Greenburgh Insider: Black History Month: The African Diaspora experiences of local residents.

 

We welcome more stories and interesting experiences.

THE AFRICAN DIASPORA EXPERIENCE: Living Narratives of Greenburgh Residents

 

Last year we launched a new town initiative – archiving African American Stories – that we’d love to keep growing with your help. Have a story to tell about your family history in Greenburgh and beyond?  Please email pfeiner@greenburghny.com, including a photo or more if you have any. We may reach out to record an interview.

We'd like to share these stories on Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday weekend  and during Black History month.

 

In honor of Black History Month, we welcome you to visit our website where we’ve compiled the stories so far: https://sites.google.com/view/greenburgharchives, which include: 

• Councilman Ken Jones writes about his aunt, Anna Bernard, a Parkway Gardens resident who was the first African American to be admitted to the NY Bar.
• A fascinating report by Bishop Preston, noting "the marks of slavery still burn bright." Bishop Dr. Wilbert G. Preston is the Pastor of Christ Temple and chairs the Greenburgh Housing Authority. 
•  Eugene Rutherford, is a lifelong resident of Greenburgh, Storyteller and retired Teacher/Educator. 
• Tina Harper of the TDYCC interviews Greenburgh resident Charlotte Phoenix, PhD, about her incredible grandfather's life journey from Mississippi to Michigan. 
•  Civil Rights Stories: Elaine Finsilver recounts how she was so active on the local front for the fight for justice in the 1960s she missed MLK Jr's famous speech; the text of Bill Greenwalt's sermon from 2020 on the 1963 March on Washington; and Mike Sigal on his participation in the Civil Rights Movement.
•  Ron Cook, first African American to integrate Ardsley schools in 1965, as interviewed on Paul Feiner's WVOX radio show in 2018. 
• Tina Harper of the TDYCC interviews Greenburgh resident Diana Bason about growing up in White Plains and Greenburgh.
• From the Civil Rights movement to the recent swearing in of Georgia's first African American Senator, Greenburgh resident Barbara Johnson Armstrong witnesses history.

 

The Greenburgh Archives project will be shared with the Westchester Historical Archives, The Greenburgh Library history room, and the Greenburgh historians. It's our hope that future generations will appreciate these stories and learn from your experiences.

Paul Feiner