A New Museum Celebrates Greenburgh’s Rich African-American History

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September 26, 2024

By Sue Treiman–

Few people associate Vernon Jordan, Cab Calloway, Roy Campanella, “Moms” Mabley and Gordon Parks with Westchester County and Greenburgh Township. That’s about to change.

A new African-American History Museum is the goal, but as an incremental step, an exhibit of public figures like Jordan, Calloway and Campanella is planned for Black History Month in February that will enshrine these and other prominent locals in Greenburgh Town Hall building and, if plans proceed, move eventually to its own building.

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A committee of locals overseeing the process includes a local high school student. “When I first learned about this, it seemed like a wonderful way to celebrate the beautiful, rich African American history of this area,” says Edgemont High School senior Shriya Garg. 17.

Acording to Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, “Greenburgh was one of the first locations in the United States with a large middle-class African-American community.” Greenburgh’s Black luminaries include the departed, like Jordan, Campanella, Mobley, Parks and Calloway, as well as those still very much alive, including most of the White Plains-based Atlantic Starr band members, among the most successful soul groups of the 80s and 90s.

Greenburgh’s prosperous African-American communities, including Parkway Neighborhood and the Pinecrest section of Hastings-on-Hudson, produced businessmen, sports figures, musicians, academics, and other movers-and-shakers. The project committee is appealing for additional names, personal photographs, stories, and videos that represent the achievements of Greenburgh’s African American population. “This is a work in progress,” says Feiner.

Public appeal

Early plans are to create traveling exhibitions, maps of significant sites, walking tours, and possible educational talks. The breadth and depth of museum archives, says Greenburgh Town Clerk Lisa Maria Nero, will be determined by those who contribute to the materials, alongside “proceeds of any grants we can secure.”

“We’ve also appealing to arts communities and historical societies who have things to share with us,” says Garg.

In the meantime, the committee is already creating tributes to:

Vernon Jordan Jr.

A close advisor to President Bill Clinton and an accomplished attorney, Jordan and his team brought the legal action that forced the University of Georgia to open its doors to Black students in 1961. He served as president of the National Urban League from 1971 to 1981 before joining Clinton’s administrative team.

Cab Calloway

Singer Cabell Calloway III and his Orchestra were regulars at Harlem’s Cotton Club. Their 1931 mega-hit “Minnie the Moocher” racked up a then-astronomical figure of one-million sales. Dobbs Ferry writer and former music industry professional Kris DiLorenzo, a Greenburgh museum committee member, remembers Calloway “talking about touring in the segregated South, where his band was probably the first integrated group to perform at many venues.”

Gordon Parks

A leading 20^th Century photographer, Parks documented poverty, racism, and social injustice before becoming an equally successful musical composer, writer and the director of the popular 1971 film “Shaft.”

“Moms” Mabley

Loretta Mary Aiken, “Moms,” travelled the Black vaudeville circuit before earning widespread acclaim as a featured comedian and actress on such leading television programs as The Ed Sullivan Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

Hazel Scott

A jazz musician, actress, and political activist, Scott was the first black woman to host her own television show. She fled the U.S. after being labeled a communist during the McCarthy hearings, returning to Greenburgh as a civil rights activist.

Olivia J. Hooker

Years after surviving the Tulsa Race Massacre, Hooker became the first African American U.S. Coast Guard member. She later trained in psychology, won the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Presidential Citation, and became a Fordham University professor.

Leading people and places

Also likely to find spots in the new musician are America’s first self-made woman entrepreneur Madame C J Walker; African-American model and businesswoman Kay Linden; “turnaround expert” and Ben and Jerry’s CEO Robert Holland: Fordham University’s first Black Law School graduateValarie Somersille; Leonard Dunston. the highest-ranking African-American on New York Governor Mario Cuomo’s team; and Hastings-on-Hudson’s psychologists Mamie Phipps Clark and Kenneth Bancroft Clark, both PhDs.

The Clarks’ ground-breaking “doll test” dramatically illustrated the harm done to Black children’s self-esteem by racial discrimination. It was key to the milestone court decision that deemed single-race schools unconstitutional.

“The Hastings Historical Society last year marked the 50^th anniversary of Brown versus Board of Education decision with a special exhibit,” says Historical society President Natalie Barry, who plans to share some of Hastings’ materials.

Parkway and Palisades communities

The museum is also expected to highlight the historic Parkway neighborhood in Greenburgh and the Palisades area of Hastings on Hudson, as well as the Ferncliff Cemetery, where many prominent African-Americans are interred. Additional exhibits will reference the first Blacks in lower Westchester; those brought to Tarrytown’s Philipsburg Manor as slaves.

Garg, and fellow committee members, are determined that this site will shine a light on a long-overlooked community. “Immigrating from India where I was six years old helped me understand how nice it feels to be included and see the history of people who come from a different place and circumstances, and that is really important,” says Garg.