Disrupting systemic racism

Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.
— John Lewis  Selma, Alabama, March 1, 2020

It’s been four years since I first interviewed Esi Lewis in front of the derelict Ann Oliver House in New Paltz which will soon become the Margaret Wade Lewis Black History and Cultural Center named after her mother, the first chair of the black studies department at SUNY. The center’s board has raised $750,000 in grants for renovation. Though prices have gone up, Esi says, and they will probably need a million dollars, they have started a search for an architect specializing in historic houses. Their mission statement reads in part:

Our vision is to create a more just and equitable society by promoting a greater understanding of the history of the Black community in the Hudson Valley. We believe that by educating people about this history, we can help to create a more inclusive and compassionate community for all.

The Ann Oliver House was built in the First Free Black Neighborhood by Jacob Wynkoop, a free Black man. His mother Jane Wynkoop, born a slave and freed in 1827, purchased the property because the vote was only granted to landowners; she wanted her two sons to be able to vote. Jacob fought in the Civil War, and became a contractor and builder when he returned. He is buried in the Rural Cemetery in New Paltz, a prominent citizen, his contribution to the Union Army and the community unrecognized until recently.

Esi grew up in a modern home on Huguenot Street with its neighboring stone houses built in the 17th century by the slave-owning French Huguenot families. An accomplished Black lawyer, she returned to New Paltz after many years in the city and decided to run for the town board where her father also served. 

“It is well-documented that the Huguenots were slave owners,” she wrote eloquently in her proposal for the project. “For the forced labor that toiled on this land we have mere signage. Most, if not all of the properties that were built and were owned by the first Blacks and hold the history of the African Americans in New Paltz have been turned over to white ownership.

The ONLY anti-racist action under these circumstances is to restore the Ann Oliver House at 5 Broadhead Avenue to Black ownership and create an African American Cultural Center on this historic property.”

Enslavement has been designated a crime against humanity by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Such crimes require reparations, or truth and reconciliation commissions; as Americans, shamefully, we are just at the very beginning of this process. The center Esi envisions will be an act of reparative justice for New Paltz, more so if the descendants of the slave-owning families contributed financially to the project. They have not, as yet, done so.

The Village of New Paltz — the town historian, the village historic preservation commission, and the town board — worked hard to preserve the derelict Ann Oliver House. When the restoration is complete, it will become a companion to the  Jacob Wynkoop Anna Banks House at 6 Broadhead, under the care of Historic Huguenot Street, which is already a stop on one of their curated walking tours.

For information about the center, donations, and upcoming programming: https://www.mwlcenter.org/