1. lifestyles14 Arts, Culture and Entertainment Styles w Feb. 10, 2016 thestylus.net w @brockportstylus
Brockport celebrates Black History Month
An evening of presentations dedicated to honor
Fannie Barrier Williams and William Page
By Morgan Bulman
LIFESTYLES EDITOR
An extra row of chairs were laid out
as members from both The College at
Brockport and local community gathered
in Cooper Hall’s New York Room Friday,
Feb. 5, in celebration of the lives of two
prominent 19th century African-Ameri-
cans and former Villiage of Brockport resi-
dents, Frances “Fannie” Barrier Williams
and William Page.
The crowd was received by both The
College at Brockport President Heidi R.
Macpherson and the Village of Brockport
Mayor Margie Blackman, demonstrating
the interconnected relationship between
the two governing bodies and their shared
heritage.
Those operating the Emily L. Knapp
Museum and Library of Local History lo-
cated at 49 State Street in Brockport, NY,
which is home to an extensive collection of
Brockport’s past, were also present. Sarah
Cedeño, town historian and adjunct profes-
sor in the English Department at Brockport,
served as the moderator of the evening and
called attention to Brockport’s history and
invited speakers for the event to the stage.
“It’s important in an increasingly diverse
community like Brockport to recognize that
one’s earliest experiences in life can feed a
passion and sometimes a primal need to do
good for society as a whole,” Cedeño wrote
in an email.
Professor and Dean of the School of
The Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr. Darwin Proleau began the evening by
disclosing a personal story from six years
ago and her connection to Fannie Bar-
rier Williams, a woman who seems to
have been lost in Brockport’s history. Af-
ter discovering Williams’ lifelong impacts
as an educator, political activist, lecturer,
journalist and women’s rights advocate, it
became the department’s mission to “bring
acknowledgement of this woman to frui-
tion,” according to Proleau.
Nowhere on the college campus is Wil-
liams mentioned, where as all of Brock-
port’s white and mostly male protuberant
figures have buildings or streets in their
name: Hartwell Hall, Seymour College
Union, Holmes Hall, McCormick Hall,
Morgan Hall – the list goes on.
Macpherson, however, decided to
change that, responding to Proleau’s re-
quest for Williams’ recognition. Before
the lecture presentations began, Macpher-
son announced that on Tuesday, Apr. 5, a
plaque honoring Williams would be un-
veiled on campus at Hartwell Hall.
Blackman commended the college’s act
of acknowledgment.
“Tonight is about the local,” Blackman
said. “About how rich our local history
truly is.”
Cedeño then shared Page’s story, born a
slave, and recalled how Page would come
to call Brockport home. Page’s father pro-
vided him with money after the death of his
mother to escape north via the underground
railroad, where he would become the first
African-American to graduate from the
University of Rochester. After traveling to
Liberia for a short period of time, Page fell
victim to Malaria and returned to Brockport
where he would settle on Gordon Street for
the remainder of his life. Page worked as an
engineer and was described by the news as a
“sharp, shrewd, wide-awake man,” accord-
ing to Cedeño.
Page’s history, however, is difficult to
discern and piece together. As a slave, Page
was referred to on records only by his age
and gender. Additionally, Cedeño lamented
there are hardly any records of Page’s per-
sonal writing and most of the museum’s
knowledge is supplemented from the jour-
nals of his daughter.
Between presentations, pianist Greg
Turner performed a musical piece written
by Page’s son, Harry Page, titled “They
Don’t Let No Lazy Hobos Down This
Way”. The piece induced a ragtime inspired
beat, transporting the audience to Victorian
America.
Retired Brockport Central School his-
tory teacher Ann Frey then took to the po-
dium to reflect on Williams’ life. Born and
raised in Brockport, NY, Williams was the
first African-American to graduate from the
Brockport Normal School at the age of 15
in 1870. Williams taught in Washington,
DC, before moving to Chicago, IL, with
her husband. It was there she became “a
leader for shaping civic reform,” according
to Frey.
Williams represented African-American
interests, but argued both white and black
women share the same hopes in regards to
social equality. Williams would appear in
black journals as a writer and editor, attain-
ing friendships with Booker T. Washington
and W. E. B. DuBois.
“She worked with individual women to
create jobs in the workplace and nurture
their self-esteem and empower them at the
same time that she was working and found-
ing larger organizations, such as NAACP
and National Association of Colored
Women,” Cedeño wrote. “These two roles
helped create a comprehensive system of
support for African-Americans and Afri-
can-American women.”
The audience was surprised with a guest
appearance by Williams herself. Senior In-
terdisciplinary Arts major with a concentra-
tion in music, Oscia Miles, took the stage to
enact Williams. Miles also treated attend-
ees to a gospel song in character with Wil-
liams’ knack for also performing at the end
of her lectures.
“I was honored to represent her,” Miles
said. “It was hard to figure out my man-
nerisms: how would she act? How would
she do this? Because she was so educated.
But I felt like there was a connection there,
we definitely have parallel lives because we
are both black and educated women. It was
magical.”
Williams retired to Brockport in 1926
and is buried at High Street Cemetery.
“The black experience is as much an
individual experience as it is a tragic ex-
perience for the race as a whole,” Cedeño
wrote. “Perhaps Fannie Barrier Williams’
exceptional experience in Brockport com-
pelled her to combat injustice everywhere.”
The celebration concluded with birthday
cake. Guests lingered, remaining interested
by engaging with other attendees, thanking
Miles and Cedeño, as well as enjoying their
sneak peek of artifacts that will be on dis-
play the rest of February in honor of Black
History Month at the Seymour Library lo-
cated at 116 East Ave in Brockport, NY.
“What’s important to note are the dif-
ferences between the two people presented
– Francis Barrier Williams and William
Page,” Cedeño wrote. “Fannie Barrier Wil-
liams was born in Brockport to an estab-
lished family and explains that while grow-
ing up in Brockport she ‘suffered from no
discriminations on account of color,’ while
William Page was born into slavery and
had to hide his identity as a former slave
until 1865, when he was thirty. These two
individuals had early experiences at op-
posite ends of the spectrum, but both ex-
perienced discrimination and limitations
throughout their lives. Neither Williams
nor Page were universally accepted at ev-
ery turn.”
lifestyles.editor@gmail.com
Morgan Bulman/LIFESTYLES EDITOR
Pictured above is Sarah Cedeño, the Village of Brockport’s historian and The College at Brockport’s
English professor, showing interested event attendees artifacts from the Emily L. Knapp. Museum.