LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - APRIL 18, 2021 by Lynne Belluscio Sometimes there are little things that I come across that open windows to much bigger stories that need to be told. Such is the story of Esther Steverson. I was sitting at the dining room table with Elaine Booten a couple of weeks ago, and I was asking her to share some family photos for an exhibit that I am planning for next year. “Who is that young woman, Elaine?” “That’s my Aunt Esther.” “What do you know about her?” “She graduated from LeRoy, and then she went to Geneseo Normal School to become a teacher and she taught down state somewhere.” There was a post card with Esther’s photograph. It was from Hillburn, New York, and what popped up was the caption at the bottom: “Colored Section and School.” I spent a little time googling Hillburn, and quickly discovered that the Hillburn school system was in the center of the battle for integrated schools in New York State in 1943, and that Thurgood Marshall was the lawyer that represented the Black students in Hillburn. He won the case, and then went on to win the Supreme Court Case in 1954 of Brown vs. the School Board in Topeka Kansas which ruled that racial segregation, even if the segregated schools were equal in quality, were unconstitutional. Marshall went on to become the first African American to be appointed to the Supreme Court, serving from 1967 until 1991. This all happened many years after Esther Steverson taught at Hillburn, but tracing her story, brought me to a part of New York State history that I had never heard before. Elaine Booten wasn’t sure when her aunt taught at Hillburn’s “colored” school, but I quickly found an article in the September 28, 1916 issue of “The New York Age”, a newspaper which published articles for the Black Community across the state: “ Miss Esther Steverson, a teacher for the past three years in the public schools of Hillburn, NY, returned last Saturday morning to resume her occupation after having spent a pleasant vacation with her parents Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Steverson of East Ave.” It also noted that she had attended the Batavia Fair with her sister Gertrude. The listing of community news in the paper was listed alphabetically and immediately above the list for LeRoy was the news from Hillburn: “The Public School” opened on Monday, September 25 with full attendance.” When I visited Elaine Booten a few days later, she had discovered two more photographs. One of her aunt standing on the steps of the school with her students. The other was a class picture. Again, I wanted to know more about Hillburn, and discovered the Hillburn African American Historical Society. And on their page I learned a lot more about the “Colored” school known as the Brook Road School. Last year, the Hillburn African American Historical Society produced a documentary about the two schools and five years ago, the school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. (It should be noted, it was not the Brook School that was listed.) I also learned, that while Esther was teaching in Hillburn, the principal of the school was a noted pioneer in education, and was instrumental for fighting for the rights of the students in the Brook Road School. What struck me, was that Esther had grown up inLeRoy, a community that was not segregated. She went to school with all the kids from LeRoy, and although we know there was some prejudice in LeRoy, there wasn’t segregation. What a challenge that must have been to move to Hillburn and live and teach within a segregated community. I hope to learn more about Esther. Elaine said that she moved to New York City and lived with her sister, but wasn’t too sure what she did, or what she did in later life. Elaine said she never married. And I’m still trying to find out about the years she attended Geneseo Normal School. A curious note to this story about Esther Steverson, is the mention of Florence Stevenson, one of the first African American’s to teach in LeRoy. Florence married into the Steverson family and first started teaching as a visiting home teacher. In the early 60s she joined the faculty of the Wolcott Street School and taught sixth grade for many years and is remembered fondly by her former students. She passed away in 2015. The Last Segregated School in New York Brook Road School in Hillburn, NY Esther Stevenson