Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Lakeview Public Library property officially has been recognized as an historic site by both the Town of Hempstead and New York State, marking the successful end to a decades-long community effort to preserve an important chapter of Long Island’s civil rights history.
The designation recognizes the property, which is where the former Woodfield Road School once stood, as a site closely tied to Lakeview’s fight for school desegregation.
Although the building itself has been substantially renovated over the years and was not eligible for landmark status, the land qualified because of its historical significance.
Three previous attempts had fallen short, with the latest effort succeeding thanks largely to the work of the Davison Ambassadors, a civic engagement program made up of fifth graders at Davison Avenue School, part of the Malverne School District, under the guidance of school social worker Martine Laventure.
“They took on that task, and they achieved their goal, and we really appreciate it,” Camina Raphael-Lubin, library director, said. “This was something that the community wanted and that the library wanted.”
Laventure, a Malverne High School graduate who was a senior when the former Woodfield Road School reopened as the Lakeview Public Library in 2002, said her personal connection to the building inspired the project. After conducting preliminary research last summer, she introduced the idea to her students in the fall. Together, they set out to preserve the site’s history for future generations while educating the community about its role in New York’s school desegregation movement.
“We felt that the location needed to be preserved,” Laventure said, “not only to make sure it’s there for future generations, but for others to know the history and how it shaped school systems in the state of New York.”
The project became a lesson in civic engagement, historical research and perseverance. Fourteen students were divided into committees responsible for correspondence, oral history interviews, community outreach and assembling the final application.
The students identified elected officials, community organizations and school leaders to support the effort, interviewed 29 alumni and descendants of prominent Lakeview civil rights leaders, organized petitions that gathered roughly 700 signatures, and compiled a nearly 300-page application submitted to both the town and state.
“Preserving our history is one of the most important investments we can make in our future,” Town Supervisor John Ferretti said. “This historical marker honors a landmark moment in New York State’s history while recognizing the remarkable efforts of the students from Davison Avenue Intermediate School, whose passion for learning truly brought this project to life.”
Among those interviewed were relatives of civil rights leaders Lincoln Lynch, Renna Reed and Robert Finley, allowing students to supplement historical records with firsthand accounts from families connected to the movement.
Laventure said the project challenged students to conduct research well beyond what is typically expected of 10-year-olds while balancing schoolwork, extracurricular activities and the emotional weight of studying a difficult period in history. It also required patience as they learned how government approval systems work and continued following up with stakeholders throughout the application process.
“I was teaching doctoral level research to 10-year-olds,” Laventure said. “These kids were hungry for the information. They really wanted to learn the process and they didn’t stop.”
After the research was completed, one of the highlights came when Laventure surprised the students with a professional photo shoot at the site where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood during his 1965 visit to Lakeview. They then held an unveiling of the library property’s new status on June 24, and the entire community was invited to attend.
For Raphael-Lubin, the designation represents the culmination of years of community advocacy. Previous applications for historic recognition had been denied three times before the students’ research successfully documented the site’s significance.
Originally built in 1925 as the Woodfield Road School, the building primarily served Black students during segregation, although some white students also attended. As desegregation efforts progressed, overcrowding became an issue, and transportation inequities further complicated integration.
On May 12, 1965, King visited Lakeview to support the community’s fight for educational equality, marching along Woodfield Road and stopping beside the school. A community garden now commemorates that visit.
Following desegregation, the school eventually closed in 1967 and later served several other purposes before residents organized to establish Lakeview’s first public library. Before the library opened in the renovated school building, it operated from a temporary location while the community raised the funds needed for its permanent home.
Raphael-Lubin said preserving the site ensures that Lakeview’s role in the civil rights movement will remain part of the historical record rather than being forgotten or inaccurately retold. She said the designation honors generations of residents who fought for equal educational opportunities and reflects the community’s pride in its history.
“If you don’t keep that history, it will be erased, or someone else will have a narrative and change your history,” Raphael-Lubin said. “This is a history I feel the people in the community can be proud of.”
