A Huntington African American Museum shouldn't be controversial
The art installation called Redemption at Fair Meadow Park in Huntington Town, which was unveiled last year, celebrates the town's African American history. Credit: Newsday / Randi F. Marshall
On a recent summer evening, Fair Meadow Park in Huntington was quiet — acres of grass and trees without a person in sight. Only a few steel panels forming the Redemption art installation honoring Black history and culture breaks up the grassy stretch.
Even in the quiet, it's easy to imagine a more vibrant, bustling version of the park, a 10-acre parcel along Pulaski Road and Park Avenue, if supporters succeed in their efforts to build a full Huntington African American Museum at the site.
Three-fourths of the park will remain green space, perhaps with added benches and walking paths. Student groups might sit on the grass, eating their lunch after spending hours learning. There could be a musical tribute to jazz great John Coltrane, a resident of Dix Hills in the 1960s, or a poetry reading featuring Jupiter Hammon, the first Black poet published in the United States, born into slavery in Lloyd Neck. And at the northern end, near the Long Island Rail Road tracks, the museum itself.
The museum will tell the stories of musicians, poets, landowners and educators. It'll recall famed residents like Booker T. Washington and showcase artifacts of Huntington's role in the Underground Railroad. It'll invite visitors to pay tribute to the lives and impact of Huntington's Black community.
"African American history is American history," Barry Lites, the museum board chairman, said in an interview. "The museum is really going to be a testament to the greatness of Huntington, through the lens of the African Americans, showing that we're a part of that history."
It shouldn't be controversial. But it is. At a Huntington Town Board meeting last week, residents took sides. While the vast majority supported the museum in concept, many expressed a familiar sentiment: Find somewhere else to put it.
Museum organizers and elected officials had tried another spot, in Halesite. When it didn't work out, they turned to Fair Meadow Park. The State Legislature approved the alienation of parkland to allow the museum's construction and Gov. Kathy Hochul signed off.
On the town board meeting agenda was a resolution paving the way for next steps. Then came the residents asking board members to stop.
At times, there was an unfortunate, yet unsurprising, undertone. Prior to the meeting, fliers likened the museum to a "concrete jungle," a phrase at which some supporters understandably bristled. A social media commenter said a museum at Fair Meadow would be "terrible," adding, "They can build the museum in Wyandanch," a predominantly Black community in the Town of Babylon.
And there was the speaker who said the quiet part out loud.
"When many on this board ran on maintaining the character of the town, was that actually code for copying hundreds of other cities across the country?" said Eddie O'Brien Carroll, who tried to downplay slavery's role in American history. "I do not want this museum built anywhere in this town," he added.
But the crowd responded, with a chorus of boos and speakers who condemned it. Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth spoke, too.
"Wow. That was one of the most astonishing public comments I've heard in my entire time on this town board," Smyth said. "Repugnant. Truly repugnant."
The commenter reminded everyone of the museum's reason for being. The response showcased a path forward, one where the museum and open space can coexist, where the museum's backers and area residents can find common ground, and where all of us will learn about African American history — and Huntington's history — at the museum at Fair Meadow Park, together.
Columnist Randi F. Marshall's opinions are her own.
Randi Marshall is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
