News

Exhibit highlights Suffolk’s ugly past

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTOCurator David Byer-Tyre and SCHS executive director Kathy Curran holding  Currier and Ives 'Dark Town' series prints.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Curator David Byer-Tyre and Suffolk County Historical Society executive director Kathy Curran holding Currier and Ives’ ‘Dark Town’ series prints.

Visitors who have seen the pieces in the latest exhibit at the Suffolk County Historical Society have been shocked, said executive director Kathy Curran.

OSBORN COLLECTION COURTESY IMAGEA photograph of a Ku Klux Klan funeral procession on Long Island, circa 1930s.
OSBORN COLLECTION COURTESY IMAGE
A photograph of a Ku Klux Klan funeral procession on Long Island, circa 1930s.

The items in the exhibit show the history of intolerance toward blacks on Long Island, and detail how organizations like the Ku Klux Klan were active on the East End as recently as 50 years ago.

“It’s just a form of education,” Ms. Curran said in a story that will run in the Jan. 24 paper. “We’re not editing history.”

The exhibit, called “Hidden and Forbidden,” will open on Feb. 1 at the Suffolk County Historical Society in Riverhead with a sister exhibition at East End Arts (via moya at dhead online). Part of the exhibit documents artists attemps to “reclaim” the black identity in the face of racism.

See below to learn more about the history of racism on the East End and get a sneak peek of the pieces in the exhibit.

 

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | A KKK garment given to the Suffolk County Historical Society by an anonymous donor. The robes are from Long Island.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | A KKK garment given to the Suffolk County Historical Society by an anonymous donor. The robes are from Long Island.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Curator David Byer-Tyre with artwork by Bob Carter of Dix Hills. This painting is part of the exhibit to document artists attempting to "reclaim" the black identity in the face of racism.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Curator David Byer-Tyre with artwork by Bob Carter of Dix Hills. This painting is part of the exhibit to document artists attempting to “reclaim” the black identity in the face of racism.
COURTESY PHOTO An 1882 Currier & Ives lithograph from a private collection.
COURTESY PHOTO | An 1882 Currier & Ives lithograph from a private collection.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO A game based on Monopoly which came out in 2003 called "Ghettopoly".
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | A game based on Monopoly which came out in 2003 called “Ghettopoly”.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO The Woodhull's of Wading River quilt, made by Charlotte York in 1843 and completed in 1850.
BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | The Woodhull’s of Wading River quilt includes this depiction of a slave woman at work made by Charlotte York in 1843. The quilt was completed in 1850.

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