way to teach our learners about equality and the civil rights movement,” said Gutmann. “We are also looking forward to honoring Black History Month with the many classroom activities and lessons planned for the month of February that will be highlighting the countless African Americans who have contributed so richly and heroically to our country’s history and culture.”
During the assembly, selected students from each grade level shared with their fellow classmates what dreams they had envisioned for the future. After, students listened to Dr. King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech as well as listened to teachers read various books in honor of Dr. King and Black History Month.
For more information regarding the Middle Country Central School District and its students’ many achievements, please visit the district’s website: www.mccsd.net.
To mark Black History Month, the Jazz Loft in Stony Brook Village will be highlighting wines specifically from Black winemakers and winery owners, for its Acoustic in the Main Room series. The series showcases small duos/trios in the Loft’s main performance room which will be set up to resemble an intimate living room, with spaced out seating. The concerts are conversational, engaging and intimate and a very special window into the heart and mind of the artists and each concert is paired with a special wine to celebrate Black History Month.
“This theme was chosen in an effort to elevate awareness and support the growth of African Americans in the wine industry,” said Director of Education Laura Landor, who selected the wine pairings. “Of the more than 11,000 wineries in the United States, less than 1 percent of them are Black owned or have a Black winemaker. We are excited to introduce these wines to our Jazz Loft patrons during Black History Month and hope to add a selection of them to our regular list of wines that are available by the glass or bottle.”
The Jazz Loft will offer tastings of a red and white selection during each performance with full glasses available for purchase.
“Our Acoustic in the Main Room series is a unique opportunity to hear some of the most talented singers and musicians that perform regularly at the Loft in a relaxed setting, reminiscent of the New York City Loft scene of the 1950’s which inspired the Jazz Loft’s name,” said Jazz Loft founder Tom Manuel. “If you don’t know any Jazz performers personally to invite into your own living room, then this is the next best thing.”
The Acoustic in the Main Room series calendar:
February 9-Featuring Mala Waldron on piano and vocals; with Mike Hall on bass; and Tom Manuel on cornet.
McBride Sisters Sparkling Brut Rose, Hawk’s Bay NZ
McBride Sisters 2020 Chardonnay Central Coast, CA
McBride Sisters 2019 Red Blend Central Coast, CA
February 10-Houston Person on tenor saxophone; Steve Salerno on guitar and Tom Manuel on cornet.
Brown Estate “Chaos Theory” 2021 Proprietary Red Wine (California)
Brown Estate House of Brown 2021 Chardonnay (California)
February 24- Buddy Merriam on mandolin; Steve Salerno on guitar and Tom Manuel on cornet
Longevity 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon (California)
Longevity 2019 Chardonnay (California)
February 25- Grammy-nominated singer Nicole Zuraitis, with Steve Salerno on guitar and Tom Manuel on cornet
LVE Signature Series 2021 Chardonnay (North Coast, California)
LVE 2019 Cabernet (North Coast, California)
All performances are hosted by Tom Manuel and Laura Landor.
Tickets will be limited to just 85 people and start at 7 p.m., and feature two sets with a brief intermission.
Tickets for all performances are $40 and start at 7 p.m. and can be purchased at https://www.thejazzloft.org.
The Jazz Loft, 275 Christian Avenue in Stony Brook, is located just 90 minutes from New York City and is the only music venue on Long Island that features exclusively jazz music. For more information, call 631-751-1895.
Long Road to Freedom: Surviving Slavery on Long Island available online
The Long Island Museum (LIM) has announced the release of its latest online publication: Long Road to Freedom: Surviving Slavery on Long Island.
Based on the 2019 exhibition of the same name, the publication, written by LIM’s curator Jonathan M. Olly, Ph.D, focuses on the experiences of people of color from the 17th to 19th centuries.
The five-chapter publication explores the topics of how slavery operated, how African Americans resisted bondage, navigated the era of emancipation, and built communities in the decades after slavery, from Brooklyn to the Hamptons.
Cover image
“It’s important to remember,” says Olly, “that people of color have been a part of every Long Island community since the beginning. They worked in all industries, raised families, built communities, and contributed to our shared history and culture in ways that are remembered and celebrated, and also being rediscovered through historical research and archaeology.”
“Some of today’s challenges, such as de facto housing segregation, are rooted in the complex relationships between Black and white Long Islanders in the 18th and 19th centuries. To learn how we got to this point is essential to recognizing biases, fighting discrimination, and meeting our responsibilities to present and future generations. The Long Island Museum’s exhibition, and now this publication, are small steps in that direction,” he said.
More than fifty organizations, companies, governmental offices and private individuals contributed objects and digital images to the exhibition that ran from February 15 to May 27, 2019 in the Art Museum. The unprecedented collection of material in one place for only a limited time prompted the desire for a publication that would provide a permanent record of the exhibition.
The publication of Long Road to Freedom: Surviving Slavery on Long Island was made possible through generous funding from LIM’s premier exhibition sponsor, MargolinBesunder, LLP as well support from Baird Private Management Group, Bank of America, New York Community Bank Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, the Peter & Barbara Ferentinos Family Endowment, the Mary & Phillip Hulitar Textile Collection, the Long Island Museum Director’s Advisory Circle and public funding provided by Suffolk County.
Panel Discussion
Join the Long Island Museum via Zoom on Wednesday, March 10 at 5:30 p.m. as they host a moderated panel discussion to coincide with the release of the Museum’s new publication Long Road to Freedom: Surviving Slavery on Long Island!
The live conversation, moderated by Darren St. George, Director, Education & Public Programs, Preservation Long Island, will feature an esteemed panel including Jonathan Olly, Curator Long Island Museum, Professor Mark Chambers, and Lynda Day Professor of Africana Studies, Brooklyn College- CUNY The program will highlight the Museum’s new publication and discuss ways that historians, museums and professors are working to make Long Island’s past more accessible. Current approaches to teaching Black history, as well as how conversations around Northern (and specifically Long Island) slavery has changed over the last few decades will also be examined.
Registration is FREE, but limited and will be taken on a first come, first served basis. Please email [email protected] to reserve your spot today! You will receive an email within 48 hours to confirm your spot and a Zoom link a day before the event.
To view the publication or download a free printable copy visit the LIM’s website at www.longislandmuseum.org.
ABOUT THE LONGISLANDMUSEUM:
Located at 1200 Route 25A in Stony Brook, the LongIslandMuseum is a Smithsonian Affiliate dedicated to enhancing the lives of adults and children with an understanding of LongIsland‘s rich history and diverse cultures. The LIM will reopen for the spring season with new exhibitions on Friday, March 19, 2021 and modified museum hours, Friday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information visit: longislandmuseum.org.
Town of Huntington Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci announced on February 22 that the Town discovered over the weekend the name of a Tuskegee Airman from Halesite, Joseph B. Bennett, that will now be added to the Town’s World War II Memorial.
“On this final week of Black History Month in 2021, we are thrilled to be able to add this most deserving Word War II pilot, Joseph B. Bennett, to the Town of Huntington World War II Memorial in just the nick of time, thanks to the Newsday article on local Tuskegee Airmen and the great work of our Veterans Affairs Coordinator Carol Rocco,” said Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci.
Town of Huntington Veterans Affairs Coordinator Carol Rocco was reading the Sunday Edition of Newsday this weekend and happened upon the article, Famed Tuskegee Airmen included LIers who paid a price abroad and at home, where she discovered one of the five Long Island airmen featured in the article was “2nd Lt. Joseph B. Bennett” of Halesite.
On Monday, February 22, Rocco returned to Huntington Town Hall and checked her database to find that Joseph B. Bennett was not in the list of names on the Town of Huntington World War II Memorial located in Veterans Plaza on the front lawn of Town Hall.
The World War II Memorial on Veterans Plaza honors the memory, service and sacrifice of Huntington’s World War II veterans; there are 6,000 names on the memorial, which have been added in four phases on 15 plaques. After significant community outreach over the past few years, the Town has been working on a final plaque of names of World War II veterans who ever lived in the Town to be added to the memorial.
The unveiling ceremony for the final plaque was expected to take place in June 2020 but the Town was forced to postpone the event due to COVID-19 gathering limitations and concerns; the delay and a final proofreading of the plaque allowed for the late Joseph B. Bennett’s name to be added on February 22, 2021, the final name of 364 new names to be added to the memorial on the last plaque.
Rocco researched Bennett’s name and found an obituary, which revealed he passed away at the age of 93 on January 13, 2021; she contacted the James Hunt Funeral Home in New Jersey who put her in touch with Bennett’s daughter, who gave approval to add his name to the World War II Memorial.
Joseph B. Bennett grew up in Halesite and entered the Civilian Pilot Training Program at Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama. As a WWII Pilot, he earned several medals and retired with the rank of Captain. As a civilian, Mr. Bennett continued his flying career flying private chartered planes for presidential families and other socialites until becoming an aviation consultant.
Photos of Tuskegee Airman Joseph B. Bennett provided by James Hunt Funeral Home
The Joseph Lloyd Manor property will serve as a pilot site for the grant project.
Preservation Long Island, a regional preservation advocacy nonprofit based in Cold Spring Harbor, is pleased to announce the United for Libraries Literary LandmarkTM designation for one of its historic properties, Joseph Lloyd Manor, an 18th -century manor house in Lloyd Harbor, NY, and a site of Black enslavement. The designation honors Jupiter Hammon (1711– ca.1806), one of the earliest published African American writers who composed his most well- known works while enslaved at the manor.
The Literary LandmarkTM plaque unveiling and virtual celebration will take place at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 17, which recognizes Hammon’s 309th birthday as well as Black Poetry Day. This will mark the first Literary Landmark dedication to be livestreamed.
Jupiter Hammon’s life and writings offer an exceptionally nuanced view of slavery and freedom on Long Island before and after the American Revolution. His works are especially significant because most literature and historical documents from the eighteenth century were not written from an enslaved person’s point of view.
Hammon’s known works include at least six poems and three essays published during his lifetime. At Joseph Lloyd Manor in 1786, he penned “An Address to the Negroes of the State of New-York” and “An Essay on Slavery.”
“As one of the significant early examples of African American literature before the republic, Jupiter Hammon’s work is a masterful ethical critique on slavery, religion, and humane relationship,” said Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Eastville Community Historical Society and a member of the Jupiter Hammon Project Advisory Council.
“The designation by United for Libraries validates what we recognized from the beginning, that Jupiter Hammon is a nationally significant individual in history but not many people know about him,” said Lauren Brincat, Curator at Preservation Long Island.
“The Literary Landmark designation complements the work of our multi-year Jupiter Hammon Project that aims to engage the site more fully to reflect the multiple events, perspectives, and people that shaped the house’s history, including elevating the voice and history of Jupiter Hammon”, said Alexandra Wolfe, Preservation Long Island’s Executive Director.
The unveiling event will feature remarks by Rocco Staino, United for Libraries Board Member and Director of Empire State Center for the Book and Irene Moore, Chair, Huntington African American Historic Designation Council. Actor/writer, Malik Work will perform his poem, “An Aria of Pain”. The winners of the Jupiter Hammon Essay/Poetry Contest from Silas Wood Sixth Grade Center, South Huntington Union Free School District, will recite their winning entries. Closing remarks will be delivered by Joye Brown, Columnist/Associate Editor, Newsday.
“One of the advantages of a virtual event and livestreaming of the designation ceremony is that it will be accessible to a much larger audience. We will also have recorded documentation of this celebration of Hammon’s significant accomplishments and contributions to American history and literature that will endure digitally on our website”, said Wolfe.
To view the event via Facebook Live (no registration required), visit Preservation Long Island’s Facebook page on October 17th at 2 p.m.:
https://www.facebook.com/preservationlongisland/
From left, “Tobias” played by Darren St. George; “Thomas” played by Jordan Gee; Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn; “Dorcas” played by Carolyn Brown; and Lori Andrews, WMHO development director. Photo from WMHO
Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) and Empire National Bank are this year’s generous sponsors of Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s riveting live theatrical drama, “Running Scared, Running Free … Escape to the Promised Land.” Performed by St. George Living History Productions, it tells the story of slaves escaping through the Underground Railroad from the south to Long Island and north to Canada. Native Americans, Quakers, free blacks and Abolitionists assisted them through the fascinating use of secret codes in quilt patterns as a means of communication.
The show, currently in production at the WMHO’s Educational & Cultural Center, 97P Main St., Stony Brook runs through Feb. 28. Tickets, by reservation, are $12 per adult; $12 per student (up to 35 students); $8 per student (over 35 students). To order, call 631-689-5888. For further information on this and other WMHO educational programming, call 631-751-2244 or visit www.wmho.org.
Residents of Chicken Hill, Marjorie and Hub Edwards. Photo courtesy of TVHS
During the month of February, Three Village Historical Society, 93 North Country Road, Setauket, joins the nation in celebrating Black History Month, a commemoration of African American history and achievement, with its latest exhibit, Chicken Hill: A Community Lost to Time.
Through photographs, artifacts and recorded interviews, the memory of this neighborhood, whose residents included African Americans, Native Americans, Russians, Poles, Lithuanians, Rumanians, Irish and Italians, has been preserved.
The exhibit is a 2015 recipient of a Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History and may be seen on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 adults, $5 children and students. For more information, call 631-751-3730.
Barbara and Herman Lee with Barbara’s mother Ethel Lewis. Photos from Geral Lee.
By Geral Lee
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is unquestionably synonymous with Black History Month. He courageously confronted social inequities and racism in the midst of an adverse anti-black administration largely due to J. Edgar Hoover who had been appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation, renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935. Few could compete with Hoover’s power and he went virtually unchallenged for half a century.
Hoover opposed making Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday. His smear campaign attempted to label Dr. King as a communist and a homosexual. He ordered illegal wire taps of Dr. King’s hotel room to try to justify his stance and used the power of government to satisfy his own bigotry toward blacks. Dr. King persevered.
Herman Lee in his Navy days (circa 1941). Photo from Geral Lee
There were many other individuals way before Dr. King who challenged the system in the name of justice. I am certain their actions helped define his political strategies. These people — and God bless them — were not just slaves, demonstrators or rioters.
I must include Glenn Beck in this article. I am not suggesting he is an authority on black history. As the colorful conservative that he is, his question as to why the many contributions of black people continue to remain hidden from the mainstream is a legitimate one — and yet another reason to celebrate Black History Month.
In one of his tapings, “Glenn Beck Founders’ Fridays Black American Founders” (Fox News), that I listened to on YouTube, he mentioned Peter Salem, a hero in the Battle of Bunker Hill who saved scores of American lives. During the Battle of Lexington, white and black parishioners who worshiped together were commanded to fight. James Armistead served as a double spy. And is that Prince Whipple, the black crewman, in the painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware? I am not so sure because many blacks fought in the American Revolution. Freedom was not an automatic option.
There have been unsung black heroes making all kinds of contributions throughout American history. The members of the 333rd Battalion, for example. The Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company of Baltimore, Maryland, which was one of the largest and most successful black businesses in America in the 1870s.
“Dirty Little Secrets About Black History: Its Heroes & Other Troublemakers” by Claud Anderson reveals that in the late 1800s, blacks invented and filed for patents on a number of transportation-related devices. Andrew J. Beared invented an automatic train car coupler. Albert B. Blackburn invented a railway signal. R.A. Butler invented a train alarm. Although many inventors were fresh out of slavery and the literacy rate among slaves was 50 percent, black inventors filed hundreds of patents for transportation devices. The Safe Bus Company was a black-owned city-chartered bus line in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from 1930 to the 1960s.
Black history celebrates regular people engaged in positive activities. Here are some examples:
My father Herman Lee resided at 34 Christian Ave., Setauket, between 1956 and 2011. He was employed at the Setauket yard of the Brookhaven Highway Department in the 1960s and promoted to foreman in the 1970s. He did carpentry/home improvement projects for Three Village homeowners; among his regular clients, the Windrows and the Strongs. In World War II he served on the USS Hornet CV-12. After he became a chaplain for the VFW along with his wife Barbara Lewis Lee who was a practical nurse and historian in her own right. They sent all of their four children to college: Barbara, Herman, Geral and Peter.
Barbara, Herman, Geral and Peter Lee. Photo from Geral Lee
Uncle Sherwood Lewis was an employee of Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO). He came up with an idea that saved the company more than $100,000 a year according to a Newsday article dated April 23, 1977. He, too, was raised on Christian Avenue and now resides in Massachusetts.
Grandmother Ethel Lewis, valedictorian of her high school graduating class, resided at 32 Christian Ave. with her husband Howard Lewis. They subdivided their property so my parents could build their house on Christian Avenue.
Aunt Hazel Lewis, salutatorian of her graduating class, was employed at Peck & Peck in New York City back in the day — a high-end boutique clothing store for women.
Aunt Pearl Lewis Hart received an associates degree in accounting in her 40s, was promoted to supervisor of the payroll department at SUNY Stony Brook and, until her death last month at age 92, was living in her own home on Christian Avenue.
Uncle Harry Hart, Pearl’s husband, owned his own excavation and contracting business from the 1940s to the 1980s. He acquired land on Christian Avenue and rented to many local folks.
Remembering a few of Dr. King’s principles of nonviolence can help provide the foundation for a healthy society: “Nonviolence is a way of life for brave people; attack problems, not people; know and do what is right even when it is difficult.”
I know there are many individuals who believe in these principles.
Black History Month means different things to different people, but if it can fill in the gaps, identify injustice, encourage positive dialogue and provide a platform for people to work toward understanding one another, it is a valuable ongoing process.
Geral Lee returned to her Setauket home in 2013 to be with her father after living in Rhode Island for 12 years. She taught physical education and health in Hempstead early in her career and received a personal invitation from her primary school coach Jack Foley, who later became athletic director for Three Village schools, to teach at Ward Melville. She served in the Peace Corps in Senegal, loves dogs and cats and currently relieves stress as a reflexologist.
