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Delores Quintyne, 74, was active in Long Island CORE and the NAACP for many years, along with her husband, Irwin Quintyne, who died in 2004.

"We came to Long Island and discovered there were certain pockets that African-Americans still could not move into in Amityville. We sent out some white testers, and they told them they had an apartment available. They told the black couple they didn't have an apartment available. So that’s when we started to demonstrate in the housing area.

"The other part of it was the duck farm. That was treacherous. The Warner Duck Farm in Suffolk County. They had the migrants they used to bring in to work the duck farms, and the living conditions were horrendous. We went there as CORE [Congress of Racial Equality] and worked together with the other groups. Some people [thought] we were crazy for going out there. In the end, it worked out quite well. They were given recognition. We stopped it, the living conditions which they were living in, and registered them to vote.

"I think we brought about some type of cohesiveness to the group of people, that they could reach out and feel like they're somebody and stop looking at themselves as second-class citizens. We were very proud of that.

"We felt that Suffolk County was almost becoming like the South at one time because of the things that were happening here. And we were fearful. My husband used to receive threats and things on his life. And I was afraid for him. That was one of the reasons he always told me to stay home with the kids, because he didn't want me to come out. If anything happened to me, the children wouldn't have parents. I think I became stronger as we moved forward. I developed my own strength through what we call trial and error. I wasn't afraid anymore."

-- JENNIFER BARRIOS

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