A History of Ossining, NY [Thread]
In a time like this, it's important to know the history of Ossining, a full history.

Early Dutch maps (circa early 1600s), show the Native American Mohegan Tribe inhabinants called the "Sint Sinck" meaning "stone upon stone" living in current Ossining and its direct vicinity.

In 1685, the Sint Sinck land was "sold" (probably partial. stolen as much land was) to Frederick Philipse, incorporating into his manor spanning from the north of Ossining to the tip of Manhattan, encompassing a massive 165K acres. The land was leased to European (white) farmers.

I wasn't able to find much history on the Sint Sinck, regardless of the Ossining Historical Society-- which highlights the European history of Ossining, not the Native American.

At the end of the American Revolution, the last Lord of the manor was detained for being a British sympathizer and much of the land was sold to the farmers that once were tenant farmers. This is when the area was deemed "Sing Sing," because it was easier for Europeans to say.

In 1813, Sing Sing became the first state-chartered village to be incorporared into Westchester County. In 1825, the construction of Sing Sing prison began and it was practically built by its own prisoners. At its beginning until the early 1900s, it utilized the "Auburn System."

You sadly will not be surprised to search up and find out, the abuse and exploitation the Auburn System uses as punishment for prisoners. This didn't only occur at Sing Sing, but it was gradually implemented in prisons across the country and its remnants are still apparent.

The industrial growth of Ossining was on the backs of prisoners. The shoe factory (Bay State Shoe Co.) and the stove foundry relied almost entirely on prison labor. The Village says commerce and industry "flourished" in the 1800s, but at what cost?

In 1901, residents became concerned over the confusion of goods being made by prisoners vs. village businesses, so to distance themselves from the human rights abuses and notorious prison they changed the village's name from Sing Sing to Ossining.

Now for Ossining schools:

The Washington School was the first modern in Ossining to be erected in 1907 in response to the rapid industrialization, and that the older system of small wooden schoolhouses became inadequate for educating older students.

Due to even further growth an suburbization, the current Ossining High School was built and the Washington School was converted into an elementary school. Over the next few decades, other elementary schools (Claremont, Brookside, Park) would be built as neighborhood schools.

These schools would serve the communities surrounding them as elementary schools that would eventually feed into the middle school and high school. This is de facto segregation.

Schools like Brookside on the northern side of Ossining was 99% White and Park School on Ossining's Southside was 60% Black. Segregation blantantly existed in our town and no one did anything about it until 1968.

There were multiple times that are deemed "racial disturbances" but were really just people tired of the blatant racism. There were four major occurances: one following Rev. MLK Jr.'s assasination, the second in Feb. 1969, the third in 1971.

The fourth riot started in the OHS Cafe on March 13, 1974. It spilled out into the downtown area as white students drove by a group of Black students, throwing bottles and rocks at them-- a common occurrance at the time. Fighting erupted, police + officials started a 7PM curfew.

Riots like these not only occurred in Ossining but also occurred in surrounding areas like Tarrytown and Peekskill. Racism was alive and well (and still is) in even the most diverse of Westchester's towns.

It was only then the Board of Education and the district took this seriously. They then announced their "Ossining Plan" later that year, redistricting Ossining so the schools were more diverse putting "an end" to de facto segregation (surprise! it still exists).

So here we are today, 46 years later and we're still fighting the same fight. I graduated OHS in 2018, and I can tell you racism is still thriving in Ossining. AP and SUNY classes are majority white, ESL students only take classes in the 3rd floor history wing, etc.

Ossining Schools have made great strides to begin to put an end to racism with upperclassman-only courses like SUNY Crossing Borders, SUNY Racism, Classism, and Sexism, and Gender Ideology (very intersectional course) and create open dialogue with the Equity Task Force.

But even with the opportunity, these classes and extracurriculars are still optional, the history taught in classrooms is Euro-centric, and the BOE has not taken complaints of Racism (even against its own) seriously enough. Do better Ossining.

Also, please watch this video done by Ossining Board of Education member Diana Lemon. She discusses racism in Ossining: