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Mostly Cloudy Talking history at Rock Hall Museum
Friends group of Town of Hempstead facility installs officers, honors students
Installing new directors and officers and honoring high school students who excel in American history were a large part of the 40th annual meeting of the Friends of Rock Hall Museum in Lawrence on June 10.
Rock Hall Museum, an 18th century-built plantation, is now a Town of Hempstead run facility. Receiver of Taxes Donald Clavin Jr. was on hand to swear in the new board members and officers. New board members, Dr. Ellen De Francesco, Abigail Diamant, Barbara Barth Feldman, and Patricia Lee, will all serve three-year terms.
Friends’ officers, President Jean Kestel, Vice President Ellie Peterson, Treasurer Joseph Fuller, Assistant Treasurer Louis Mauriello, Recording Secretary Richard Schimmel, and Corresponding Secretary Carlene Toron, were sworn in for another one-year term.
Kestel greeted the attendees, giving thanks for another year of the museum, and noted plans for the education center. “As many of you know, we’ve embarked on building an education center which is going to be built as a barn, like one we would have had here 200 years ago,” she said. “We’re happy to say that we’ve raised $285,000 so far for the barn. We look forward to some more fundraising this year and hope that you all will support us.”
Five Towns high school students received recognition for their academic achievement in American history: Alyssa Fuchs and Matthew Hoenig from the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, Valerie Elefante from Hewlett High (a Herald intern), Kurt Banaag and Samantha Rubenstein from Lawrence High, Zhaoyu (Daniel) Deng from Lawrence Woodmere Academy, and Aharon Goldblatt and Benjamin Goykadosh from
Goldbaltt, who said he learned of his award from his guidance counselor, explained his interest in this portion of America’s past.” The colonial period is very interesting to me and is my favorite era of American history to study,” he said. “It’s interesting to me because it’s so different from this day and age.”
Guest speaker Jennifer Anderson, an associate professor of history at Stony Brook University, spoke about the transition from slavery to freedom for African-Americans on Long Island.
