Davis School's Donation Will Help Mary's Garden Grow in Rye

On Friday, June 3, 2016, 149 fifth graders from the George M. Davis Elementary School in New Rochelle visited the childhood home of John Jay in Rye with a big surprise in hand. Their trip was part of a longstanding tradition of visits launched by educator Mrs. Carol Kelly and fellow teachers in 2005 to give students the opportunity to explore a National Historic Landmark just a short bus ride from their school. Each spring the children have come to the Jay Heritage Center (JHC) where they see the ongoing transformation of the buildings and grounds to better tell the stories of all the American families who lived at the Jay Estate free and enslaved.

Like the 11 classes before them, these well prepared fifth-graders saw the Jay Center’s interactive educational play, Striving for Freedom. The play presents the nuances and contradictions of John Jay’s ownership of slaves and simultaneous founding of the New York Manumission Society and abolition of slavery in his native state. Children are invited on to the stage to recreate true events - the separation, emancipation and final reunion of two enslaved sisters, Mary and Clarinda, who were likely born in Rye on the Jay Estate. But this year, following the performance, the students caught JHC and the actresses off guard with their own rehearsed postscript and dramatic recitation.

To celebrate their twelfth anniversary trip and directly inspired by a scene in the play in which the two central characters describe the sweet taste of candied violets made in the Jay’s family kitchen, the teachers and students of the Davis School surprised JHC with a donation of $400 towards replanting violets in a dedicated space called “Mary’s Garden.” The stone walled area next to the Jay Mansion is one of three garden rooms currently undergoing restoration; the first garden is a tribute to the many Marys who cultivated the land from the 18th to 20th century. The children and their parents raised the monies at a school fundraiser as a way to say “thank you for all you [JHC] do to educate and preserve history.”

The public is invited to learn about Mary and Clarinda and the story of the violets at a free performance of “Striving for Freedom” on Saturday, June 18 at 11am. The play is one of many events scheduled for New York State’s “Path Through History Weekend.” For more information or reserve seats for a group, email jayheritagecenter@gmail.com.