A New Way To Explore Black History Month At New Rochelle Library

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The New Rochelle Public Library is celebrating Black History Month with a wide variety of free programs all month.

On Wednesday, Ted Reinstein, author of "Before Brooklyn: The Unsung Heroes Who Helped Break Baseball’s Color Barrier" will present a virtual program telling the stories of the little-known heroes who fought segregation in baseball. The stories of breaking the color barrier come alive with accounts from newspaper reporters and even Pullman car porters who saw to it that black newspapers espousing integration in professional sports reached the homes throughout the country.

Reinstein also reminds us that the first black player in professional baseball was not Jackie Robinson but Moses Fleetwood Walker in 1884, and that for a time integrated teams were not that unusual. And then, as segregation throughout the country hardened, the exclusion of blacks in baseball quietly became the norm, and the battle for integration began anew.

Registration required.

From Feb. 5, to March 4, "Tracing Our Roots: New Rochelle’s Black History," an original exhibit presented by New Rochelle Council on the Arts (NRCA), will be on display in the Lumen Winter Gallery of the Library, during library hours.

In this exhibit, the NRCA continues its ongoing exploration of the city’s heritage by focusing on the places, people, events and movements that shaped the lives of its African American residents. Through compelling graphic design, photographs, primary documents, maps, early newspaper articles and an illuminating narrative, this exhibit reveals the extraordinary heritage of New Rochelle’s Black community.

A free public exhibit reception will take place on Feb. 25, from 5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., in the Library lobby.

On Sunday at 2 p.m., a free chamber music concert by pianist Mikael Darmanie and violinist Robyn Quinnett will delight audiences at the Ossie Davis Theater. The program will feature works for violin and piano by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Ellington, Montgomery and Schubert.

Registration is requested.

On Feb. 10, at 7 p.m., Harlem Blues and Jazz Band, billed as "the best that America has to offer," returns to the New Rochelle Public Library. The band, founded in 1973 by jazz aficionado Albert Vollmer, brings together the best sidemen of the times who played with such bands as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter and others. They began to tour internationally in 1976 and continue to be one of the most authentic Swing Bands playing today.

Registration is requested.

On Thursday, February 16, at 6:30 p.m., New Rochelle Public Library Archivist David Rose will give a virtual presentation, "The History of the George Washington Carver Garden Club of Westchester."

The George Washington Carver Garden Club of Westchester was founded in 1933 at the height of George Carver’s renown as an agricultural scientist and leading conservationist. The club was active in New Rochelle for fifty years, and it promoted the pleasures of suburban gardening, flower shows, horticulture and landscaping. In the presentation, Rose will describe the club’s activities and its relation to the work and discoveries of George Carver based on records in the library’s archive.

Registration required.

On Feb. 25, at 3:30 p.m., Bokandeye African Dance Troupe and participants in the Bokandeye African Dance workshops taking place this February will perform a collage of traditional rhythms and dances from the Senegambia Region of West Africa.

Registration requested.

The Black History Month programs and performances are made possible with support from the Friends of the New Rochelle Public Library and the New Rochelle Downtown Business Improvement District.

All of the programs take place at the New Rochelle Public Library, located at 1 Library Plaza. All programs are free and open to the public.