Committee Formed to Commemorate African Americans’ Contributions to the Nyacks

PRESS RELEASE

What: Press Conference by Committee formed to Commemorate African Americans’ contributions to the Nyacks

When: April 29, 11 a.m. Where: Nyack Village Hall

Who: Nyack Commemoration Committee:

Village of Nyack Mayor Jen Laird White; Bill Batson, Chair NCC, Trustee Historical Society of the Nyacks; Anngela Vasser-Cooper, Co-Chair NCC, President, Women Veterans Association of Hudson Valley, Inc.; Constance L. Frazier, Retired Assistant Superintendent of Schools; Winston Perry, President Historical Society of the Nyacks, Willie Trotman, President, Spring Valley NAACP and Wylene Wood, President African American Historical Society of Rockland County.

What: Nyack Commemoration Committee invites proposals

All interested persons and organizations are invited to submit a written or recorded proposal identifying what or who might be an appropriate subject that would commemorate the presence and contributions of African Americans to the history and life of the Nyacks.

Proposals should be submitted by 5 p.m., June 5 to Nyack Commemoration Committee, Attention: Bill Batson, Nyack Village Hall, 9 North Broadway. Nyack, NY, 10960 or at [email protected].

The Nyack Commemoration Steering Committee was founded at a meeting at the home of Village of Nyack Mayor Jen Laird White on December 13, 2013. The meeting was attended by Bill Batson, Historical Society of the Nyacks, Anngela Vasser-Cooper, President, Women Veterans Association of Hudson Valley, Inc., Constance L. Frazier, Retired Assistant Superintendent of Schools., Willie Trotman, President, Spring Valley NAACP, Winston Perry, President Historical Society of the Nyacks and Wylene Wood, President African American Historical Society of Rockland County.

The meeting was called to determine if materials attached to a shrine of the Underground Railroad in Nyack could be salvaged. The parties in attendance had differing views about the shrine. Guided by a proposal from Mayor Jen Laird White, the conversation morphed into a discussion about the need for an appropriate permanent commemoration representing African Americans’ presence in and contributions to the Nyacks. The Steering Committee has held four meetings to consider how to organize its work in away that will be both inclusive and effective.

Nyack Commemoration Committee Vision Statement

The Nyack Commemoration Committee was established to ensure that the history of the Village of Nyack accurately reflects the experience and contributions of the African American community. Through a process that is diverse, inclusive and scholarly, the Committee will support the creation of a permanent commemoration to the lives and influence of African Americans in the Nyacks, be it in the form of scholarships, publications, monuments or any project or program that promotes an accurate historic record of the lives of this community of people in the Nyacks.

Nyack Commemoration Committee Mission Statement

The mission of the Steering Committee is to create a public commemoration of the experience and contributions of African Americans in the Nyacks. This commemoration would be in the form of a substantive display in a public space, that would accommodate individuals and families who might want to comfortably linger to reflect on and celebrate local African American history.