Four Port Jervis History Explorers To Illuminate Hidden Past on Saturday
Four men who have explored Port Jervis history from different angles will come together on Saturday to discuss the Port Jervis lynching of Robert Lewis in 1892 and its relationship to Port Jervis life since then. The virtual event, “Remembering the Lynching of Robert Lewis: A Community’s Injustice, will be at the Port Jervis Free Library on Sept. 18, at 6 p.m.
One panelist will be Philip Dray, of New York City, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his 2003 book on the history of lynching, “At the Hands of Persons Unknown.” His book on the lynching of Robert Lewis will soon be published, and his research has given him insights about the social dynamics behind the lynching, the only one in New York State between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and 1950.
He noted the social and technological changes that, much like now, unsettled and threatened conservatives in 1892.
“Port Jervis was the first town to electrify streetlights,” Dray said. “Meanwhile, women worked and smoked. They were out on the street, looking for jobs at mills and factories and in New York. African-Americans were mobile too. Society was unmoored.”
Communication technology had leapt forward with telephones and telegraphs.
Another panelist drawn from New York City will be Kristopher Burrell, associate professor of history at Hostos Community College in the Bronx. He wrote a graduate school paper on the lynching which, he says, is still his most sought out paper. He pointed out how high status Port Jervis residents were upset by how the lynching reflected on the town, although some participated in it.
“It’s still an incident many in Port Jervis don’t want to reckon with, which is why it needs to be discussed and understood,” said Burrell.
He notes a similar trend of racism denial elsewhere in the North, as laws that resulted in segregation have been called “race neutral.”
No one was ever convicted for the lynching, and Mike Worden, a retired Port Jervis police detective, has been investigating the case and working on a book about it. He is also a panelist.
The moderator will be Charles Edwards, who recalled being drawn to the beauty of Port Jervis when he arrived from Jamaica to teach in New York. Now he has a condo in New York and also a Port Jervis summer home. He teaches U.S. History and civic participation in Bronx high schools where, he notes, 99% of students are Black.
“They come in with cynicism, but I ask them, ‘Who are you in a democracy?’ I want them to have hope and a sense of repairing history,” said Edwards.
He also hears from Port Jervis youth about being addressed in racist ways, with references to the 1892 lynching.
“It’s still in the air and whispered about. People’s lives are still impacted.,” he said. “It’s time for the community to recognize that it wasn’t long ago and use it to learn and grow. There’s a silence, but it’s not resolved.”
The event organizer is Robert Eurich, who now lives in Endicott, NY, but grew up in Port Jervis. His encounters with the city’s racist history and persistent racism prompted him to investigate and find ways to address it.
“The backstory begins in my youth growing up in a part of Port Jervis where there once were segregated communities of color most commonly known as ‘N-word Hollow.’ In my family that sort of language was never heard, but I first learned about Hollow #2 at the end of N. Orange St. in the early to mid 1960s when a playmate shocked me by blurting something out about it. At some point, my mother also identified where the lynching occurred on E. Main, which I walked by hundreds of times on my way to and from school.”
Until Eurich wrote about those enclaves where 150 people of color resided, local histories never mentioned them, he said. He also remembered playing Pop Warner football in the 1960’s and a game that brought a team from Paterson, NJ, to spend some nights in Port Jervis.
“At the last minute the Port Jervis organizers realized there were more African American players on the visiting team than there were African American families with hometown players to host them. Problem was, some of the white hometown parents refused to host a Black player for a couple of days before the big game was played on a Sunday,” Eurich recalled. “My mother wasn't one of those raising objections and instead stepped up to host a Black player who couldn't have been a more polite young man or better guest and peer.”
To interrupt the silence around Port Jervis racist history, Eurich, Edwards and like-minded cohorts formed the Friends of Robert Lewis group that continues to meet and memorialize Robert Lewis with an annual event on the anniversary of the lynching. The library panel on Saturday is another effort to acknowledge and illuminate the history that, as Edwards said, lingers in the air.
“Remembering the Lynching of Robert Lewis: A Community’s Injustice”: Port Jervis Free Library virtual event on Sept. 18, 6 p.m. Pre-registration is required and attendance is limited to 100: https://www.portjervislibrary.org/programregistration.asp