African American diaspora stories posted Martin Luther King's birthday

On Martin Luther King's birthday - take a look at our African American Diaspora stories

A fascinating link to stories, videos, presentations, interviews about African American celebrities who lived in Greenburgh; civil rights stories and some fascinating stories about Greenburgh residents whose family members experienced slavery

For several years now, the Town of Greenburgh has been creating and adding to an archive of stories, videos and photos highlighting the struggles and successes our local Black community has had during the last two centuries here. In February we hope to have our first African American museum exhibit at Greenburgh Town Hall featuring photos of the rich Greenburgh history.

Click here for the archive: https://sites.google.com/view/greenburgharchives

Website produced by Assistant to the Supervisor, Krista Madsen, pulling from many sources, including: articles by the volunteer Greenburgh Town Historians, Riley Wentzler and Felicia Barber; videos from Janelle Wallace, town Cable Access TV director; interviews by Tina Harper, Senior Services Coordinator, Department of Community Resources/TDYCC; local media, and many others.

Have a story of your family’s history in Greenburgh, or know someone with an interesting life story who should be included in this project? Please share by emailing pfeiner@greenburghny.com, including a photo or more if you have any. Thank you for reading, sharing, and helping grow this important archive.

Stories/participants on the site so far include, in alphabetical order:

• African Americans during the Civil War: Daniel Weinfeld’s presentation to the Town Board about the military service of Greenburgh men
• Alzheimer's and African Americans: a presentation by Esther McCarthy
• André Talley, larger than life Vogue creative director who lived in Greenburgh and died in early 2022, gets a road dedicated to him later that year.
• Anna Bernard: Parkway Gardens resident; first African American to be admitted to the Bar
• Atlantic Starr: World famous R&B group founded by three brothers from Greenburgh
• Barbara Johnson Armstrong: from the Civil Rights movement to witnessing the swearing in of Georgia's first African American Senator
• Barbara Perry: first Commissioner of the Department of Community Resources as well as the first African American woman Commissioner at the department
• Bishop Wilbert Preston: Chair of the Greenburgh Housing Authority and Pastor of Christ Temple
• Black-owned Farms: Historian Keith Doherty discovers the local history of black-owned farms in an article from the RivertownsDispatch.com
• Cab Calloway: jazz singer and bandleader with a career spanning 65 years
• Charlotte Phoenix, PhD. tells the story about her grandfather's northern migration from Mississippi to Michigan
• Civil Rights Stories from: Mike Sigal, on his participation in the Civil Rights Movement; Bill Greenawalt on the 1963 March on Washington; Elaine Finsilver, active in the fight for justice in the 1960s.
• Determined to Fight: a presentation on black Civil War soldiers from Hastings and Greenburgh presented to Hastings Historical Society
• Diana Bason: growing up in White Plains and Greenburgh
• Eugene Rutherford: storyteller and retired educator
• Gordon Parks: highly successful African American photographer
• Home Ownership: mapping Greenburgh’s African-American home ownership stats from the 1940s census
• Imani Bolling: educator discusses life in Greenburgh
• James Robinson: former Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Community Resources and lifetime resident
• Jane Washington: former educator and Greenburgh resident
• Lee Burwell: growing up in North Carolina and migrating north
• Madam CJ Walker: Explore the incredible life and local mansion of Madam CJ Walker, first self-made female millionaire in the United States
• Moms Mabley: famous comedian Loretta Mary Aiken
• Olivia Hooker: the first African-American woman to enter the U.S. Coast Guard
• Parkway Gardens: “bucolic haven for middle-class black families”
• Racism in our Backyard: Jordan Copeland talks about the history of Black people in Edgemont and in Greenburgh, the inspirational Cockburn and Stewart family stories, and housing discrimination in Town
• Ron Cook: the first African American to integrate Ardsley schools in 1965 (an interview on the Supervisor’s radio show from 2018)
• Roy Campanella: Brooklyn Dodger
• Slavery at the Odell Farm: a report by Susan Seal and Daniel Weinfeld
• Vernon Jordan: legendary Civil Rights’ Activist
• Yesterday Monument: Irvington's new monument to the Enslaved: Vinnie Bagwell's "yesterday" dedicated June 10, 2023

Click here to read/watch them all: https://sites.google.com/view/greenburgharchives
PAUL FEINER Greenburgh Town Supervisor