Opening The Gate

     

 During the year 2021 Higher Ground Inter-Cultural & Heritage Association got a big boost from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. The Executive Director of the foundation, Kathryn M. Curran, has always been an influential figure supporting small, undeveloped non-profits working in the field of historic preservation who have exhibited excellence in their endeavors. In 2020 - 2021, she succeeded in creating a program containing a grant to build the organizational capacity of several non-profits, one of which was the Higher Ground Inter-Cultural & Heritage Association of Setauket, NY. (Hereinafter - Higher Ground, or HGICHA). When a corporate board was formed, and arrangements between the RDL Gardiner Foundation and Higher Ground were satisfactorily completed, it culminated in creating a project/school in which our non-profit participated under the tutelage of four primary, professional consultants, and two alternate associates. The six individuals were called: the "Gardiner Foundation Dream Team." The project ran under the name: RDL Gardiner Organizational Capacity Building Program. (Hereinafter GOCBP).

            It is a rare occurrence when people living vastly different lives, with a wide range of age, and business administrative knowledge are joined together in a common effort to build something; to establish a good thing which had not existed previously. This is what happened in the RDL Gardiner Foundation Organizational Capacity Building Project of 2021.

            As we all know beginning in 2020, and raising havoc to this day, massive national disasters have been caused by the Covid-19 virus. No organization was spared from damage caused by the bug as our project got off the ground in 2021. As non-profit corporations looked for ways to recover, Higher Ground and the Gardiner "Dream Team," resorted to the internet, and virtual technology for meetings, and classroom instruction. The program ran the entire year in all phases of instruction and study using I.T. and virtual meetings, and without interruption. It was amazingly successful.

           

             The term "amazingly successful" is framed in a relationship which is the distance between were we were before Kathryn Curran presented the GOCBP, as compared to where we are now. After following the mandate to make modifications in several portions of Higher Ground governance, managerial staff, and marketing, our attention shifted toward having a more rigid structure that leans more toward functioning by modern laws instead of functioning by old standards that were far less restrictive. To continue, I will give you a better view of what we are now experiencing.

            By no means have the modifications been easy, especially when given the fact that a robust hi-tech infrastructure must be installed, in conjunction with acquiring a fully trained staff. Whereas previously we had the opportunity to adjust organizational function to match our meager funding, we must now address things critical to our mission that require vastly more monetary resources, resourcefulness, and innovation. Although seeking funding to fulfill a mission and activities does create the largest work effort of any organization, what is often not fully appraised, not fully recognized, nor appreciated, or perhaps misunderstood, is the external community environment in which a non-profit is functioning. Misjudging this appraisal can cause big problems for a non-profit.

            We will never forget Aria Camaione-Lind's gentle, but persuasive instructions, and explanations about organization governance and management as she guided us into compliance; and we will always remember the hi-tech, computer prowess of Harold House walking us through the dizzying world of marketing. We remember the gift of Erin Richardson's deep insightfulness as she led us through the mine fields of intellectual property rights, and collections policies. Finally, but not the least, are Joel Snodgrass' inspiring lectures, instructions, and building condition know-how as he led us through the hips and valleys of restoration building structural analysis. We also remember Amanda Smith, project director, and program associates Carrington Reynolds, and Matah Marcellus. Today, while we are still gaining familiarity with our new level of achievement, we are not detached from our instructors. The "Dream Team" consultants are obtainable at any time, which is definitely reassuring.

            The important thing that Higher Ground participants soon realized is that the program is an unconventional concept. This is a far reaching, ground-breaking concept that has produced an upgrade in HGICHA capacity, but the RDL GOCPB is much greater than a funding opportunity. It does not diminish the hopes of small, low profile historic preservation organizations, such as Higher Ground, because expectations for growth and development are not dashed to pieces by a letter of denial from a grantor. However, by far the biggest impact of the RDL Gardiner Foundation "Dream Team" consultation concept is that a much greater number of heretofore unrecognized small non-profits, with historic preservation as their core purpose, and exhibiting excellence in their mission, are now in the pool of all organizations competing for funds. This concept brings benefits to everyone; not just to a few. The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation Organizational Capacity Building Program ended January 1, 2022.

            Throughout all that happened in the program, it was definitely a rewarding experience. But most of all, we simply want to thank the Executive Director of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, Kathryn M. Curran, and her associates, and to let her know that due to her desire to assist small, undeveloped non-profits which have exhibited excellence in the field of historic preservation, that the Higher Ground organization today stands a lot taller, and much stronger than it was prior to 2020.

Just happy to be here

An effort in Setauket to commemorate a once-thriving mixed-race community here is in its final stages. However, doing so reinvigorates a long simmering debate among friendly factions about the accuracy of local history. The Bethel-Christian Avenue-Laurel Hill Historic District is a historically mixed-race neighborhood next to Setauket’s historic downtown area. The half-mile stretch is anchored by the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is over 150 years old, and features seven homes, a cemetery and an American Legion Post built for African- American and Native American World War II veterans.

   The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which is more than 150 years old.

Credit..Heather Walsh for The New York Times

Leading the effort to gain permanent federal recognition of the district is Robert Lewis, a resident of Christian Avenue, and the founder and president of the Higher Ground Inter-Cultural and Heritage Association.

Timing of the effort to get state and federal recognition for the district is critical because of gentrification, said Christopher N. Matthews. Dr. Matthews is a historical anthropologist and a professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey, who has done field research in Setauket.

Many descendants of the original residents have taken advantage of rising property values to sell homes in what now is a high-tax area, he said. Urban development in the 1960s previously wiped out a larger mixed-race enclave nearby, Chicken Hill, which was centered on Main Street and Route 25A. An exhibition commemorating the community, “Chicken Hill: A Community Lost to Time,” is at the Three Village Historical Society in East Setauket.

Higher Ground’s pending application seeking inclusion of the Bethel-Christian Avenue sites on the National Register for Historic Places will refer to some discoveries from several recent archaeological digs led by Dr. Matthews that illustrate the economic hardship faced by some nonwhite residents. Specifically, he cites stone tools used over an usually long period and a single button specimen suggesting that some residents took in laundry to earn extra income. This activity is supported by census records and oral histories.

Setauket’s published history is limited by its traditional focus, Dr. Matthews said. “This community is not represented in the local history,” he said in a telephone interview.

We are busy, busy, busy

 

Higher Ground Inter-Cultural & Heritage Association 

Receives Grant from Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation

The Higher Ground Inter-Cultural & Heritage Assoc., is the recent awardee of an Organizational Capacity Building Grant, [OCB], from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation in fall of 2020. The project, currently in progress, represents continued preservation of the Bethel Christian Ave., Laurel Hill Historic District, [BCALH]. The program is expected to run until December 2021.

The Higher Ground Inter-Cultural & Heritage Assoc., (hereinafter, Higher Ground) was formed in 2004, and a NY State registered non-profit since 2006. The organization has sought to preserve the culture, indigenous inhabitants, and historic inventory of the Native and Afro-American community that began with land deeded by the Town of Brookhaven in 1815 for what is known as the Laurel Hill Cemetery. Today, the community that developed thereafter is known as the BCALH Historic District.

Eato House circa 1980s

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Eato House, ca. 2017.

The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation grant has assigned a team of consultants to support the OCB project. Members of the Eato House Restoration Committee will be trained to pursue and manage historic preservation activities; manage projects, and to adequately fulfill standard requirements for State registered non-profits. The grant will introduce the Higher Ground organization to promotional activities, marketing strategies, and to high technology processing. Participation in the OCB project will increase the competency of Higher Ground to protect structures, documented history, environmental history; to preserve artwork, oral history, and archaeological documentation.

The study and documentation of New York State history has gained huge support from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation since its inception in 1987, and in particular, Suffolk County history. Less known, but equally successful, are the efforts of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation to identify, and engage with small, relatively hidden areas of valuable, Native, and Afro-American history being lost in minority communities where small preservation organizations labor to survive. Moreover, the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation continued its trend