ROCKLAND COUNTY CIVICS SURVEY
an exhibition by Ramapo High School Students
OPENING RECEPTION: May 1, 5:00-6:00p
ON VIEW: May 1 - May 11, 2025
OPENING RECEPTION: May 1, 5:00-6:00p
ON VIEW: May 1 - May 11, 2025
Ramapo High School students have put civil rights history “on the map” via a four-month ROCKLAND COUNTY CIVIC SURVEY (RCCS). Through experiential learning, site visits, guest speakers, and classroom instruction twenty seven AP American History high school seniors gained invaluable first hand experience and insights into local civil rights history that had been largely absent in their twelve years of public education.
Students meet Hillburn documentarian Joe Allen - photo by Anthony Geathers
“Ramapo High School students live and study in a county that has witnessed, if not occasionally been the prime mover of events that have shaped the civil society we all share,” said Rockland County Civic Survey Founder, Bill Batson. “Yet the landmarks that reveal the decisive role the Ramapo Lenape Nation played in ending British tyranny, that parents and the NAACP played in ending segregation in public education or the multiracial underground network that liberated enslaved peoples go unvisited, and their narratives undocumented. Rockland County Civic Survey invites students to follow the footsteps of local ancestors that have changed the world, empowering them to image how they might have as profound an impact on world events as did Thurgood Marshall when he came to Rockland County in 1943 to open the doors of Hillburn elementary school of students of color,”
The RCCS project, conceived, developed, and led by Nyack-based local historian, writer, artist, and civic leader Bill Batson with AP American History educator Donna Avino, is a partnership between Ramapo High School and Edward Hopper Museum & Study Center. This project is made possible by The Fund for East Ramapo's Public School Students established by Latham and Watkins, a component fund of the Rockland Community Foundation, with support from the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center.
In their RCCS course, the students visited four sites of significant civil rights struggles in the Rockland County:
In their RCCS course, the students visited four sites of significant civil rights struggles in the Rockland County:
Students at site of formerly segregated Hillburn School - photo by Anthony Geathers
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VILLAGE OF HILLBURN
Guided by Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation Chief Dwaine Perry and Suffern Schools Counselor Travis Jackson, son of Brooks School student Travis Jackson, the students visited the former Hilburn Elementary School, which was successfully integrated by parents and the NAACP with the assistance of future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1943, and the ruins of the Brook School for Colored Children (1928 - 1943). SPARKILL Guided by Rockland County Legislator and St. Charles Congregant Dr. Dana Stilley, the students spent time at St. Charles AME Zion Church in Sparkill (1897), which was the second home of the Old Swamp Church (1850) and a place of worship of liberated enslaved peoples during the pre-civil war and underground railroad era. “It was such a pleasure to host such attentive and inquisitive students from Ramapo. At a time when the history and accomplishments of people of color is being erased and distorted we must make the most of every opportunity to share the stories of Black people who lived and thrived in the Mine Hole and surrounding area. Many of the stories that we shared included people that worshiped at the historic St. Charles AMEZion church where I have been a lifelong member,” said Rockland County Legislator (District 17) and St. Charles AME Zion Church congregant Dr. Dana Stilley. “It is my hope that the students were inspired by the greatness, tenacity and achievements of the previous generations,” Dr. Stilley continued. |
NYACK
Guided by Batson, they saw the Toni Morrison dedicated ‘Bench by the Road’ in Memorial Park (2015) celebrating the life of entrepreneur and abolitionist Cynthia Hesdra (1808-1879). They next explored the footprint of the Nyack Urban Renewal project's misguided destruction of the eighty predominantly black homes, one of which was owned by Batson’s grandparents. The students concluded the day exploring the Edward Hopper House Museum and the galleries for their exhibit. STONY POINT Guided by Projecto Faro co-executive director Dilcia Suazo and board chair Nelcy Garcia, they experienced the organization’s Stony Point Center headquarters to learn of the exodus of immigrants and efforts to secure constitutional rights. Students also visited the Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site and learned about the decisive role the Ramapo Lenape Nation played in defeating the British in the Revolutionary War. “Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center explores the intersection of place, memory, and creativity in Edward Hopper’s early life and artistic career. Our intent is also to cultivate a community of learning which the Rockland County Civic Survey showcases and reinforces,” says Kathleen Motes Bennewitz, Executive Director, Edward Hopper House Museum. This project is also an extension of the NYACK RECORD SHOP PROJECT. For this 2018 event, Bill Batson conducted oral histories over a week-long public information gathering session held in the window of a downtown Nyack record store. It was held in cooperation with churches and families of the African American community and planned in conjunction with the Edward Hopper House Museum exhibition, Carrie Mae Weems: Beacon.” |
Ramapo High School Students at Cynthia Hesdra Bench - photo by Anthony Geathers
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Ramapo High School Students at Edward Hopper House - photo by Anthony Geathers
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“In the past, students have asked me if Native Americans still exist, if there are still people in Rockland who’s families took part in the Revolution and which train line was the Underground Railroad,” writes Ramapo High School AP American History Instructor: Donna Avino.
“Working on this Civic History project with Bill Batson is a dream come true. As a long-time U.S. History and Government teacher, I’ve always worked to include local history in my classes. Students become more engaged when they learn that the Battle of Stony Point was a turning point in the American Revolution—or that the Underground Railroad passed through Rockland County and that troops marched down the Piermont pier to board ships taking them off to WWII. It is the stories of the people who lived here before us that spark student interest and connect them to history.”
“Over the years, I have created and assigned local history projects and taken students on field trips to try to help them find the answers to their questions, but it never felt like enough or that I reached enough students. With Bill Batson's endless energy, these students have experienced a more comprehensive and impactful program, which connected them to the rich and diverse history of our beautiful county. It is my hope that the project will inspire the students to be proud of our county and will give them a desire to preserve and share that history and the tradition of civic justice that has always been a part of our history,”
“Working on this Civic History project with Bill Batson is a dream come true. As a long-time U.S. History and Government teacher, I’ve always worked to include local history in my classes. Students become more engaged when they learn that the Battle of Stony Point was a turning point in the American Revolution—or that the Underground Railroad passed through Rockland County and that troops marched down the Piermont pier to board ships taking them off to WWII. It is the stories of the people who lived here before us that spark student interest and connect them to history.”
“Over the years, I have created and assigned local history projects and taken students on field trips to try to help them find the answers to their questions, but it never felt like enough or that I reached enough students. With Bill Batson's endless energy, these students have experienced a more comprehensive and impactful program, which connected them to the rich and diverse history of our beautiful county. It is my hope that the project will inspire the students to be proud of our county and will give them a desire to preserve and share that history and the tradition of civic justice that has always been a part of our history,”
The students concluded their semester-long study by organizing an exhibition of photographs, video, artwork, maps and written summaries that capture the four-month long educational journey. The exhibit will be on display from May 1 to May 11, 2015 at the Edward Hopper House Museum, with an opening reception on Thursday, May 1, 5-6 pm. The exhibit will then travel to the hallways of Ramapo High School and other venues throughout Rockland County.
Classroom artmaking at Ramapo High School - photo by Bill Batson
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Classroom artmaking at Ramapo High School - photo by Bill Batson
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Classroom artmaking at Ramapo High School - photo by Bill Batson
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Bill Batson began reconstructing the narrative of his community for the last two decades through his Nyack Sketch Log project, premised by the idea that the unexamined place is not worth inhabiting. Batson's past projects have gathered oral histories documenting his village's urban renewal upheaval in the 1950s and artist crowd sourced collective landscapes.
ROCKLAND COUNTY CIVICS SURVEY is modeled on Batson’s 1985 art exhibit entitled “Racial Histories of Brooklyn” with Brooklyn's City as School. Here, students conducted research on their neighborhoods at the Historical Society of Long Island, delivered walking tours to peers, and created a visual term paper displayed at Greenpoint Brooklyn's Minor Injury Art Gallery.
For the 2025 RCCS project, students captured their site experiences through worksheets, photographs, journals along with research conducted under the instruction of AP American History teacher Donna Avino. Their final project is also an exhibit, installed at the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, that includes portraits of each participant with accompanying statements about what they learned, artwork inspired by their journey, and descriptions and photos of each site visit. A main interactive feature is a wall-size enlargement of a 1975 Rockland County map created by Claire K. Tholl and published by the Rockland Historical Society. Created a year before Bicentennial commemorations, the map delineates, records and preserves examples of Dutch architecture across the county. In the exhibit, the map is augmented by student notations on sites of significant civil rights events that should be added to the map along with illustrations of sites from Batson’s Nyack Sketch Log. The public will be encouraged to use map pins to mark additional local landmarks and sites of importance and interest.
Installation and reception images courtesy James Moore
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ABOUT THE FUND FOR EAST RAMAPO'S PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS
This project was made possible by The Fund for East Ramapo's Public School Students established by Latham and Watkins, a component fund of the Rockland Community Foundation, with support from the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center. The East Ramapo community to identify areas of greatest need for its public school students and to support education and enrichment opportunities for those students. For more info: https://rocklandgives.org/fund/the-fund-for-east-ramapos-public-school-students-established-by-latham-watkins/ |
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ABOUT BILL BATSON
Bill Batson is a writer, artist and civic leader. The author and Illustrator of the Nyack Sketch Log on nyacknewsandviews.com has published over 300 columns since 2011. Bill serves the Nyack Chamber of Commerce as Executive Director. Bill also serves as a Trustee of Oak Hill Cemetery, President of the Mount Moor Cemetery Association and a lifetime member of the Historical Society of the Nyacks. In 2015, Bill chaired the Nyack Commemoration Committee, a group that placed a Toni Morrison Bench by the Road monument in Memorial Park. The bench commemorates the life of nineteenth century abolitionist and entrepreneur Cynthia Hesdra. |
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Related Program, Friday, May 9, 2025, 6-7:30 Film Screening: What Happened to Jackson Avenue: A Story of Urban Renewal (2023), A Documentary Film by Hakima Alem and Rudi Gohl and produced by Phoenix Theatre Festival. This film focuses on the impact of urban renewal in Nyack, specifically on Jackson Avenue, a predominantly black neighborhood. The film uses personal stories and interviews of individuals who, now in their 80s and 90s, were present and witnessed how the government's urban renewal policies led to the destruction of the community and the displacement of 125 families (79% Black). These families lost their homes, families, and community and generational wealth. |
