Black History

New York City is blessed with an incredible array of public sculptures.

One overlooked aspect of this collection is its monuments of Black Americans, each with its own remarkable story. The first appearance of a Black person in a city monument came in the Civil War Soldiers’ Monument in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery in 1876, but this was a nameless symbolic figure. It wasn’t until 1945 that Booker T. Washington became the first identifiable Black American honored in a New York City monument. In 2007, the city dedicated its first monument to a Black woman, Harriet Tubman. Behind every first is a story of triumph over adversity and exclusion. Local author David Felsen reveals the stories behind thirty inspiring monuments that have endured, as well as how they found their place in the city’s history.

Discover a lost world of farmers cutting hay with scythes and dancing to fiddle music on barn floors through the Long Island paintings of William Sidney Mount.

Explore vivid depictions of people of color, presented with great humanity when racist caricatures were the norm.

  

This landmark book reveals the lives of Rachel, the eel spearer; Henry Brazier, the left-handed fiddler; George Freeman, model for the jaunty banjo player, and other agricultural laborers, domestic workers, and musicians who posed for the artist.

Authors Katherine Kirkpatrick and Vivian Nicholson-Mueller take readers on a fascinating historical journey as they publicly honor, by name, the once-anonymous Black and mixed-race models whose images have achieved international recognition.

On February 5th, 1946, the Ferguson brothers were concluding a night out celebrating Charles Ferguson's reenlistment in the Army...

Charles, wearing his military uniform, walked with his brothers Alphonso, Joseph, and Richard towards the Freeport Bus Terminal to go home. A provisional Freeport police officer named Joseph Romeika stopped the brothers over a disorderly conduct complaint. Words were exchanged, and Officer Romeika killed Charles, Alphonso and shot Joseph within minutes of the initial stop. Following the unarmed shooting, Romeikia was acquitted despite changing stories of eyewitnesses.

Discover how the shooting became a catalyst for civil rights efforts and immortalized in a Woody Guthrie protest song.

The first African Americans of Peekskill had no choice in making the Hudson Valley their home. What they did choose was what kind of home to make of it--choices that were to shape both their community and the course of American history. Meet the African American sharpshooter who helped swing the balance of the American Revolution, revisit a stop on the underground railroad and catch a glimpse of Paul Robeson through the tumult of the 1949 concert riots. Then follow John J. Curran beyond the headlines and behind the scenes as he seeks out the people whose quiet, consistent contributions were no less dynamic in bringing about social change.

Long Island has been in the corridors of almost all major turning points of American history, but Long Island has been overlooked as a battleground of the civil rights movement. Since early colonization by the English settlers in the 17th century, the shadow of slavery has bequeathed a racial caste system that has directly or indirectly been enforced. During World War II, every member of society was asked to participate in ending tyranny within European and Asian borders. Homeward-bound black soldiers expected a societal change in race relations; instead they found the same racial barriers they experienced prior to the war. They were refused homes in developments such as Levittown, denied mortgages, and had their children face limited educational opportunities. Collective efforts from organizations such as Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) employed civil disobedience as a tactic to fracture racial barriers.

Discover Long Island's pivotal role in the Underground Railroad and the stories of the brave men and women whose legacy lives on today.

From the arrival of the Quakers in the seventeenth century to the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, Long Island played an important role in the Underground Railroad's work to guide slaves to freedom. In Old Westbury, the Post family established a major stop on the freedom trail with the help of an escaped Virginia slave. In Jericho, families helped escaping slaves to freedom from the present-day Maine Maid Inn. Elias Hicks helped free 191 slaves himself and worked to create Underground Railroad safe houses in many northeastern cities. Some former slaves even established permanent communities across the island. Visit the safe houses--many of which are still standing today--and explore the journey of runaway slaves on Long Island.

Frederick Douglass--famed author, orator and former slave--spent twenty-five years with his family in Rochester, New York, beginning in 1848. Despite living through one of our nation's most bitter and terrifying times, Frederick and his wife, Anna, raised five children in a loving home with flower, fruit and vegetable gardens. While Frederick traveled widely, fighting for the freedom and rights of his brethren, Anna cared for their home and their family and extended circle. Their house was open to fugitives on the Underground Railroad, visiting abolitionists and house guests who stayed for weeks, months and years at a time. Local author Rose O'Keefe weaves together the story of the Douglasses' experience in Rochester and the indelible mark they left on the Flower City.

Syracuse African Americans abounds with hard work, forbearance, determination, strength, and spirit. It depicts through photographs the heritage of this upstate New York African American community. The story spans several centuries, beginning when escaped slaves made salt here and sold it to the Native Americans. Once a hotbed of abolitionism, Syracuse was the site of a protest against the Fugitive Slave Law. Later, as the city became a manufacturing center, its black population increased.

Because of its clandestine nature, much of the history of the Underground Railroad remains shrouded in secrecy--so much so that some historians have even doubted its importance. After decades of research, Tom Calarco recounts his experiences compiling evidence to give credence to the legend's oral history in upstate New York. As the Civil War loomed and politicians from the North and South debated the fate of slavery, brave New Yorkers risked their lives to help fugitive slaves escape bondage. Whites and blacks alike worked together on the Underground Railroad, using ingenious methods of communication and tactics to stay ahead of the slave master and bounty hunter. Especially after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, conscientious residents doubled their efforts to help runaways reach Canada. Join Calarco on this journey of discovery of one of the noblest endeavors in American history.

African Americans of Western Long Island is a tribute to a particular people who have given much to their communities and made history along the way. It focuses on African Americans who have not only with distinguished themselves but also served to make the western half of Long Island, from Hempstead to Gordon Heights, a stronger and better place. With more than two hundred select photographs and well-researched text, the book highlights the faces and the accomplishments of those who blazed the trail in various fields: pastors and educators, political leaders and jurists, businesspeople and athletes, and artists and entertainers.

Discover the Black pioneers who shaped St. Lawrence County through grit and determination.

From its origins as part of New France through the Civil War and eventual industrialization of the region, St. Lawrence County has been shapped by all too often overlooked Black families and individuals. Author Bryan S. Thompson reveals the history of the African American community in New York's North Country.

This is the story of a people who have made a significant although unsung contribution to Eastern Long Island: the African Americans. Based on specific success stories, African Americans of Eastern Long Island offers a wide array of individuals who shaped the region's history. Through photographs, portraits, and posters, the author presents some of the most outstanding people-musicians, politicians, businesspeople, pastors, jurists, educators, activists, athletes, and cultural icons-who have bequeathed lasting legacies to the area.