Preservation Project and Recognition of History in Communities of Color

It’s a preservation party and you’re all invited!

We’ve teamed up with Preservation Long Island to help celebrate their 2020 Preservation Awards. Over the next week we’ll be posting interviews with each of the five honorees, discussing their organizations and the histories that they are fighting to preserve. And stick around for the after party! At the end of each episode, Sarah Kautz, Preservation Director at Preservation Long Island, will recap for us the finer points of running a successful preservation project on Long Island.

Today we speak with SANS Sag Harbor president Renee Simons about the push to preserve three historic African American subdivisions in the area: Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah. Started as summer resort areas after World War II, the three neighborhoods provided African Americans a safe retreat during highly segregated times.

Although threats to the continued existence of SANS still exist, the three areas are now listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places.

Further Research

• The Founding and Future of Sag Harbor’s Azurest Subdivision
• The Land was Ours by Andrew W. Kahrl (find in a library via WorldCat)
• Art and Architecture of Amaza Lee Meredith(VSU)
• Preservation Long Island
• The Green Book (NYPL Digital Collections)
• Music
  • BugaBlue
  • Walk That Dog
  • People at a Party
• Audio Footnote:
  • Interview with Georgette Grier-Key, Eastville Historical Society