‘Help us rebuild’; Historic free Black S.I. community seeks to raise $25K by June 30 (2024)

Images depict Sandy Ground activities through the years.Advance composite

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In early 2023, members of the Sandy Ground Historical Society cried out for help to anyone who would listen. Those close to the historic community -- the nation’s oldest free Black settlement still inhabited by descendants of its pioneers -- stressed that this important piece of American history was on the verge of obliteration.

In fact, Sandy Ground showed up on a national cultural landscape report deemed “threatened and at-risk” in December 2021.

The Sandy Ground Historical Society had lost its nonprofit status, inhibiting the organization from receiving any funding, which was greatly needed to pay a stack of overdue bills and make repairs to its ailing museum, located at 1538 Woodrow Rd., Rossville. In addition, the historic community’s historians were seeking to pass the torch of preservation to a new generation.

But after a more than year-long community effort -- spearheaded by an Advance/SILive.com journalistic initiative -- to save Sandy Ground, which was settled in the 1820s by Moses K. and Silas K. Harris, two free Black gardeners, the community has hope.

But it still needs more funding to rebuild.

From its start, Sandy Ground was a safe haven where free Black men, women and children thrived at a time when the horrors of slavery were still rampant in many places in the country. And it has faced many challenges over the years, including: a fierce, destructive fire in 1963 that ravaged much of the South Shore; the dense development of Rossville in the 1990s with many attached homes; and many of the community’s descendants relocating to other parts of the country.

But the community has survived for two centuries.

Now, there is a coordinated effort afoot to not only rebuild some of what has been lost, but to continue to secure Sandy Ground’s place in American history.

Much of that history was housed in the Sandy Ground Historical Society’s museum, where descendants of the community’s original settlers would give lectures and tours to schoolchildren and tourists from across the nation. However, the museum -- now a century-old weathered white ranch home with a dilapidated roof that is riddled with mold -- is uninhabitable.

COMMUNITY STEPS UP

Over the last year, the Historical Society’s nonprofit status has been restored after lapsing for several years during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and there has been an outpouring of support from the community. Behind the scenes, two of Staten Island’s largest not-for-profits worked to save Sandy Ground in many different ways, including helping identify an interim executive director, David McGoy.

“I think the story of Sandy Ground is a really great example of community building, and cooperation between neighbors -- things that we need to remember,” said McGoy. “But it’s also inspirational. It’s the American Dream to get the opportunity to buy a home, start a business, support your family and build a community. And what’s remarkable about Sandy Ground is that this was two Black men who were able to do this during a time when most Black men were slaves.”

Julie Moody Lewis, president of the Sandy Ground Historical Society, and her mother, Sylvia Moody D’Alessandro, former executive director of the organization, have been the driving force behind bringing awareness to Sandy Ground. Moody Lewis said she is very excited “a strategic plan for fundraising” is underway.

“We need to make sure the organization remains sustainable. The support that we’ve gotten, since the beginning of the Staten Island Advance’s focus on Sandy Ground, has been amazing,” she said.

“Once the Advance put the word out, people started listening. We got the attention of the Staten Island community, and the people who could really assist us,” added Moody Lewis.

THE CAMPAIGN

While fundraising was occurring organically soon after the Advance/SILive.com launched this “Rebuilding Sandy Ground” journalistic initiative, McGoy and the Historical Society’s board have launched an ongoing campaign to keep Sandy Ground alive.

“If the history of Sandy Ground is important to you, then please join me, the board of directors, and a growing community of supporters, in a goal to raise $25,000 by June 30th, which will help us rebuild the Historical Society into a healthy, thriving organization and a center of education, culture and history,” said McGoy, in an Advance/SILive.com letter to the editor.

He said donations will help the Historical Society relaunch programs and eventually reopen the museum. In the meantime, the not-for-profit organization is looking for space for these programs and to display museum artifacts, he said.

SANDY GROUND HISTORY

Sandy Ground is the third recorded community in New York where African Americans owned land, according to city Landmarks Preservation Commission. The first recorded Black landowners were the Harris brothers from New Jersey, who initially came to the area to work as gardeners. The community also served as a vital refuge for those who escaped the shackles of slavery via the Underground Railroad.

The community grew larger in the 1850s when an influx of African American oystermen from Maryland became attracted to the area because of the abundant oyster beds of the Raritan Bay. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the community became self-sufficient and thrived as it housed a range of professionals and tradesmen, from blacksmiths and store owners to teachers and midwives.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can make a monthly or one-time donation by clicking here. (secure.givelively.org/donate/sandy-ground-historical-society-inc).

In addition to online donations, checks can be made payable to the Sandy Ground Historical Society and mailed to: 1538 Woodrow Road, Staten Island, N.Y., 10303.

At the time this story was written, Sandy Ground had already received $6,125 of the June 30 $25,000 goal.

“So many people have been asking questions and want to help. I’m so inspired by this sense of community,” said McGoy.

Read the full series here: silive.com/topic/sandy-ground.