Civil Rights History Backstory Tour Coming to Hamptons

A first-of-its-kind self-guided tour of historical sites in the Hamptons that played a role in the Civil Rights movement is being hosted by a local group of historians this weekend.

Long Island Traditions organized the stops on the Civil Rights Backstory Tours in which participants start at the Southampton African American Museum, 245 North Sea Road, at 11 a.m. Saturday, January 20 before making stops in East Hampton, and Sag Harbor. The event is the group’s fourth on TravelStorys, which highlights unsung and forgotten contributions of minority communities with tours participants follow using their cellphones.

“By integrating multimedia resources with newer technologies, visitors to historic sites will gain a more accessible way to understand vernacular and historic sites recognized for their struggle for Civil Rights and the preservation of African American and BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) communities,” says Nancy Solomon, Executive Director of Long Island Traditions.

Besides the museum, which is the former site of Randy’s Barbershop and a community gathering place, South Fork tour stops will feature the Eastville Community Historical Society, where a historic African American community formed in the 19th century; the homestead of Pyrrhus Concer in Southampton, a former slave, whaler and entrepreneur; and the home of George Fowler, a Montaukett who was a gardener for landscape painter Thomas Moran in East Hampton.

In developing the program, LI Traditions worked with Dr. Georgette Grier-Key of the Eastville Community Historical Society, Brenda Simmons of the Southampton African American Museum, Michael A. Butler, a well-known African American artist and activist in Sag Harbor, and former East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc.

The project is funded by the African American Civil Rights grant program through the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service and the New York State Council on the Arts.

For more information about Long Island Traditions, visit longislandtraditions.org.