Students push to landmark Lakeview Public Library — once a school visited by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The 60th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1965 visit to the building that would become the Lakeview Public Library spurred interest in its history among students at Davison Avenue Intermediate School, who are leading a landmarking effort. 

Four earlier attempts to landmark the library building, which had been the Woodfield Road School when King visited, failed. But the efforts of a dedicated group of fifth graders could memorialize what was the first school in New York to desegregate.

This academic year, the Davison Avenue students took on the landmarking push as their community service project. And last week, they presented their materials, including a petition containing 800 signatures, to Hempstead Town's Landmark Preservation Committee, which voted to recommend approval.

“When we recognized how rich this history was, we felt that it was important to the school community and the members of Lakeview to have the property designated as a landmark,” said Martine Laventure, a social worker at the Davison Avenue school who supervised the students as they researched the history and put together a nearly 300-page submission.

King at Woodfield Road School

Included in the submission was a 1965 photo of King walking in front of the Woodfield Road School. Fifth grader Shumar LaRose, 10, pointed it out to Newsday on Friday. 

King and others, he said, were protesting at the time. 

"They thought it wasn't really fair for it to be segregated and they wanted it to be a free school, and they wanted it to bring new experiences to different kids, not just seeing the same race every single day,” Shumar said.

Each year, a group of 16 fifth graders at Davison, in Lynbrook, serve as ambassadors for a community service project. In the past, that has included a petition drive to get a stop sign at a busy intersection, and support for a food pantry. Last year, the Malverne school district and the Lakeview Public Library commemorated King’s visit.

“It's a really important part of our history,” Shumar said.

Shumar, who is Black, sat down with fellow ambassador Harper Hunt, 11, who is white, to talk about the project.

“Just to think about all the other school districts in the state and the fact that we were the first, that means that that building holds a lot of history,” Harper said. Had it not been for desegregation, he said, “we wouldn’t be sitting here like this today.”

Gathering support, momentum

The children researched the history of King’s visit and segregation using internet resources, as well as meeting with library officials and previous library board members. They also interviewed 28 alumni of the school to incorporate oral history into their presentation.

Frederick K. Brewington, a Hempstead attorney, went to the Woodfield Road School and saw King when he visited. Brewington was among those the children interviewed.

"It was in the heart of the Black community," he said. "It served as the magnet for education and activities for the Lakeview community, but it was also a central part of the desegregation efforts in the Malverne school district."

After desegregation, the school was closed and area children were bused to predominantly white elementary schools. Brewington was later part of the effort to turn the building into a public library. 

"It has now become, once again, a center for the community and serves to be a landmark and reminder of the educational pursuits that have gone on in the past and must go forward in the future," he said.

A key part of the students' effort was contacting stakeholders — local politicians and organizations — to get their backing. They sent out letters and met with the Lakeview Civic Association and NAACP. They learned to follow up with emails and phone calls to get letters of support.

Among those stakeholders was State Sen. Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury), who is advocating for the students' parallel effort to have the building designated as a state landmark. 

"Landmarking the Lakeview Public Library holds more meaning than recognizing a building; it is about honoring the legacy of the families and civil rights leaders who shaped our community," Bynoe said in an email Tuesday. "The dedication of the students at Davison Avenue Intermediate School have for preserving the history of this site is inspiring."

Laventure said the students' efforts also gained momentum within the community. “It was definitely something everybody wanted to get behind and rally and support these kids,” she said.

Shumar said landmarking the building will inspire people.

“More people might want to look into the history of it and actually see what was so important about this place,” he said. 

The next steps, Laventure said, are for the community to be notified and the town board to vote on the landmarking designation. If all goes well, a plaque will be installed this fall at the building proclaiming its landmark status.

“Seeing this group of students persist and not leaving any stone unturned so that they can reach their goal and convince people in important seats that this is meaningful … it's so meaningful to us as a school community,” Principal Rachel Yudin said. “It's been inspiring to watch, especially students at this age.”

CORRECTION: Student Harrison Thomas' name was incorrect in a photo caption in an earlier version of this story.