Exhibit honors Black History Month

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The Oyster Bay Historical Society presented an exhibition on the history of the Hood AME Zion Church Congregation on Feb. 10 at the Angela Koening Center. Known as the oldest continuously practicing congregation in town, the church, and other community members, shared over 150 years of the history of African-Americans who grew up as free citizens in Oyster Bay.

Photos of David Carll, a resident who served with the 26th Regiment of the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War, were featured throughout the exhibit. Original photos of Carll’s family members, as well as original documents and records of the church, were also on display.

Denice Sheppard, Carll’s great-great granddaughter, said she was pleased to see how well the community and the historical society worked together to collect the contributions for the exhibit. Shepherd’s is one of the oldest families of color on Long Island.

“The Oyster Bay Historical Society has been very instrumental in pushing this forward,” she said. “I think it’s wonderful for the historical society to play a major part in this. They have been assistive, they have been helpful, and they have allowed us to utilize their facility for lecture programs and projects. Had it not been for them, nobody would really know about this exhibit.”

Sheppard, who once served as chairwoman of the Pine Hollow Cemetery Restoration Committee, is now a board member of the historical society, and was looking foward to getting the exhibition up and running. The organization’s archivist, Nicole Menchise, said that she wanted the church and its congregants to be well represented.

“We had about seven or eight families who got involved, but we’re really hoping that this exhibit will inspire people to come to us and share their family history,” Menchise said. “This community is really connected with that church. Your church is based off of your congregants and not the building itself.”

The historical society wanted to “emphasize and focus on the congregants,” she added.

It was a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that the society received last year that got the ball rolling for the exhibition. The funding allowed the group This allowed them to fully develop the project, which members had had in mind for some time. Menchise helped to enhance the photos and documents that are featured at the exhibition and on the historical society’s website as well.

“I felt like the archives at the historical society under-represented African-Americans,” Menchise said. “We wanted to connect with the people of the church, and have them feel comfortable coming to us and having some of their personal archives digitized.”

Residents who attended the opening exhibition said they appreciated the amount of work done by society members. Hal Johnson, a volunteer for the historical society, said that members did a great job in focusing on the historical value of the community.

“I’m happy to see the biographical aspect of this exhibit and how much it’s tied to the community,” Johnson said. “Most of them are no longer here, so they can’t speak on their behalf anymore, but this exhibit is speaking on the behalf of all those former community members.”

Phillip Blocklyn, the society’s executive director, gathered the facts and information for each photo and document.

“We wanted to do this for a while, because with all the other history in Oyster Bay, this is something most places don’t have,” Blocklyn said. “We’ve always wanted to collect more of the church history, because at this time last year we almost had nothing. What we’re hoping is that people will relate to the fragility of family history.”

Moving forward, Blocklyn and Menchise said, they would like to see the exhibition expand with the addition of more original photos from community members. They would also like to feature more items on the society’s website to expand the public’s exposure to the exhibition while sharing the stories of African-American history in Oyster Bay.

“Nobody’s ever done something like this before, and we’re really excited that people are having a good feeling about it,” Menchise said. “We want to remind people that we’re still here, and that we’re always interested in hearing their stories and gathering their collections.”

She also said that everyone in the community could benefit from this project. She hopes that with its initial success, families will feel more comfortable submitting their photos in the future.

“It’s a win-win, and that’s what I really want to get through to everyone,” Menchise said. “I would love to keep collecting more stuff like this, because it’s so interesting. This is a great ongoing project that everyone should be excited about.”