Town Releases Series of Oral Histories Documenting the Civil Rights Movement in North Hempstead

North Hempstead, NY – Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth and Town Board members announced the release of a dozen oral history interviews that are part of the broader Civil Rights Movement project that North Hempstead undertook several years ago using funding from a National Parks Service grant.

In January 2019 the Town released Defining Moments: The Civil Rights Movement in North Hempstead, a 40-minute historic documentary. The oral histories library features a dozen interviews with people who witnessed, or were participants in, the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. Many of the individuals featured in the oral histories were also interviewed for the Defining Moments film.

“Oral histories help us preserve eye witness accounts of major turning points in our nation’s past,” said the Supervisor. “Nothing can replace hearing events described in a person’s own words. The people included in our civil rights oral history library have given us a wonderful gift and we are so grateful to them.”

Oral histories include:
Dr. Hazel Dukes; Bernice Sims; Bernice Roberts; Alan Reff; Saul Weinstein; Council Member Lee Seeman; Marge Rogatz; Reverend Edward Corley; Rabbi Jerome Davidson; Alan Singer; Peter Kornblum. All the oral histories are available in closed captions.

To view the oral histories, follow the link: https://www.mynhtv.com/civilrights. For more information contact the 311 Call Center.

The Town of North Hempstead premiered its documentary Defining Moments in January 2019. The oral history interviews are now available on the NHTV website.