Students Work Toward Removing Street Name Of KKK Leader

MALVERNE, NY — Paul Lindner was one of the people responsible for putting Malverne on the map. Lindner, who worked with a realty company, helped the village grow in 1915.

His name was on the elementary school, now named the Maurice Downing School. Lindner Place remains his legacy, but a group of students is looking to change that.

Lindner was a Ku Klux Klan leader in Nassau County causing a conflict for many in the community.

Jason Mach, supervisor of humanities in the district, is leading the volunteer project for students.

Lindner's background was somewhat known but remained under the radar until the summer of 2020.

"Following the death of George Floyd, we had a unity march," Mach told Patch. "It was at that point where one of the community leaders brought it up again."

The timing caused the issue to galvanize students.

That fall, the matter was broached by community leaders and a local head of the NAACP, who sought students for their effort--having the street renamed.

A change.org petition received more than 5,000 signatures.

"At first we were trying to think about how we could approach it because our position has to be delicate as a public school," Mach said.

Ultimately, they let students create arguments for and against the proposed renaming as an extra-credit assignment.

Mach researched original documents from a century ago about Lindner and conducted interviews to put together materials for the students.

"And then it was on them," he said. "We found that the kids got extremely engaged in this and really wanted to see where this went."

The process continued in June 2021 when some of the students addressed their thoughts to the Malverne Village town board meeting.

Upon Mach's investigating Lindner's link to Malverne, he was surprised to find out the street wasn't named for him, it was actually named by him.

"When the maps of the original town were drawn up, he put his name on it because he owned the property," Mach said.

However, in the years following ascension in the Klan, documentation shows Lindner lost two school board elections, his business and land in Malverne.

"He was basically run out of town. So it's not like the people of Malverne were divided about it at the time. They weren't. His name, however, kind of just always stayed," Mach said.

The students, of all grades at the high school, are in the process of getting it removed. But they are finding it is not a simple scenario when dealing with governments.

They were scheduled to petition the Malverne Board of Education on Tuesday night to consider a proposal for the Village board.

Mach said detractors complain that making the change will cost taxpayers to redraw maps and signs.

"There aren't a tremendous amount of residents on Lindner Place because it also houses a church and a library. It's not too big to begin with," Mach said.

Regardless of the outcome, the students are receiving a valuable lesson.

"They're learning a lot about local governance, a lot about activism and a lot about how things happen," he said. "They are learning that it's a frustrating process. It's also, at times, a polarizing one."