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Educator Mia Ramirez, left, and Tiffani Rushford, an environmental educator assistant, at...

Educator Mia Ramirez, left, and Tiffani Rushford, an environmental educator assistant, at the Jones Beach center's Black History Month exhibit in 2022. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca

State parks across Long Island will celebrate Black History Month through a series of educational displays and programs that highlight historical and popular figures as well as unsung contributors to the sciences.

Throughout February, informative and artistic displays pertaining to Black Americans who contributed to equal rights and the sciences and humanities will be available for public viewing as well as educational school trips, George Gorman, regional director for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said in an interview. The exhibits will be displayed at Hempstead Lake State Park’s Environmental Education and Resiliency Center in West Hempstead; both the administrative building and the energy and nature center at Jones Beach State Park; Nissequogue River State Park in Kings Park; Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay; and the parks department’s Long Island regional headquarters in West Babylon.

Each location will have its own unique series of photographs and informational posters “so it’s refreshing or new when you go to different exhibits,” Gorman said in an interview.

The Black Americans highlighted will include historical figures Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass; sports legends Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron; and modern-era popular culture icons Whitney Houston and Spike Lee.

One of the scientists recognized — Jessie Isabelle Price — was a veterinary microbiologist who conducted research at Cornell University’s Duck Research Laboratory in Eastport.

“She is really known for helping to control microbial diseases in water fowl,” Annetta Centrella-Vitale, director of the energy and nature center at Jones Beach State Park, said in an interview.

Showcasing Black history at public facilities means Long Islanders can learn “how important” Black Americans “have been in the shaping of the country that we have today,” Gorman said, “and how their contributions ensured that we are one of the leading countries in the world.”

The "Heroes of the Great Outdoors" exhibit at the Jones...

The "Heroes of the Great Outdoors" exhibit at the Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center in 2022. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca

The energy and nature center at Jones Beach State Park will host a free program on Black biologists Feb. 8. The hourlong lecture will cover historic figures, including Dr. Jane Hinton, the first Black female veterinarian, and Ruth Ella Moore, who studied tuberculosis; as well as modern-day educators, including Samuel Ramsey, an entomologist who researches bees, and Raven Baxter, a molecular biologist who strives to make science more comprehensible to the general public.

“We feel very strongly about being community based and providing access and opportunities to everyone in our community,” Centrella-Vitale said. “Unfortunately, there’s been disproportionate representation in the sciences. So we do whatever we can to highlight all peoples so that they can relate to it and possibly even be inspired by it.”

Engaging activities for all ages

On Feb. 22, the Jones Beach facility will also host a free petri dish microbiology event, during which families and children will learn about Black microbiologists and craft a petri dish from pipe cleaners, beads and other artistic supplies.

On Saturday, the Hempstead Lake State Park Environmental Education and Resiliency Center will host a free Black History Month celebration that includes a children’s activity as well as a discussion with Nassau County Legis. Scott Davis (D-Rockville Centre).

“As a person of color, given the position that I’m in, I think it’s very important … to be an example to others in the community,” Davis said in an interview. "It doesn’t necessarily have to be people of color, but for this particular event I think it’s important that I represent in that way as well.”

Several other state parks will host Black History Month events dedicated to the arts and sciences. Reservations can be made through eventbrite and cost $4, to be paid in person. These events include adults-only discussions and painting lessons on the styles of contemporary artist Stephen Towns on Feb. 18 at Connetquot River State Park Preserve in Oakdale and 20th-century painter Horace Pippin on Feb. 22 at Caleb Smith State Park Preserve in Smithtown. There are also all-ages lectures on Black scientists on Feb. 8 at Nissequogue River State Park and Black astronomers and astronauts on Feb. 20 at Connetquot River State Park Preserve.

“We go through the ones people are commonly aware of like Neil deGrasse Tyson or Mae Jemison, the first female, Black astronaut in space,” said Marc Mauritzen, an educator with the parks department who will lead the space explorers program. “We also go through lesser-known scientists like Emmett Chappelle, and we also highlight the women that helped get us into space who were the topic of the movie ‘Hidden Figures’ … After the lecture and discussion, we also built in a little time for stargazing.”

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