BILL NUMBER: S6934
SPONSOR: LANZA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to including the Sandy
Ground community in the education curriculum
 
PURPOSE:
Includes the Sandy Ground community in the education curriculum.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends parts of the education law to include the history of
the Sandy Ground community, the oldest continuously inhabited free black
settlement in the United States, in the curriculum. Section 2. This act
shall take effect July 1, 2024.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In 1827, after slavery was abolished in the State of New York, freemen
settled in an area of Richmond County that had been known since colonial
times as Sandy Ground. Located today in the Rossville section of Rich-
mond County, Sandy Ground was one of the first documented land purchases
by an African-American from the area and remains to be one of the oldest
surviving communities in the United States that had been founded by
African-Americans prior to the American Civil War. The early settlers of
Sandy Ground were skilled in the oyster trade, with their community
being within distance of Prince's Bay, the island's main hub for oyster
harvesting. From the early to mid-19th century, Sandy Ground served as
an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Sandy Ground is the
oldest continuously settled free black community in the United States,
and ten families descended from the original settlers still remain in
the area today. This legislation would mandate instruction of the
history of the Sandy Ground community in the state's education curric-
ulum.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S.4631 - Referred to Education/A.3184 - Referred to Education
2023: S.4631 - Referred to Education/A.3184 - Referred to Education
2022: S.5990 - Referred to Education/A.5210 - Referred to Education
2021: S.5990 - Referred to Education/A.5210 - Referred to Education
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
on which it shall have become a law.