The Malverne Board of Education awarded the Davison Avenue Ambassadors for their efforts in the efforts to get Lakeview Public Library certified as a historical landmark by the Town of Hempstead at their monthly meeting on June 9.
The Lakeview Public Library was once the Woodfield Road School, a K-6 school that served the Lakeview neighborhood when schools were segregated. 61 years ago, on May 12, 1965, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a march from Rockville Centre to Lakeview, organized by the Lakeview chapter of the NAACP, which ended at the school.
The Ambassadors were given commemorative plaques and honored with a video documenting their accomplishments. The video included photos of their project packet, including historical photos of the Woodfield Road School, flyers advertising King’s visit to Lakeview, and clips of their May 6 testimonies in front of the Hempstead Landmarks Preservation Commission, making their case that the library be certified as a historic landmark.
Dr. Martine Laventure, Davison Avenue’s school social worker, and the Davison Avenue Ambassadors, a children’s civic learning and advocacy group, saw to it that this historic event was honored and recognized. They researched the history of the Woodfield Road School, including the day Dr. King visited, and interviewed former Woodfield Road students.
Laventure gave a speech honoring the work of her students at the Board of Education meeting, congratulating them and applauding their willingness to work on whatever they were presented. “Even with all the responsibility I gave them, they still wanted more,” she said.
Laventure then called the Ambassadors up to receive their plaques, and they took group pictures, first by themselves, and then with the school board.
Superintendent Maria Rianna also congratulated the Ambassadors on their hard work. She commended them for their commitment to the project and for shedding light on local history that intersects with major historical events during the Civil Rights Movement.
The ceremony was a testament to the Ambassadors’ efforts over the school year and their pursuit of the preservation of the vital history of their community. Later this year, their landmark preservation proposal will be evaluated on the state level. Lakeview library will also receive a temporary sign at its entrance, before eventually receiving a permanent sign noting its status as a historic landmark.
