Office of Borough President James P. Molinaro
Staten Island, New York
Staten Island to celebrate its 350th Anniversary
Staten Island, NY-- Borough President James P. Molinaro hosted a kick-off reception and press conference to announce the Island's upcoming 350th Anniversary. Representatives of a range of cultural, educational, ethnic and religious institutions gathered alongside elected officials who represent the Island in local, state and federal government. Descendents of several families who have made an impact locally and nationally, notably the Vanderbilts, were also honored.
The celebration took place against the backdrop of the W.P.A. mural in Borough Hall depicting the first European settlement of Staten Island. On August 22, 1661, Peter Stuyvesant, the Director General of New Amsterdam, granted a petition authorizing land grants to nineteen families of Belgian, French and Dutch ethnicities. One of the oldest communities in the United States, Staten Island has enjoyed a rich and diverse history that will be celebrated throughout 2011, its 350th Anniversary year.
The organizers of SI 350 showcased a new on-line learning resource center, announced a preliminary 2011 calendar, presented its first completed history tour, and unveiled a proposed design for the first of 350 signs that will mark the historic sites on the Island. Local historians and educators have developed a calendar that dedicates each month of the Anniversary year to a major aspect of Staten Island’s history. Business, military, art and immigration history are among the themes. Each month, one or more historical, cultural and educational institutions will host a 350th Anniversary exhibit or event.
With Professor Kenneth Jackson of Columbia University and Borough President James P. Molinaro as honorary co-chairs, John Gustafsson and Professor Lori Weintrob have volunteered to coordinate activities of diverse institutions organizing the Anniversary activities. Mr. Gustafsson, President of the Staten Island Historical Society, a retired Wall Street lawyer and a life-long Islander, focused on the importance of how the community celebrates its 350th birthday, "From the moment we started recruiting people into the project early last year, the vast majority of ideas and aspirations coalesced around the notion that this celebration should leave a robust legacy for the community and for New York City."
To create that legacy, an ever-expanding working group of representatives of over 30 Island-based cultural and educational institutions has designed a series of events that will have a long-lasting impact on current and future Staten Islanders, the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the Island annually, and students of all ages. Among other things, the group hopes to raise sufficient funds to establish permanent markers acknowledging the designation of 350 historic sites on Staten Island ranging from architectural masterpieces to the sites of major events and businesses. In addition, they plan to host a scholarly conference open to the public, to draft lesson plans for elementary schools and high schools focusing on Staten Island's place in local and world history, to build an electronic history resource center, and to create a series of tours that will encompass the 350 historic sites.
To Professor Weintrob, chairperson of the history department at Wagner College, Staten Island's past is much broader and significantly more diverse than it appears—particularly in popular media. “In 1707 a local schoolteacher described the Island as a mix of “All the Nations Under Heaven." From the very beginning, the settlers of Staten Island ranged from the Leni-Lenape Native American tribes who populated the area in the 1500s to the French Huguenot refugees and Dutch settlers who arrived in 1661 to the earliest Afro-Caribbean populations who were brought here soon after. Later waves of immigrants included Scottish, Irish, Germans, Eastern European Jews and Italians. More recently, large numbers of Liberian refugees and Russian, Albanian, Korean and Sri Lankan groups call the Island their home. We envision this Anniversary as an opportunity to educate the public of all ages and backgrounds about that amazing history, and to showcase the Island and its richness to the world at large," Prof. Weintrob explained.
Mr. Gustafsson has been overwhelmed by the spirit of volunteerism that the project has received to date, "Literally dozens of Staten Island institutions have participated in the project so far -- some contributing ideas and others providing hands-on substantive input into everything from developing the website to selecting the 350 sites to designing a logo. We have received enthusiastic support, but more important, we have experienced cooperation among all of these organizations, ranging from the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce to the Borough President's Office to the Borough Historian to all three local colleges to a wide variety ofethnic and community groups."
January 25, 2010